Page 43 of Lorna's Savior
“Who?”
“Ronnie, my best friend. Call her.”
“Um, why?”
“Tell her I can’t be her maid of honor, because my boyfriend just monked me to death.” Before Andy could respond, Lorna was sound asleep. With a smile on his face, he reached between them, held the condom in place, then rose to go into the bathroom. Instead of turning on the shower, he wet a cloth, took it out, and washed her face. After he returned to the bed, he climbed between the sheets, and brought her to him. With his arms and legs wrapped around her, he quickly fell asleep. His last thought was that she wasn’t getting away from him this time.
*****
Ronnie Parker looked up when Finn walked into the barn. “Hey,” she said to him as she continued mucking out the stalls.
“Hey, yourself.” Finn grabbed a pitchfork and began helping her. “You okay?” he asked, after several minutes of working in silence.
“Yeah, why?”
“You were up early, and you’re mucking the stalls. You usually leave that for Hector.” Finn paused and leaned on his fork, studying his fiancée. “Talk to me, Veronica.”
Ronnie heaved a huge sigh, stopped working, and glanced at Finn. “I’m just so overwhelmed at the office.”
“And?” Finn knew Ronnie, and it seemed like more than being overworked.
“And, I don’t know what to do. With Grady still out, it all falls on me. I don’t want to bother him with this. I don’t want him to think I can’t handle things.”
Finn put his pitchfork away, walked over to take hers from her, and placed it to the side. Gathering her in his arms, he held on tight. After she relaxed, he lifted her head and stared at her.
“I know for a fact that Grady had all the confidence in the world in you. He wouldn’t have asked you to be a partner last year if he didn’t, evenbeforeyou took your state exams. May I make a suggestion?”
“What’s that? And don’t tell me to go talk to Grady. I won’t burden him with what’s going on.”
“Okay, but why don’t you contact Lorna? You haven’t seen her in quite some time. Both of you have been burning the candle at both ends. You need a girls’ night. Call her after you’re done with work tonight. Go over and catch up, relax.”
“Isn’t the aquarium fundraiser tonight?” Ronnie frowned at him.
“No.” He smiled at her. “That’s next Saturday. Tonight is your night. Contact Lorna, go hang out with her. If you need a ride home, I’ll come get you. Besides...” he grinned as he stepped back, and handed her the pitchfork. “I got a call from a former Marine buddy that lives in the area. He wants to go out for drinks. I said I’d meet him later this afternoon.”
“Really? Do I know this man?”
“You do not.” Finn laughed as he retrieved his own fork again, and together they finished waiting on the horses. He laughed again when Lady stuck her head out and started nibbling on the back pocket of his jeans. He paused long enough to pull the carrot out and broke it into three pieces. After giving Lady hers, he passed the rest to Sarge and Paige.
“Where’s Lou’s?” Ronnie frowned at him.
With a grin, Finn pulled half an apple from his front shirt pocket and handed it to the other horse. Ronnie only shook her head at him as she continued to work. In less than an hour, they were done with that chore. Knowing she only had a short period of time to shower, change, and get to the office, Ronnie took off toward the house.
When she left to go to work, she paused long enough to kiss Finn, and admitted. “I’ll call Lorna after work, to see if she’s available. I’ll see if she can meet me someplace. Because, between you and me, I do not want to run into her mother.”
“When was the last time you talked with Lorna?”
“I don’t know, a couple of months, why?”
“Damn, I don’t know if I should tell you or not. Maybe Lorna should tell you.”
“What?” Ronnie demanded.
Finn knew she’d never leave until he at least gave her some information. “Lorna’s mother’s on a three-month cruise.”
“Oh, well, that changes everything.” She laughed and gave him a quick kiss, before she went out the back door. Finn only shook his head at her excess energy. He looked up when Captain came flying into the kitchen.
“Looks like it’s just the two of us, Cap.” Finn laughed when the bird flew through the air and landed on his shoulder. The two of them cleaned up the kitchen, then because it was only six in the morning, Finn decided to do the housework. He knew Veronica would appreciate it when she came home that night, or the next day when she reached for something and found it washed, dried, folded, and put away. Knowing he had plenty of time before he had to meet his former buddy, he got to work.
