Page 38 of Whispers of My Skin

“Sorry, babe, my stupid phone went and died on me, but I got your messages eventually. Anyway, I’m on the case now, better late than never and all that. So, what I want to know is why there’s no welcoming committee at the door,” the voice on the other end of the line demands.

“Where exactly are you?” I ask, frowning. Last I heard he was touring Europe, visiting his huge extended family, with no plans to return any time soon.

“At your front door, of course,” he laughs. “So hurry up and get your cute little tushie over here to let me in.”

Joel can’t help but overhear this conversation since Fermin is always pretty loud, so he looks at me in askance.

“Just an old friend,” I mouth.

“Exactly what kind of ‘old friend’?” he asks, frowning, but I shake my head at him. He’ll just have to wait to find out, seeing as he dropped Cassandra-the-bitch on me without warning yesterday, lecturing me just now about how it was perfectly okay to have platonic friends of the opposite sex.

“Okay, Fermin, I’m just coming,” I reply excitedly as I terminate my call.

“Who the hell is Fermin?” Joel scowls as I get up from the table to run to the door. Surprise, surprise, now the boot is on the other foot, seems he’s not that thrilled I also have a platonic friend of the opposite sex.

“The cavalry,” I call back over my shoulder.

“Huh?” Joel grunts.

“Yesterday, you ordered me to paint the house by the end of the week. Correct?” I tilt my head at him and he nods. “Then you should be delighted that I’ve got reinforcements and should have it completed on time.”

Then I skip happily to the door with a confused Joel trailing behind.

“Fermin,” I yell excitedly, as I fling the door open to find my best friend standing there. He greets me with a kiss to each cheek, European-style. “When did you get back? Why didn’t you call me?”

“I told you, I had phone issues, and anyway, I only got back yesterday, and my mother insisted I had to go see her immediately, give her all the juicy family gossip from the old country, and you know what a drama queen she can be if she doesn’t get her own way,” Fermin rolls his eyes dramatically. Pot, kettle, comes to mind. “Sugar, I thought I’d never get away, but thankfully when I heard about your predicament, you provided the perfect excuse for my escape. You know my sweet old momma still harbors dreams of us giving her some of those cute grandbabies she craves, so she practically shooed me out the door to get to you. Anyway, sweetness, are you going to offer me something to drink or am I going to die of thirst standing here?” he groans, fanning himself with his hand, in one of his overly theatrical gestures.

As I open the door wide for my friend to enter, I don’t miss the look Joel throws him as he raises his eyebrows—not an unusual reaction to Fermin, since he’s quite the character. He observes my friend from the tip of his fine Italian moccasins, past his white skinny pants, to the neck of his perfectly ironed starched floral shirt.

“Be prepared for a fashion show, darlin’, ‘cos I’m warning you,” Fermin says. “I’ve brought all kinds of gorgeous things from the best designers that’ll look simply divine on you. Don’t take it personally, but those rags you’re currently wearing are disgusting.”

I just laugh. Typical Fermin.

I take his arm as we walk down the hall to the kitchen, and Fermin nods toward Joel, who’s still glaring at him.

“You’d better introduce me to this handsome cowboy, otherwise I might just drop dead from the toxic glare of his stink eye.” Fermin smirks, looking between the two of us.

“Fermin, I’d like you to meet my husband, Joel Sadger. Joel, this is Fermin Carrillo, my best friend in the whole world.”

It takes a lot to shock Fermin, but his eyes widen in disbelief and his mouth sags. Joel, on the other hand is looking at Fermin as if he was a fair ground freak.

“Husband, hmm?” Fermin quickly recovers his composure and grins back. “I sure am looking forward to hearing how that came about, and why, as your best friend in the entire universe, I wasn’t invited to the wedding.” For a whole variety of different reasons, neither of us fitted in at school, which is how we came to forge such a close bond as we supported each other through some pretty shit times. Dear Lord, how I’ve missed him while he’s been away.

I quickly set another place for Fermin so we can all sit together to eat.

“This some new kind of exotic Texan breakfast?” Fermin teases, seeing the baked ribs and cornbread.

“It’s from last night, actually. We got caught up and didn’t get around to eating it.”

“Caught up how? What could possibly have distracted your cow-fucking-boy to make him forget his chow?” Fermin waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

“Don’t go there,” I warn, noticing Joel’s unamused expression. Since I had to be civil to his uninvited guest yesterday, I call him out now on his less than welcoming attitude to my guest. “Joel, where are your manners? Aren’t you going to welcome our guest?”

“Welcome to Redlands,” Joel mutters, scowling.

Fermin chatters away while we eat, regaling us with tales of his adventures in Europe. Joel doesn’t join in, he just eats in silence.

Once we’ve finished, as I clear the plates away, Fermin looks over at Joel.

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