“You know Sylvia’s mouth. I know absolutely everything about him, and I mean everything. I even know the size of his ding-dong. That’s why I asked you if you checked out his fly. Why do you think I’m dying to meet him? A guy who brings that much to the party? Well...what can I say?... Wait a minute. Why do you care? You’re taken.” She slashed the air with a hand. “Off the market.”
Sandi felt a flush crawl up her neck. “I’m not interested for myself. It’s uh, it’s that sweet little puppy. I’m worried about him going to a good home.”
Fiona leaned closer and laughed softly. “Why, Sandi Walker. Pretty boy Nick Conway’s got your juices flowing.”
She reared back and swallowed another swig of her margarita. “And that amps him up for me. I have just got to meet him.”
Sandi’s carnal juices had indeed flowed when she met Nick Conway, but the new and successful businesswoman Sandi Walker had no intention of delving into that fact. The last thing she needed in her new life was an inarticulate cowboy in a worn-out pickup truck who was probably being pursued by a string of willing women. She lifted her chin indignantly. “Are you implying that my juices don’t flow?”
Fiona tilted her head back and laughed and lost her balance, nearly overturning herself and her drink. She righted herself again. “Sandi you’re the nicest person I’ve ever known and I know you’ve been married and divorced and I’m sure ol’ Richard does something for you, but if what Sylvia says is true—and I gotta think it is ’cause she might be a lot of things but she’s not a liar and she’s bound to be an expert—then this guy is out of your league.”
One thing Sandi had observed about Fiona. When she was drunk, she talked without commas and periods.
Her inebriated friend hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings, but old insecurities weren’t buried so deeply in Sandi’s subconscious that she didn’t feel a sting. Losing two handsome and charming husbands to other women could do that, even if both of them had been underachieving dullards. Lesson learned the hard way: Relationships with good-looking men came with a price.
In terms of fidelity, she had lucked out when Richard Townsend had come along. He might not be the most handsome man she had ever met, might not have the most sparkling personality, but he wouldn’t even look at another woman.
After this conversation with Fiona, Sandi’s only hope for the sexy-looking Mr. Conway was that he wasn’t a dog abuser.
Chapter 5
Fiona’s cell phone warbled and she launched into an animated phone call. Sandi mouthed the words, “Gotta go.”
As she trekked from Fiona’s porch to her own, she finally returned Richard’s call. They made a plan for him to come by in an hour. She needed to shower, shave her legs and pretty herself up for the evening ahead. Lately, more often than not, an evening with Richard meant staying in, eating dinner, having sex and him departing early. He didn’t even stay over anymore. If she could find the time, she might worry about that. In truth, at the end of the day she was as exhausted as he was and she was happy to have him go home and sleep in his own bed.
She really couldn’t fault him for being worn out. As a criminal defense attorney, his time was not his own when a big trial was pending and in Midland, the current murder trial couldn’t get any bigger.
John Wilson and the crime he had committed stayed in her mind. Sandi understood criminals had a right to legal representation, but Richard approached his career as if it were a game in which the tally of wins and losses took precedence over all else. She had a hard time accepting that the man with whom she had an intimate relationship was exploring every possibility to set this Wilson creep free. Especially after the evil bastard had bragged about how killing the elderly woman had been as easy as swatting flies.
For Sandi and Richard to fall into heated debates about his profession wasn’t out of the ordinary. And with him coming over, she needed to shake those negative thoughts from her mind.
Reaching her house, she went to her spare bedroom and picked Jake off his perch, then proceeded outside. She sat down on her porch to watch her children play in the backyard. Another vision of a huge fenced area with acres of room scrolled through her mind. Someday, when her business became more profitable, she would have it. She just had to be patient.
Sudden tears welled in her eyes. She loved these defenseless, cast-off animals so much and she would protect them with the fierceness of a mama lion. Every one of them was defective in some way and if not for her giving them a place on the planet, all of them would now be gone. She had been their savior.
Suddenly, Jake flapped his wings and screamed, “Get that sonofabitch!”
Language from the sports bar, no doubt. “Jake! Watch your mouth ... er, beak.”
“Waffle! Waffle!” Jake squawked. “What the fuck?... What. The. Fuuuck?”
“Jake! You’re outside! You cannot talk like that outside the house.”
Sandi gave herself a mental eyeroll. God, had she lost it? He was a dumb bird.
“Bubble-butt, bubble-butt,” Jake squawked.
Sandi’s gaze swerved to her neighbor’s house. Sure enough, Stephanie Cummings was in her backyard watering her flowers. “Jake! Cut it out! I mean it! You’re going to get me in so much trouble.”
The silly parrot cocked his head to the side and studied her for a long moment, “Jake’s bad. Jake’s bad.” A soft garble came from his throat that sounded like a coo. “Kiss Jake. Kiss Jake.”
He always knew how to get out of trouble. “Oh, no, you don’t. I’m not letting you sweet talk me. It’s time for you to go inside. You’ve been ugly and I have to get ready for Richard.”
Jake
