Page 40 of Hers to Call
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Calita rolled over and winced as she pulled her wrist from under her body. Alone in the bed, she lay there waiting until the pain dulled. She glanced at the bedside table and squinted at the time. If was well after eleven. She was a little disappointed at waking up alone, but of course Simon had a ranch to run. He couldn’t lay about in bed all day. Though she’d told him she had wanted to sleep alone, in the wee hours of the morning, he’d come into her room, his presence soothing her after the nightmare she’d had.
She stretched, a little less sore than the day before. She knew from experience though, that her wrist would be sensitive for a while. She grimaced. She definitely regretted that she had knowledge of how long bruises and sprains lasted. Nightmares from last night played through her head again, made worst by the fact that she’d been worried about David yesterday. She took a shuddering breath and put it out of her mind.
A bath.
That was what she needed. A good soak, to wash away both the soreness and the residual nightmare. Though, Simon sleeping with her had done that well enough. They’d only slept together a couple nights and she found that she slept so much better when he was in bed with her. Why then had she insisted on a guest room? She sucked her teeth and rolled out of bed. No use examining it.
She padded over to his room and knocked. When no answer or noise sounded, she pushed in. Setting her clothes on the sink, she smiled in anticipation. She piled the bathtub high with the bath salts she found in the cabinet under his sink. As she put them back, she caught a glance at herself in the mirror. Gingerly touching the bandage on her head, she sighed and worked it off. The bruise surrounding the stitches weren’t as bad as she thought they’d be, so she chucked the bandage. Minutes later, she sank into the hot water and started the jets. Oh God! She let out a long moan as the water loosened her aching muscles. She closed her eyes and fought to relax. Of course, her mind was going a hundred miles an hour, so she wasn’t sure how well that would work.
First thought was of her best friend. She should call Selena and tell her she was okay. But also check to see if she needed help in the restaurant. She snorted. Selena would more than likely tell her off for even asking. She could hear the bossy woman, ‘doctor’s orders’ she’d nag.
Since she’d moved down to Georgia, she and Selena had picked up their friendship right where they’d left off. There was some initial awkwardness as Calita hadn’t been sure what her friend would say after so many years apart. Would Selena judge her for the way they parted? She’d been so wrapped up in David, at his every beck and call and she and Selena had had their fair share of fights over it.
She should’ve listened to her friend.
She couldn’t believe she’d stayed with him as long as she had. Selena warned her that he was too controlling, too volatile, but she’d been in love. And besides, the hitting hadn’t really happened until towards the end of their relationship. She’d left after the second time he hit her. Though…that wasn’t quite accurate. Calita flexed her sore wrist. There had been smaller aggressions she dismissed for months before that. The marks on her skin from where he’d grabbed her. The sprains on her wrists from where he’d bruised the bones after constantly crushing her wrist within his grasp. She’d finally had enough and left him and that night, he’d made sure she paid for it.
Nope, not reliving that.
She surged out of the water, no longer relaxed enough to enjoy it. She quickly dressed in the bathroom and cleaned up after herself. She dropped off her towel and clothes in the guest room and headed downstairs.
There was a woman in the kitchen, humming to herself as she cooked. Jealousy rose and Calita stopped at the end of the stairs, gripping the banister. She forced her fingers off of the wood, one at a time. Simon had mentioned last night that one of his clan women cooked for him. The woman must have sensed her because she looked up. The two of them stared at each other until the other woman broke into a smile.
“Calita, hi. Simon told me to expect you.”
Calita returned her smile, if stiffly and walked the rest of the way into the kitchen.
“I’m Becca, I cook for Simon and the ranch hands.” Becca extended her hand.
“Simon mentioned that last night, how are you?”
Becca’s eyes traced her face, and then down her body, the assessing look curious. “You’re certainly different than his ex-wife, that’s for sure.”
“Excuse me?”
Becca laughed and turned back to her cooking. “Sorry, that was rude. You’re the first woman Simon has brought home since his wife, so...”
Calita couldn’t figure out whether to be offended or not.
Becca continued with no feedback from her. “That woman was a tiny thing, beautiful, the way most hybrids are. But certainly not built for real country, bear life—not like us.”
Calita frowned, trying to figure out if that was, low-key, an insult. She eyed Becca, the woman was tall in the way that most of the bear women in the town were. She hovered over Calita’s 5’10 frame, her body thick, solid. But certainly not as big as Calita, weight wise.The hell did she mean ‘built for bear?’
“It’s nice that he’s found someone to distract him from thoughts of her.” Becca smiled over her shoulder. “Of course, she was in here the other day, but who knows.”
Calita didn’t like what Becca was insinuating, not because she was self-conscious, but mostly because it didn’t sound like Simon at all. He’d come into the restaurant after his ex-wife had left and told a different story than the one Becca told.
“I’d like to take Simon lunch, do you know where he is?” She interjected before Becca could say another word.
The other woman closed her mouth and turned back to the stove. “Umm, well, he keeps a schedule on the chalkboard over there. He likes me to know where he is.” She waved vaguely to the wall next to the Subzero refrigerator.
Silence fell in the kitchen and she didn’t much feel like breaking it. Becca was nice, but hearing about other women and Simon irritated her. She’d never been possessive, but with him…
Calita discarded the rest of that thought and pulled sandwich fixings out of the refrigerator and set to work. She would not be doing the bitchy girlfriend routine, no matter how peeved she was.
“How long have you worked for Simon?”
