Page 54 of Married With Lies

CALE

Life in this place starts early. Like pre-sunrise level of early.

My line of work is better suited to the darkness and the shadows. I’ve adapted accordingly. But around here the lights are all out by ten p.m. and there’s no pulse of city chaos to break the silence. No city lights either. Just silence and the stars.

This is different. Not bad, just different.

And there’s no end date on how long I’ll be here. I was lucky that there was no organ damage and I didn’t need surgery. The doctor tried to persuade me to stay in the hospital for a few days but I wasn’t interested. Maybe I would have changed my mind on that hospital stay if I’d known my uncle would order me to remain at Sadie’s ranch until further notice.

“Just lay low in the country and enjoy the domestic life until I say otherwise,” he said. “Think of it as a second honeymoon.”

Then he laughed, thinking he’s doing me a favor.

And I had to return the laughter because what else could I say?

That gas station shootout really turned everything sideways. Not that I’m sad about depriving the world of two trashy villains. The next day I found a short news clip about the bloody crime scene left behind in Arizona. Dean and Royal Cuffy were two cousins best known in the local area for threatening kids and mugging old ladies.

Fuck them and good riddance.

But I do wish I’d arrived there in time to save the clerk. He had a wife and a little boy and hoped to become an electrician. Richie made good on his promises to use his connections. The story was reinvented and the murdered clerk got the credit for eliminating the Cuffy cousins before dying of his wounds. It must have taken a lot of doing to get all involved parties to ignore the evidence and go along with Richie’s version but that’s someone else’s problem. The best I could do is arrange to donate a tidy sum to the clerk’s grieving widow so that’s exactly what I did.

Now, three days after I completely vandalized the tranquility of Bright Hearts Ranch by arriving with no invitation and a bullet hole to fix, there’s a green-haired cartoon witch grinning at me from the opposite wall of the guestroom. A flock of bats hang from the ceiling. The curtains are covered with pumpkins. The same pattern decorates the bed sheets and comforter. The throw pillows are in the shape of ghosts. There’s a black cat clock ticking the minutes three feet from my head. Honestly, it looks as if Halloween puked in here.

What makes this weird is that it’s the month of April.

The cat clock purrs on the wall, informing me it’s seven a.m. The smell of cinnamon hangs in the air. There’s enough light filtering through the curtains to show that the sun is shining. And dogs are barking, lot of dogs. Mingled in with the barking is Sadie’s voice.

“There you go, Thistle! Good girl. Here, catch the ball, Barney. You got it!”

Flicking the pumpkin curtain aside, I open the blinds and get punched in the eyeballs by bright light. It takes a few hard blinks for the spots to clear.

The long building nearest the house is a large dog kennel. Beyond that sits a barn. There are a couple of smaller structures but I forget their purpose. Sadie tried to drag me around on a tour, talking so fast she was almost tripping over her words. From the way she kept pausing to check my reaction, I could swear she was searching for my approval.

I see her now, a red-haired streak in blue jeans running with a large brown and white mutt. She reaches the edge of the fenced play yard and laughs when the dog’s big front paws nearly topple her over. I’m sure she’s been awake for a while. Sadie bounces to life before the first streaks of light cross the sky.

Watching her drop to her knees without a care about dirt and grass stains and dog slobber, it occurs to me that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anyone better matched to their chosen line of work. But maybe work is the wrong word when it comes to Sadie. The ranch isn’t just her work. This place is her.

Sadie is sincere. Her passion and steadfast commitment are what sets her apart from other people. That and the fact that she can answer banter like nobody’s business. I’ve never met a woman who can fire back the way she does without thinking twice. I like that about her, even if I wouldn’t say so out loud. For all she knows, I’m the meanest mafioso mobster on the eastern seaboard. Yet she’ll still meet my glare and order me to shut my mouth. That little redhead has got quite a spine.

While I watch, Sadie takes her time petting every dog that climbs into her lap. The yard is full of activity. A woman who I recognize as one of the volunteers is leading a horse slowly around the corral. That teenage kid who always hangs out here is also in the mix. Jasper finishes rolling up a long hose and grabs a rake.

My eyes scan the yard quickly and then return to Sadie. A light breeze moves her hair into her face and she pushes it back with impatience. She suddenly turns in this direction and freezes when she spots me gaping at the window. I didn’t mean to startle her. I shut the blinds and turn away.

The ache in my side is better than it was yesterday and I’m starting to feel a little stir crazy. Unfortunately, there’s no way I can call Richie and say I’m returning to action. With my uncle keeping close tabs right now, he’ll wonder why I’m so eager to leave my wife’s bed and return to gangster hunting. I’ve got to stick it out at least a few more days.

No doubt Sadie will be relieved when it’s time for me to move on. After all, I’ve invaded her territory and brought a whole barrel of drama. She’d be even more eager to get rid of me if she knew that I’m storing a bag of bribery cash under the bed.

After checking to make sure that the bag remains undisturbed, I grab some clothes and cross the hallway to the bathroom. I’m not really supposed to shower yet. That showboat of a doctor hired by my uncle told me that it would be a good idea to take sponge baths until the bandage comes off. Sponge baths. Right. Fuck that.

With shower flipped to the hottest setting, I raid the bottle of antibiotics I was given, chasing the pill with a swallow of water from the faucet. At least I follow the important instructions. I’ll just keep the bandage out of the water. Since there are no soap options besides Sadie’s mango blossom shower gel I wind up smelling awfully fruity by the time I towel off. I check my bandage, which remains dry. As much as I’d like to yank the whole thing off right now, I don’t want to risk prolonging this saga more than necessary so I leave it alone and pull on some clothes.

My wardrobe selection is limited at the moment. I wasn’t expecting to visit small town Colorado and the suits I’d packed are not really ranch appropriate. I’ll have to do laundry today. This is my only pair of jeans and my last clean t-shirt. And it’s impossible to add a gun holster without being glaringly obvious. Considering the way everyone lost their minds the last time they saw my gun, I’ve had no choice but to keep it inside the cash bag.

On my way out of the bathroom I nearly fall over Peggy, the pint-sized elderly assistant caretaker of Bright Hearts. She stands right outside the door with her arms crossed and her mouth in pursed in a flat line. Beneath the loosely piled nest of white hair coiled atop her head, one bushy eyebrow rises in greeting.

“Welcome to the day,” she says, hinting that I’m a slacker for sleeping past sunrise.

“Yeah,” I reply, hoping she’ll move.

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