Chapter Four
A STEAMING MUG OF TEA is doing a good job of thawing my body, inside and out. I cup the sides of it to bring my fingers back to life. Andie sits across from me, drinking some herbal concoction that’s supposed to relax her uterus or something. I’m not exactly sure I want to see a relaxed uterus anywhere around me, but I don’t say anything to Andie. I’ve seen pregnant girls go nuts before and it ain’t pretty. And besides, if you can’t relax your uterus around your best friend, who can you do it with? I sigh, praying I won’t see anything weird. I don’t have the strongest stomach in the world.
“So what’s Ian’s deal?” I ask, totally cool-like. Andie will never suspect my motives are to find his weak spots. Ian MacKenzie? Oh, yeah. Challenge accepted. You are so going down, mister.
“What do you mean?” She takes a sip of her drink.
“You know … why’s he so cranky all the time? What’s he do here? Is he seeing anyone?”
“Do you want me to answer the last question first?” Andie asks, barely holding back a smile.
I shrug, like I’m not picking up her hint. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter to me.” Because I’m super cool and you have no idea what I’m up to, Andie, so don’t even try it!
“Well, let’s see … he’s not seeing anyone as far as I know. I really don’t know a whole lot about his current social life other than he goes out to the local bar a lot and drinks more than anyone would like. He never brings girls back here but he also doesn’t always come home every night, so you can do the math on that one.”
“Interesting. Anyone you know that he’s been with?”
“Not really. Just his ex-fiancée, Ginny. And I don’t think he’s been with her since the break-up.”
“Ex-fiancée? I remember you saying something about her before. How’d she become an ex again?”
Andie leans over her cup a little. If I’m not mistaken, she looks a little guilty. “When Mack went to Las Vegas, the night I met him, he was there to celebrate Ian’s engagement. It was his bachelor party.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember that. You ruined the party for everyone.”
“Hey!” She throws a plastic napkin ring at me.
I duck and stick my tongue out at her. “Missed me.”
She glares at me for a second but then continues. “Anyway, when he got back, rumors were flying about the whole thing being a bust because one of the guys disappeared all night with some girl, and Ginny thought it was Ian, so she did something stupid and Ian found out about it and that was the end of that.”
“Whoa. Back up. What did Ginny do, exactly?”
Andie looks around, checking to see if anyone’s listening. Lowering her voice, she answers. “She made a move on Mack.”
“Whaaaat?” I look around too and lean in closer. “She made a move on your man? Ian’s brother? What kind of skanky ho makes a move on a guy’s brother?”
“The kind that’s named Ginny, I guess. I’ve only seen her around town a couple times. I don’t know her at all.” Andie leans back in her chair. “They were together for a really long time.”
“Hmmm … so Ian’s probably really bitter on women, huh?”
“Not too bitter, since I guess he’s sleeping with some. But he’s bitter on love, I can tell you that.”
And since I’m not interested in love, that doesn’t bother me one bit. “So it’s been, like, years now, right? Since the break-up, I mean?”
“Yes.”
“So why’s he still being a prick?”
Andie sighs as she stares into her cup. “An excellent question. Do you want my version of why?”
“Of course.”
“I think he wants to be in a city somewhere.”
I snort. “No way.”
“Yes way.” Andie looks up again. “He’s an architect. I guess he was headed to Portland to start a new job when the whole marriage thing fell apart. He stayed here for whatever reason, but he’s not happy about it.”
“Why doesn’t he just leave if he’s not happy?”
“You’ll have to ask him that. I don’t dare rock that boat.”
“What do you mean?”
Andie gets up with difficulty and waddles over to the sink to wash her mug out. “He’s very touchy about anything having to do with that stuff, and to keep things copacetic between him and Mack, I stay out of it.”
“Wow. That’s very adult of you.” And so not like how I would handle it. I’d be all up in their business if I lived here.
She turns around and grins over her shoulder. “I’ve learned a few things since I moved out here.”
“I think your mother-in-law is rubbing off on you.” I pause before clarifying. “I mean that as a compliment, by the way.”
“And that’s how I’m taking it too.” Andie comes over and sits back down with a grunt. “She’s my adopted mom. I love her to pieces.”
“What’s up with your real mom? You haven’t said much about her.” I finish off my tea as I wait for her answer. Andie’s mom is kind of an a*shole, but she came to the wedding, so I have to assume the a*shole is trying. I haven’t asked Andie about her much over the past year because I’ve wanted to avoid unhappy issues.
Andie shrugs. “She’s in Seattle. I don’t see her much. We talk maybe once a month. It’s the best I can do with her right now.”
“That’s better than nothing, I guess.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
“Do you have to work today?” I tap my fingers on the table, searching for something to talk about when this conversation is done. This place is way too quiet for comfort.
“Nope. I cleared the decks for the birth. I’m pretty much just checking messages a couple times a day, but otherwise, I’m free. Are you bored yet?”
“Who me? No, don’t be silly. This place is beyond stimulating.”
She laughs. “Come on.” Standing is a struggle, but she manages. “Let’s go into town.”
I get up and walk with her to the front entrance. “What’s in town?”
“Civilization,” she says with a smile. Then she points to the boots she tried to get me to wear and suddenly goes serious. “Put those on and don’t give me any crap about it, either.”
I stare at the hateful things and whine. “But they’re soooo ugly!”
“Tough. We can buy you new boots at the store.”
That cheers me considerably. “Okay. You’ve sold me.” Leaving my cowgirl awesome boots by the door, I slide my feet into the surprisingly comfortable but still way-too-fugly clodhoppers Andie provided.
As soon as I step out onto the icy snow, I can appreciate that old adage that looks aren’t everything. “Oooo, squishyyy,” I say, smiling when the sound of the crunching snow does not also mean I’m on my ass staring at the sky for a change. These puppies are eating up the ground. I feel like a man on the moon, bouncing up almost in slow-mo with every step.
Andie talks while she waddles to the car. Her feet crunch the snow with every short stride. “Trust me, I learned pretty quick around here to adjust my mindset about a few things, footwear being one of them.”
I scoff. “Maybe in winter, but not summer.”
“Wrong. Summer too. There are snakes out here, so sandals around the ranch are a bad idea.”
Snakes? I run to catch up to her and stop only when I’m attached to her side. “Snakes?” I look over my shoulder to make sure none of them are trying to sneak up on me.
Andie tries to slap me away, but I’m not dissuaded from self-preservation that easily. I cling harder.
“Not in the winter, goof. They hibernate in the winter or go dormant or something.” She finally succeeds in pushing me off when we reach the driveway area.
“Or try to find somewhere warm to curl up,” I squeak, jumping up onto the running board of the truck she’s pointing her key ring at. Its lights flicker and the horn beeps once as the locks open.
“Just relax. You don’t need to worry about snakes right now. Mountain lions, yes. Snakes, no.”
My jaw drops open as I watch her walk around the front of the truck. My voice comes out high and squeaky. “You can’t be serious! Mountain Lions? Really?”
“Hurry up and get in,” she says as she opens her door. “There’s a lion over there behind those rocks, and I don’t want him to eat my best friend.”
My heart convulses in my chest and I squeal involuntarily as I try to get the door open, while at the same time trying not to knock myself off the truck’s running board.
“Lion! Lion!” I whisper loudly, without even realizing I’m doing it until the words are out. I fail miserably in my attempts to get in the car, and land in the snow on my knees. There’s not enough time for any of it to melt and get me wet though, because I can move surprisingly fast when the idea of being eaten alive is motivating me.
Slamming the door behind me, I can finally breathe again, although I sound like a frigging freight train. “Wow. That was close.” I swallow once to try and calm myself. It feels like my heart is in my throat. “Should we call the cops or the animal control people or something?”
Andie is trying to pull herself up into the truck, but she can’t because she’s laughing too hard. For a second I feel guilty that I didn’t help her pregnant butt in first, what with the lion and everything, but then I get suspicious. She’s not acting like she’s running for her life. Shouldn’t adrenaline be giving her the umph she needs to get more than a half-inch off the ground?
“Were you just messing with me?” I look out the back window, trying to see that mound she was talking about. There’s nothing there but some patches of snow. “There aren’t lions here, are there?”
If I had a snowball, I’d throw it right in her face. I don’t care if she’s pregnant. I’m pretty sure I just lost a year off my life or a month at least with that scare.
She’s inside and buckled before she answers, her cheeks bright red with happiness as she lets out a long sigh. “No, I swear, there really are mountain lions here. And coyotes and bears and wolves and all kinds of other scary shit. But there wasn’t one back there. I was just kidding about that one.”
I point my finger in her face. “That pregnancy excuse will only take you so far. I can still smack you. Just remember that.”
She swats my hand away and starts the truck. “Just keep your eyes open when you’re outside, that’s all I ask. I’m sure you’ll never see one, but just in case...”
I picture myself coming upon a lion wandering around the ranch and make my decision. “Do they sell guns here?”
She snorts. “Is the Pope Catholic?”
“How about winter running shoes?”
“No. You’re getting boots.”
“Fine.” I cross my arms, trying to picture how I’m going to arm myself for outdoor Ian stalking activities while also protecting myself from these man-eating beasts. A gun is probably a good idea. Plus some sort of shoe I can sprint over the snow in.
“What are you scheming up over there?” Andie asks, shooting me glances as we bounce over the rough road that leads to the highway.
“Nothing. No scheming. Just thinking about buying a gun.”
She laughs. “You’re not buying a gun. Don’t be ridiculous.”
I say nothing because she’s not the boss of me and I am too going to buy a gun. A girl’s got to protect herself, right?