Cody was dead weight. When we got to my floor, we dragged him from the elevator along the hall to my door. I unlocked the door, and all three of us pushed and pulled him down the hall to the guest room.
Jake said, “I’ll get him undressed and into bed. See if you can make some hot coffee.”
Opal followed me to the kitchen. “You get out of those wet clothes. I’ll make the coffee.”
I flashed a thank you smile, pointed to the coffee maker and opened the cupboard where I stored the coffee. She nodded and went to work. I stumbled down the hall, pulling off clothes as I went. A hot shower later, I put on my warmest lavender sweat suit and heavy red wool socks and made my way along the hall to the guest room.
Cody lay in bed with the blankets pulled to his chin. I heard Jake and Opal talking in the kitchen. I sat on the side of the bed. “Cody, can you hear me?” I said.
He snored softly away, oblivious to his plight and ours.
Jake entered with a mug of steaming coffee.
“Cody is in Neverland,” I said.
“Yup. I’ll sit this watch. You get something hot. You feel better? You look great. Do you ever look bad?”
I laughed. “Never.” He should see me first thing in the morning without makeup. No, he shouldn’t.
In the kitchen Opal sat at the tiny ice cream parlor table with two mugs of coffee.
“Thanks, Opal. Just what I need.”
“You look better. You feel okay?”
It was nice to have people interested in one’s welfare.
“I’ll live. What time is it?” I looked up at the rooster clock. Almost midnight. “I can’t believe the time. I guess I missed my flight to Australia.”
“Were you really going?”
I nodded, sipping my coffee. “But I couldn’t find my passport. That reminds me.”
I jumped up and rummaged around in the freezer for the plastic bag I kept my legal papers in. It was behind a stack of frozen chicken potpie boxes.
“Here it is,” I said, waving my passport in the air. “I’m on my way to Australia.”
She smiled wearily. “Can we postpone our trip to Oregon until tomorrow? I’m a bit tired.”
“Of course. There’s a comfy day bed in my studio. You can stretch out there for tonight. I’ll get you some towels and a night gown.”
“That would be perfect.”
“Jake can have the couch in the living room, though I think he’ll keep vigil beside Cody.”
“Cody will sleep it off. I wish he wouldn’t binge drink like he does. I’m afraid it runs in the family. His father was the same way.”
“His father was your brother?”
“Yes, all the youngest in my family were boys. They were all drinkers, and they’re all gone. Cody’s father was killed in a car accident when Cody was a boy. He spent more time on my ranch growing up than with his mother. She fell apart when my brother died. Never took very good care of Cody. As a boy he was always in trouble. I’m afraid trouble has followed him into manhood.”
“He’s gotten himself into a real pickle.”
“I don’t understand who those men were that he has been having over to the house.”
“You remember them?”
She frowned. “Not exactly. I haven’t been well these last few days. Things seem a bit fuzzy.”
“Opal, do you remember locking Jake in the wine cellar?”
“Me?”
“That’s what Jake said. Why would you do that?”
She blinked her eyes in double time. “Why, Fiona, I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Do you remember telling me you and Hudson were getting married?”
She giggled. “Now you are teasing me. Why would I say anything like that? I’m too old for him.” She finished her coffee, and I could read tired in her eyes.
“C’mon, I’ll get you fixed up in the studio. You’re worn out. Tomorrow we’ll decide where we go from here.”
After I got Opal tucked in, I checked on Jake and Cody. Jake was stretched out on the king size bed with the snoring Cody. His eyes fluttered open as I approached.
He rubbed his eyes and coughed. “What time is it?”
“After midnight.”
He looked at Cody. “Who knows when wonder boy will wake up? Is there any more coffee?”
“Sure. Are you holding vigil here tonight?”
“Someone should stay with him.”
“Why don’t you stretch out on the couch? I’ll lie down beside him for awhile.”
“You talked me into it. I’m beat. I can’t keep living like this.”
He rose stiffly from the bed and followed me into the living room.
“Still want that coffee?”
“You bet.”
I poured another cup, heated mine, carried the mugs to the couch and made myself comfortable.
“I guess we won’t make Australia tonight,” he said.
“No.”
“Did you find your passport?”
“In the freezer where I put it, just like Olympia said.”
We sat in silence. The rain beat against the window. The night kept vigil with us. The slow tick tock of an antique kitchen clock I had picked up at a yard sale kept time with our thoughts. The events of the day receded. I was cozy and warm and snuggly.
“Do you mind if I put my feet across your lap?” I said
He looked at me and smiled. “Not at all. Want your feet rubbed?”
“I kill for foot rubs.”
He slipped off my socks. His big, firm hands kneaded my feet in a soft, smooth motion.
“Where’d you learn to give a massage like that?”
“Horses,” he said and grinned.
“Horses like their hooves rubbed?”
“No. Some like their legs stroked. I’ve done a lot of stroking in my life.”
“I bet it wasn’t all horses.”
“Not all.” He smiled and smoothed my aching feet into submission. “Pretty toes,” he said.
“Pedicures. My one weakness.”
He smiled.
“Don’t you have any weaknesses?” I asked.
“Sure. Lots.”
“Like what?”
“I used to smoke. I like alcohol a lot. It’s controlled me some of my life, not so much now.”
“Gambling?”
“Not a gambling man. Never was much of a speculator. You?”
“No, I’m addiction free.” I laughed and so did he.
“I don’t think so. You seem like a woman of big appetites.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Not really. I like investing money.”
“Not me. Don’t really much care about the things it buys. Cowboys don’t make much. I don’t spend much. I have some savings in a bank back home. That’s it.”
“Are you still driving to Oregon?”
He nodded. “Opal needs to go home. The lawyer can handle all the estate business. She needs to get back to where she belongs.”
“What’s it like on her ranch?”
He leaned back against the couch.
“Prettiest country you’d ever want to see. You can see forever. Big, big sky. Blue a lot of the time. After a night rain you can smell the sage in the morning air.”
“Aren’t there rattlesnakes and creepy things like that?”
“Sometimes, but they keep to themselves mostly.”
He put my wooly red socks back on. I sighed in contentment and closed my eyes.
“Tired?” he asked.
“More like frazzled. I’m not cut out for this.”
He laughed. “Me neither. That’s why I want to go back. If Cody wakes up in decent shape, I’m turning him loose, tell him he better get his act straight, and get on back to the ranch as soon as he can.”
I laid my head against the couch and drifted in and out of a doze. The next thing I knew, he was taking the mug from my hand.
“C’mon cowgirl, time for bed.”
He took my hand and tugged me along the hall.