Page 19 of Whenever You Call

Christ, I’d sounded like some z-list actor in a bad TV movie.

Fortunately, after ten days, she still hadn’t reached out to me, and I was grateful for her silence. I hated feeling lame when I’d built my reputation on being alienated, aloof, and unaffected by anything or anyone. I needed to get back to that, to how I was after Dale died when I decided that loving people carried too many risks, and I could still serve my life’s purpose by trying to prevent anyone else from suffering the effects of that.

Unfortunately, two weeks had passed since my chat with Buck, and it was officially time to begin my forced leave. Project Find-a-Life-to-Shut-Everyone-The-Fuck-Up was about to begin whether I wanted it to or not.

I’d finished my last shift in the early hours of the morning, which left me with nothing to do but hang about in my condo. I could only see the very tops of the trees that surrounded the building I lived in, and as I laid on top of my comforter, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers, my feet crossed at the ankles, I wondered if I could get away with nothing but this: just me in the comfort of my own home, not wearing pants for two weeks unless I needed to go to the store to grab beers or food.

I closed my eyes and tried to force myself to relax, only for my cell to vibrate on the bed next to me, flashing with a number I didn’t recognize.

“Hello?” I answered with a scowl.

“Hello?” a young voice greeted me. “Is this… is this Mr. Logan?”

“Erm… yeah?”

“Are you the man who saves people?”

“Who—?”

“—Because I need your help, and your number is in my mommy’s cell, and I remember you helping Mommy when she had a headache at the ice cream parlor, and now I need you again because—”

I sat upright instantly. “Bella?”

“Itisyou!” she cried. “I was right!”

“How did you… I mean… are you okay? Is your mom okay?” I glanced around my room for the first clothes I could find, grabbing the dark sweatpants and gray T-shirt in a hurry.

“Mommy? She’s the best,” Bella said. “Are you okay? You sound wheezy. Have you been running too much?”

“I, erm, I’m just surprised by your call, that’s all.” I balanced the cell between my ear and shoulder while I climbed into my sweatpants. “Is your mommy there? You said you needed my help. Has something happened?”

She sighed dramatically. “There’s a stupid cat stuck in my daddy’s tree, and I don’t know how to get it out, and so I took Mommy’s cell from the kitchen because I was going to play the cat some music. Daddy always said the only way he could get me out of bed in a morning was by playing music. He told me that AC/DC made merun down the stairs, even when I didn’t want to, so I thought maybe if I played the same songs to the cat, the cat would run down the tree the same way.”

“I see.” I slowed my movements, tossing my T-shirt onto the bed and letting my shoulders fall. “How did that work out for you?”

“I don’t think the cat likes music so much.”

“Ah.”

“I stuck my tongue out at it to see if that would annoy it, but it didn’t, and now it’s just staring at me.”

“Cats have thick skin.” I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling awkward and out of place talking to this kid I barely knew. “I’m not sure why you’re calling me about it, though?”

“Because you’re a real-life superhero. You save people.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, the sting of that lie gripping my heart too tightly.

“I was going to call Livia from Mommy’s cell, but then I saw your name next to Livia’s. It said Logan - Pama… Para… It’s a tough word, and I’m not very good at reading yet, but I thought maybe you’d know how to save the cat’s life more than Livia would… because you rescue people, just like you rescued Mommy. That means you can save animals, too, right?”

Shit, she sounded adorable, but this was exactly the wrong thing to be happening, and my thoughts went straight to Hannah and how she’d feel about it. I was surprised she’d even kept my number after closing the door on me ten days ago, and now I had hers, too. Bella hadn’t known to block it from me.

Dropping to the edge of the bed, I ran my free hand across my forehead. “Okay, Bella. Walk me through this. Is the cat distressed?”

“No, it’s just lying on a branch. Shall I stick my tongue out at it again?”

“I’m not sure that’s going to work.”

“Huh.”

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