Page 64 of Misadventures Of A Single Mom

Goldie looked between me and Ty. “Sure, sweetie. I’ll walk the sheriff out.”

Ty stood and faced me. Because of his height and my position on the gurney, I had to tilt my head up to look at him. He seemed even more furious than ever. “I can’t believe you went off halfcocked to that man’s ranch!”

Ty stood and paced the small space, slid the curtain closed for some privacy. Although if he kept shouting, nothing would be private.

My mouth fell open in surprise. “I…I—” Words clogged in my throat. Was I hearing him correctly or was ear damage a side effect of Ketamine? What gave him the right to yell at me?

“Why, Jane? Why the hell did you go there?”

I pointed my finger at him, livid. “Because you sent me a text.”

“Right, the dropped phone. How did he know?—”

He paused. I swear I saw a light bulb go off over his head. “Fuck, he watched us?” Ty placed his hands on his hips, stance wide. I had no doubt if Dex were there right now Ty would have killed him.

I nodded, but changed the subject. This was one topic neither of us wanted to dwell on. “What about you? He told me you were dead. He set that fire to kill you!”

Ty laughed sarcastically. “For such an asshole, he was pretty stupid. There were over fifty firefighters there. He clearly underestimated my abilities, and the people I work with.Besides, the guy he sent walked around with a can of gasoline and some matches. Once the wind kicked up and the fire got out of control, he practically crapped his pants. He all but climbed into the police car to escape the fire. Your criminalfriend,Dex, should have stuck with meth.”

I gritted my teeth. “Dex was not my friend.”

“He was the guy at the restaurant.”

Ty didn’t make it a question, so I didn’t respond. What could I say? I did have dinner with Dex. Reminding Ty I came home from that and had sex with him didn’t seem like a good idea. Leaving one man to have sex with another didn’t speak highly of me—out of context. Being with Dex that night made me realize I only wanted Ty. There was nothing I could say that would make him understand. Except one thing. “Ty, I lo?—”

His words cut me off. “Goldie’s here to take you home, right?”

Obviously, his mind wasn’t in the same place as mine. I’d save the L word to share later. If there was a later.

“I thought…”

“What?” His voice was gravelly.

“I…never mind.” I thought Ty would be the one to take me home, but I was wrong. I had a new feeling in my stomach and it wasn’t nausea. And maybe the feeling was a little above my stomach, more in line with my heart. It felt like it was breaking. Tears I thought were over threatened.

“Just go,” I whispered. I was impressed my voice didn’t break.

He gave me a once over, from the top of my head to my feet beneath the blanket, then left. This time, when he yanked the curtain back, it ripped from the bar to hang down lopsided. Ty practically stomped off past the nurses’ station. He talked briefly to Goldie, and then was gone. My heart went with him.

Two hours later,with no long-term effects from the Ketamine, I’d been cleared by the ER doctors as well as by Paul, who’d been at the hospital for a woman in labor. When I described the projectile vomiting incident, they were reassured most of the drug had left my system. I felt foggy and had a few short dizzy spells here and there. Otherwise, I was back to normal.

If only I knew what normal was any more. Ty had seemingly breezed in and out of my life faster than I could change my sheets. I needed a good cry, but I wanted to hold off until I was alone, in bed with the covers over my head.

Instead, I sat on my couch with Goldie and Kelly. Wet hair from the shower, comfy sweats, hot tea with extra sugar in hand. I had no intention of drinking it, but its warmth felt good. I was dizzy from the drug, dazed from the insanity of the day. Numb from Ty’s rejection.

Kelly was at the far end of the sofa, settled in for the long haul. Goldie sat on the coffee table, the two gnomes next to her, their beady little eyes and smiling faces practically shouting, “Ha ha!”

Both women were super upbeat and perky like cheerleaders, trying to pep me out of my funk. It wasn’t working and they knew it. They were in funks of their own, upset about what could have happened. We were all out-of-sorts, circling around all the mine fields of conversation.

“I can’t believe you want these things around,” Goldie said as she picked up George, turned him around, waiting for more evil to pop out and do me harm. “All this nonsense because of a garden gnome.” She shook her head.

“I made the sheriff get them from Dex’s house before I went to the hospital. I don’t have much interest in seeing them again, but I know the boys will when they get home.”

She thunked George back down on the table. “You’re right. They’d be devastated.”

At first, the police wanted the gnomes for evidence. But they had Ty’s cell phone which proved Dex had broken into my house. They couldn’t press charges against a dead man, so they let me take the gnomes home. Besides, they had enough other felonies tied to Dex and didn’t need a couple of garden gnomes as evidence.

Goldie glanced at her watch. “Oh, crap. I didn’t realize how late it was. I feel bad leaving you right now after all that’s happened.”

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