Page 74 of Baking and Angels

A muffled voice came through the door before it opened. Then there was chaos as Charlie, followed by Cindy, dragged suitcases into Helena’s home.

“I’ve left him, that’s what’s happening!” Charlie declared, clearly answering something Cindyhad asked.

Rafferty didn’t care. Cindy was saying something in response, while Charlie was trying to wrangle a small yapping dog that was refusing to forget about the squirrel it saw.

“I’m sorry. Wait, I’m sorry,” Helena repeated, though what she was apologizing for, Rafferty hadn’t the faintest idea, “What hashappened?”

“No,we’rereally sorry,” Cindy interjected, shooting a harsh look at Charlie. “We should just go toa hotel.”

“How did you know we were here?” Rafferty asked.

“We didn’t! That was my point!” Cindydeclared.

Charlie picked up his little dog. “I just… didn’t know where to go. I wasn’tthinking.”

Cindy scoffed and rolled her eyes, exasperated since she had literally just told him to go to a hotel. Rafferty guessed she had been “just telling him” for awhile now.

“No, don’t be ridiculous, come in,” Helena invited, now stepping back to clear the door. Rafferty left her side and grabbed the handles of two suitcases crowding the entry. Apparently, Charlie brought a total of six.

“Sorry,” Cindy said, this one directly to him. “He’s been freaking out for the past hour, and since I was staying with him…”

“It’s okay,” Rafferty said. “You are Helena’s friends. I am not a stranger to people freaking out.” He was being serious, but it elicited a smile from Cindy.

“You’re a good guy, Rafferty,” she said. Her words hit him in his heart sharper than they should have, but Cindy didn’t seem to notice as her attention was pulled back to Charlie as he recountedhis story.

Charlie had been talking the whole time to Helena. “I meanshewas just standing right there, in our apartment, wearingmybathrobe. To be fair, she looked as surprised as I was, but why would hedo that!?”

“You mean, this girlfriend of his, she was in your apartment?”

“Yes! I mean, has he lost his damn mind?”

“I think he wanted to be caught,” Cindy said, crossing her arms. “Like a cry for help or something. He knew we would be coming back.”

“I don’t know what he’s thinking, I just know… I just can’t!” Charlie’s face twisted up and Helena threw her arms around him. He didn’t start crying, just shuddered and let himself be held.

“Charlie!” a shout came from outside.

Because Rafferty stood nearest the door, he looked out to see Chris, Charlie’s husband. He ran from where he had badly parked his car on the street, the lights still on, the driver’s side door standing open.

“No! I don’t want to talk to him,” Charlie said. “I can’t just yet.I can’t.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” Helena’s face was full of determination, a battle look settling on herfeatures.

“No, I’ll take care of it,” Rafferty said, not at all prepared to let her go anywhere near this so-called friend who had already threatened Helena a few times already. He didn’t wait for her to agree; he moved out onto the small bit of porch she had and met Chris at the bottom ofthe steps.

“Charlie, I’m sorry. I mean it. Can we just talk about this? Please!” Chris shouted, even as Rafferty stopped him bodily from proceeding upthe steps.

“No,” Rafferty said firmly, blocking the other man’s way. “He doesn’t want to talk to you. You should go.” Again, Rafferty thought to reach for his demonic energy to work on the human’s emotions and compel him to obey. Even if such a thing would have been expensive, Rafferty knew how to make it work. As a man, his words lacked that sort of compulsion.

“Get off me!” Chris struggled, at first simply trying to push past the human obstacle, but when Rafferty proved to be determined, Chris laid his own hands on him in a weird ineffectual slapping motion.

“I said, ‘No!’” Rafferty shouted, ignoring the slaps, as he seized Chris’s shoulders, determined to walk this jilted lover to his car.

“Chris, please, listen to him,” Helena called from the top of the steps, not daring to get any closer yet, for which Rafferty was grateful. Chris seemed determined not to listen to either of them.

It didn’t help things that Charlie came out onto the porch at that moment, his own face tear-streaked. “Chris, you have to go! I need time!”

“How dare you do this to me? Do you understand you are humiliating me?!” Chris shot back, his rage replacing his pleas. “I said ‘Get off me!’” he shouted inches from Rafferty’s face.

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