Sherlock said, “That’ll end up in lots of insults and bruises. I hope you’re good with the Ben-Gay tube.”
“Oh yeah, I am. I told Miles you’d take on the winner.”
Sherlock looked very pleased at that. “You’ve been married thirteen days, Katie, which means that you and Miles have known each other for, wow, a grand total of three weeks. Now, how are things going between you?”
Katie arched an eyebrow. “I don’t sleep in the guest room, if that’s what you mean.”
“Well, no, I would certainly hope that you don’t. As I told Dillon, Miles is not only a really good guy, he has this marvelous flat stomach.”
“So he does.”
“And who could turn that down?”
“Not I. And I’ll tell you something else, Sherlock, Miles is also the sexiest guy on earth.”
Sherlock was too kind to point out the obvious, that Katie was wrong, dead wrong-Dillon was the sexiest guy, period. Anywhere. Maybe she would tell Katie when she knew her better. Sherlock said, her brow furrowed, “I would think that intimacy between two people who really like each other, who are committed to each other and to a family, well, it would help move things more quickly, take away the artificialness of the situation. Hey, you see a guy in his boxers, whiskers on his face, and the embarrassment factor goes down fast.”
“It’s still tough, both of us dancing around, afraid to hurt the other’s feelings or piss the other off or do something that might upset one of the kids.”
“And Sam and Keely are settling in together? Or is there a problem?”
“There are kid squabbles, but yeah, they’re incredible together. Just this morning, both of them came bouncing in on our bed at six a.m. It felt… good. Sometimes I wonder how Keely could not have known Sam all her life. They’re very close. As for Cracker, I haven’t a clue what’s going on in her head. She leaves us alone for the most part, spends lots of time in her attic suite, or is out with friends for the evenings, movies, I think. She’s pleasant enough when we cross paths. I really hope she’ll start dating, if she’s not already.”
Sherlock picked a twig off a maple tree and chewed on it. “She wanted to marry Miles, you know.”
“I figured that. Still, she’s trying to be nice to me. Talk about a shock for her.”
“The thing is that after her sister died, she moved in to take care of Sam, which was a great thing for her to do. Both Sam and Miles were devastated and she provided stability. But it’s been over two years now and you’re here. It’s time for her to get her own life.”
“And find a good guy that isn’t Miles.”
“All right, Katie. What’s really wrong?”
“If you want the truth, well then, I’m itchy, restless. The first week, I walked every inch of that very lovely house, raked leaves until I had blisters on my palms, spoke to my mom twice a day, played with the kids until I was too tired to stand. Then this last week… okay, I whined, not to Miles, to Dr. Raines-my good friend Sheila-in Jessborough. She can take it. She told me lots of things that just depressed me more. She just ended up telling me to be patient, that it’ll take time to settle in, and metaphorically patted me on the head.
“As you know, I’m on a leave of absence from the Jessborough Sheriff’s Department. And that puts Wade temporarily in charge, and that’s okay, don’t get me wrong, but-” Katie shrugged, sighed, and continued after clearing her throat once, then again. “Sorry. Of course, both kids started back to school a week and a half ago. Sam was a hero to his classmates. Unfortunately, Keely’s a year behind Sam, but she appears to be doing okay. She misses her friends in Jessborough, but she has Sam and that makes up for it. Sam’s included her with all his friends, and since he’s the big dog among the first-graders, she’s in. It’s still early, we’ll see. That leaves lots of hours in-between to fill up, hours I never before even dreamed existed.”
“Katie-”
“Okay, okay, don’t hit me. Here’s the bottom line for me, Sherlock: I’ve got to do something real, something worthwhile-”
Yeah, like be sheriff again. Sherlock said, “I understand, truly I do. Give it just a little more time, just like Dr. Raines said. Talk to Miles about it-he’s your husband now, Katie, and that means you’re not alone anymore. You’ve got this big additional brain to add to the mix, and that’s good, at least part of the time.”
“Now you’re going to preach to me about compromise.”
“Fact is, you’ve got to compromise to have a good marriage, and sometimes that’s so sucky I want to yell.”
“Yeah, yeah. All right, I’ll talk to him about it, but not yet. He’s working really hard right now.”
Sherlock nodded. “Tell me what else Dr. Raines said.”
“Wade is doing fine as acting sheriff. She says everyone misses me and asks when I’m coming back. All I can say is ‘ We’ll see.’ ”
Katie started shaking her head. “I was even studying a cookbook yesterday.” She sighed. “It’s so stupid really, but I never thought about what would happen two weeks after we got married, or a month, or a year, or anything. It was just the right thing to do and I didn’t consider, you know, what exactly would come after the wedding. I never once wondered how it would be not to have the sheriff’s job, to be living in a place I didn’t know, not the streets, not the shops, not the people.
“Sorry, I’m whining again. Damn, sometimes it’s really hard to be an adult.”
“That’s the truth,” Sherlock said. “No honeymoon in sight?”
“Miles has been working his butt off at the plant. He says there’s lots to be done, what with contract issues still unresolved, design problems with the helicopter guidance system, stuff like that. He’s missed dinner three times this past week.”
“Hmm,” Sherlock said again. “Katie, you guys are going to have to talk about this, you know. Oh, quick, look at that Frisbee throw Miles just made to Sam.”
Katie twisted about to see the Frisbee floating toward Sam, watched Sam leap a good foot into the air and snag it. She heard Miles and Dillon laugh. She wondered what they were talking about. Was Miles talking about her to Dillon? Saying the same things about his life that she’d been saying to Sherlock?
Savich was saying to Miles as they both watched Sam leap into the air and curl his fingers around the edge of the Frisbee to bring it in, “I’ve just about given up on the Redskins this year.”
Miles said, “Yeah, it’s hard to even turn the games on anymore, it’s so depressing. I have this gut feeling about the Raiders, though, we’ll see. Wasn’t that catch something? Sam’s nearly Olympic with the Frisbee. I’ve been playing with him since he was three.”
“I thought I’d start Sean in six months or so. I’m also thinking the Patriots might make it to the big game. Does Katie like football?”
“You know, I don’t have the foggiest idea what my wife thinks about football. That first Sunday we just relaxed, what with no Beau or Clancy to worry about, took the kids for pizza and ice cream and fell into bed at nine o’clock. We’ll see if she perks up at kick-off time tomorrow.”
“Hey, Sean, come back here!”
Savich was off, scooping up his son, swinging him over his head, letting his shrieks of laughter flow over him.
Miles said to Savich once he’d trotted back, Sean under one arm, “I sure like the sound of your Porsche engine. You get it tuned up recently?”
“Oh yeah. God’s creation gets checked if it hiccups once. Sounds really good, huh?”
“You know it does. Sherlock was telling me that Sean loves that car, that you’ve promised to give it to him when he’s eighteen.”
“Yep, I did.”
“By that time the Porsche will be in a museum.”
Savich grinned. “How about that? Hey, all you’ve got left from McCamy is just a faint line down your cheek. It looks like it just might stay with you.”