Page 19 of Catch of a Lifetime
That’swhat I needed right now.
For Dave to regain consciousness, hear the DPD guy flirting with me, and come out to stake his claim. I braced for disaster.
“See you later,” the DPD guy said, and strode back to his van. He leapt in, threw it into a sharp, three-point turn, beeped his horn at me, and tore out of there like the police were in pursuit.
I sagged.
Today was doing a number on my stress levels.
As soon as the van was out of sight, I opened the door and fell over Dave’s tail as it unfurled and flopped out.
Jerry was standing over by the sink, filling the kettle. He’d put one of the sofa cushions under Dave’s head.
“How’s your hernia?” I asked Jerry, gathering up Dave’s fin. I straddled the very base of his tail, my back to him as I bundled up every gauzy wisp and made sure that he was clear before I shut the door.
His fin fluttered in my arms.
I turned to look over my shoulder. Dave was staring at me, his dark eyes hazy. He grunted softly and lifted a hand.
I crawled off him and collapsed onto the wooden floor beside him. Scooping me closer, he pulled my head onto his shoulder and let out a deep, heartfelt sigh.
I lay there for a few minutes, listening to Jerry clink and clatter about in the kitchen as he made tea. The tap whooshed on and off. The kettle began to boil. Dave’s body softened. I hoped that he’d fallen asleep, now that he was safe. I was afraid that he’d just blacked out again.
Behind me, one of the kitchen chairs screeched over the floor as Jerry dragged it out from under the table. “Tea’s made,” he said. “Come and have a cup.”
Jerry Barnes. Mother hen.
The best friend a man could ask for.
I got slowly to my feet, pausing to see if Dave was going to wake up before I moved.
He didn’t.
He just lay there.
Jerry watched us contemplatively.
I bent down, pecked Dave on the cheek, and went to join Jerry at the table.
He slid a mug of tea over to me. I grimaced down at it.
“Don’t start with me,” Jerry said. “Nobody ever said,Had a shock? Pour some caffeine on it. It goes,Had a shock? Have a nice hot cup of sweet tea.”
My grimace deepened and I tilted the mug towards me, glaring at the beige liquid. “There’s sugar in here?”
I took my coffee black, and straight up.
“Yeah,” Jerry said. “Plenty in here, too.” He’d put some biscuits on a plate, and he held it under my nose.
I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn’t hungry, but at the look in his beady little eyes, I subsided. “Thanks,” I said meekly, stuffed a Hobnob in my mouth and washed it down with half the mug of tea in one gulp.
Jerry shook his head at me.
“I’m having a coffee after,” I said.
“If you eat two more biscuits. I ain’t having you go into shock again. Not on my watch.”
“I’m not in shock.”
