Short Fuse
© 1992/2016 by K Pelle
Chapter 10
I awakened feeling warm and very much wanted. How could I feel any other way? I was being cuddled by two beautiful women. It was quite dark, so I couldn't see much, but I could certainly feel them cuddling against me.
Unfortunately each of them was laying on one of my arms and the circulation was being cut off. I tried to wriggle my arms free, but they felt like dead weights. No matter how I tried, I couldn't seem to get any movement in them, not even in my fingers. However, now that I had tried to move them, they felt extremely uncomfortable and that feeling seemed to grow with each passing second. I had to do something.
"Arlene?" I spoke quietly.
When she didn't answer, I repeated myself a bit louder. "Arlene!"
"Mmm, whazamatter?"
"Sorry to wake you, but you and Noreen are pinning my arms. They've fallen asleep and they're starting to hurt."
"Oh 'ats okay," she mumbled and squirmed slightly.
I waited a minute and when she didn't move off of my arm, I spoke once more.
"Arlene!" I spoke slightly louder.
"Mmmph?"
She did wriggle downward but somehow managed to shift her body even closer. At least she wasn't laying on my arm now, instead she was using my chest just below my shoulder as a pillow and I felt a slight relief in that arm.
Then I felt her hand move under the blankets as she got more comfortable. It paused as she shifted, her hand now resting on my stomach. I breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing what I would have done if she had moved it lower. Then the hand shifted again and I drew a ragged breath as it slid downward. Now it was touching my rapidly hardening erection and it was all I could do to hold my breath and not moan loudly.
"Mmm. Mmm," she murmured, sounding like she had just tasted a chocolate as her fingers stretched out, caressing my lengthening shaft.
"Arlene?" I whispered again, torn between wanting to enjoy her attentions and feeling that I should stop her from doing anything more.
I tried to move my arm to tap her on the back, but it still felt like a useless weight. Now her hand shifted, her fingers rolled, then slid softly up and down along the underside of my cock. Her touch was light and gentle, so enticing and yet at the same time so distressing. Each time she moved, the palm of her hand shifted over the ultra-sensitive skin of my glans. Even when she moved only one finger it felt wonderful.
I gasped in reaction and perhaps that encouraged her. Her hand moved more, now taking on a gentle rolling motion that soon had me breathing deeply. I didn't dare speak. If I wakened her now, I was unsure what would happen or what I could possibly say. Instead I could feel my body tense in anticipation, her fingers stroked so gently, so slowly. I found myself holding my breath, waiting, anticipating . . .
"Mmm," she murmured again, shifting slightly so that her hand rolled and repositioned.
Then Noreen moved, lifting her head and mumbling "Whazzup?"
Arlene's hand paused, then slowly shifted. Her head slowly lifted and I could feel it turn. Her hand moved further, pulling back slowly. I lay there, hardly daring to breathe, wondering what was going to happen. I was wishing in a way that Noreen had slept on, and yet I was somehow relieved that she'd interrupted Arlene's attentions.
"I was laying on Dave's arm and put it to sleep," Arlene whispered.
"Oh," Noreen sighed. "Maybe me too."
Both of them shifted and now I was left with a woody that just wouldn't quit and two arms that began to tingle and ache almost instantly.
"Damn," I growled softly.
Arlene jerked like I had struck her and Noreen lifted her head.
"S'matter?" Noreen said quietly.
"Both of my arms are asleep," I grumbled. "First I couldn't move 'em, and now they hurt."
"Pins an' needles?" Arlene asked. "Maybe a light massage?"
"I'll get this one," Noreen said, just as opened my mouth to comment.
Arlene snapped on a bedside light and they both looked down at my arms as they shifted, then their hands reached out to touch my upper arms. Massage was not a good idea, it felt like both of them were using rakes with sharpened teeth and I moaned.
"No stop. Please," I gasped. "That hurts."
"I know. We were laying on them and cut of circulation. I'll warm up a wash cloth and use it to get the blood to flow," Noreen offered, as she slipped out of bed and moved toward the bathroom.
Since I was now alone with Arlene, I wondered if she'd say anything about what had happened previously. Personally, I didn't dare bring up the subject. Instead I lay there, flexing my fingers slowly and feeling the pains shoot through my arms as the nerves came back to life. She looked into my eyes, then she blushed, which really surprised me. Suddenly I realized that she wasn't as confident as she'd tried to appear.
"I don't really think I need the warmth of hot cloths," I said quietly. "I'm getting feeling back naturally."
To prove it, I wiggled my fingers then slowly moved my arms, lifting them upward. I guess she thought I wanted a hug and if she was offering, I wasn't going to turn one down. I managed to make my arms work enough to wrap her in them when Noreen returned to the room.
"Well, if you just wanted to get rid of me, you could have said something," she snapped and turned to stomp out.
"Wait. It's not like that," I managed to say before Arlene poked me in the ribs.
"Shhh," Arlene whispered in my ear. "It is like that, for me anyway."
Noreen ignored my protests and we could hear her heavy footsteps on the stairs.
"Where's she off to?" I asked, worried that we'd offended her.
"Probably upstairs to sleep on Mom's spare bed. Now, quit worrying about her will you? We need to talk."
"About what?"
"You were awake earlier - you know what I'm talking about," her voice was soft and quiet in my ear and her hand shifted, sliding down along my belly.
"Whoa" I growled, grabbing her hand. "I think we need to consider this."
"That's what I was doing, checking things out," she sighed. "If Noreen had just slept a bit longer . . ."
"Well, she didn't and I've had a chance to cool off. Now I'm thinking that perhaps I should go sleep on your couch for the rest of the night."
"Okay, you win. I'll try to be good," she grouched. "Damn it Dave, I care for you and I want to make love with you. How long are you going to make me wait?"
I sighed deeply and tried to relax, then I grabbed her hand in mine, just squeezing it gently as I looked at her. I had to think for a moment about what I wanted to say and exactly how I wanted to say it. I wanted to make sure I used the right words to create the right feeling. Finally, I took one last deep breath, letting it out slowly, then I smiled at her.
"Arlene, I like you very much. You have a quick mind, a great personality, and a wonderful body. You're pretty, generous, and loving as well as talented, and hard working. On top of that, you have a great family. But you have to realize that I'm a lost soul at the moment."
"I've had the pins kicked right out from under me by what's happened and I'm hanging onto my sanity by a thread. My comfort zone has been completely destroyed. I've been a patient in a hospital for the first time I can ever remember, my house was damaged, my wife is dead, and I don't know what's coming tomorrow."
"I just can't risk becoming involved with you, because I might hurt you in an emotional reaction that isn't really meant for you. I know that emotionally I'm not stable enough to guarantee to myself that I'll treat you as well as I know you deserve to be treated. Does that make sense to you?"
"But I can help to share the burden," she protested.
"You already have been sharing the burden and I love you for it, but I have to know that I'm going to be able to stand on my own two feet before I dare to be any more involved with you. Until I've reconciled in my own mind the fact that I'm no longer a married man, there's no way I could be physically involved with you. It just isn't something that I can do," I sighed deeply. "I guess I'm one of that seventeen percent statistic, the married man that remains true to his marriage no matter what the temptation."
"If we get together after all this is done, are you going to think of me the same way?" she whispered.
"I think my personality pattern is fully developed and quite steady, if that's what you mean."
"Damn you, that isn't what I asked," she sat up and stared down at me. "Let me ask that another way; if you married again, would you remain true to your next wife like you were to Claire?"
"I can't see why not."
"Then I suppose I can wait," she sighed, snapping off the light and then snuggling down at my side with her head on my shoulder.
I sighed and wrapped my arms around her, and she snuggled even closer, then murmured softly. I lay there, trying to sleep, but with my mind awhirl over what was going on around me, once more thinking about the same personal problems that I'd been facing for days.
I snuggled against Dave and felt his tenseness. This time I knew my unconscious actions had been the cause for that and I chastised myself heartlessly. What the hell had I been thinking? That was the problem, I hadn't been thinking, I'd been reacting. At the time I'd felt only a desire to give him pleasure, but I hadn't considered that he might not want to be pleasured at that time. I'd been a selfish bitch again. A selfish bitch that meant well, but still a stupid selfish bitch.
If I was going to convince this man to be a permanent part of my life, I had to smarten up. I had to quit making these stupid mistakes that pushed him too far and too fast. I was going to have to learn to watch myself even in my sleep.
As I lay there, I felt him slowly begin to relax. His hands shifted on my flesh in a gentle caress and I realized just how wonderful that felt. I relished his touch. I gloried in it. The words he'd spoken about not wanting to get too close to me until he could trust himself not to hurt me slowly sank in as well. Then it dawned on me, in his own round about way he was admitting that he cared for me, perhaps even loved me.
Wait a minute, hadn't he actually said he loved me? Something about sharing his burdens and . . . what else? It didn't matter. None of it mattered. I felt so much better. Even if he'd only used the word love in the manner of friendship, he had said it.
He loved me! Having him say it meant so much. I sighed, then snuggled and relaxed.
I could feel his heartbeat through my breasts as they pressed against my chest. His heart was beating in an almost perfect match with mine, just one more way that we seemed meant for each other. I had to smile at my own silly thoughts, trying to calm my inner excitement, trying to think rationally.
Then I questioned my reasoning. Why should I force my thoughts to be calm? This was wonderful! This was absolutely marvellous! This was exactly what I'd wanted. I'd hunted and dreamed of this for years! I was in the arms of a man who loved me!
I lay there in a state of euphoria. This man was going to be my mate. I was no longer going to be alone. I had someone to love and he loved me in return.
Eventually we both fell asleep only to be woken in the light of early morning by the ringing of the telephone. Arlene managed to untangle herself from my arms and grab the darn thing by about the third ring. After a muttered hello and a few seconds of listening, she handed the phone to me. It was the insurance adjuster and he wanted to ask questions about how he was to treat the curtains and drapes in my house. Then he wanted to know about the carpets and the floors. When he started in about paint colours, I lost my cool.
"Dammit, we discussed all this yesterday. Call me back in half an hour when I'm fully awake," I growled and hung up.
"What's up?" Arlene asked.
"That bloody insurance adjuster wants me to come over to the house. He says he's not sure what I said to him yesterday about all the various things that I said had to be done."
"But you told him all that and he wrote it down."
"That's what I thought," I frowned. "Somehow it doesn't make sense."
She got a strange look on her face and she sighed softly. "You'd never met him before yesterday had you?"
"No, should I have?"
"Oh, no. I wasn't meaning that. It's just that you don't seem to realize that you're a hot news item at the moment. I'm suspicious that you might be running into a reporter and a photographer if you go to your house this morning. If you look at all the things that have happened to you in the past few days, an interview with you, or even a photo of you at your house would be big news in this city."
"But how would they know about what's going on in my life and how to find me?"
"That's just it. They have inside sources that feed them leads at the hospital and even down at the police station. A lot of them have scanners tuned to listen in on police, fire, and ambulance traffic. To them sensational news is their bread and butter and let's face it, your life has been one sensation after another for the past few days.
"They're going to be hunting for you. They may not know how to find you right now, but they do know where you lived before all this happened, and they may be waiting for you to show up there. They may have paid off your insurance guy to get you to come back to your house in order to contact you. Right now, contacting you is worth money to a reporter or a news photographer. You and your family are hot news."
"Oh great," I groaned. "Just what I need, more damn pressure."
"Well, don't forget you're staying with a cop," she grinned. "Would you like me to help you ease that pressure if I can?"
"The mental pressure, yes," I had to grin, catching the double entendre.
"Shucks," she grinned, snapping her fingers as she caught on too. "Actually, that is what I meant. I've got a couple of suggestions and some questions for you though. First, maybe you should warn your family about what's going on. Second, I think you're right about Shannon staying home. I think Shannon and Cindy should both stay around the house for a day or two."
"Cindy too?"
"Yeah, they're known to be almost joined at the hip at their school. Cindy would be under pressure there too and that wouldn't be fair on her. I'll call their school and explain that both of them will be staying home," she sat up and stretched. "Oh, another question, did you give the insurance adjuster the phone number here?"
"Yeah, you said I could, remember?"
"Okay, if the news people get desperate, they may try to trace my phone number, so we have to expect them to show up here. It is unlisted, but that doesn't mean much to those people. They know who to talk to and who will take bribes," she sighed. "And back to the the insurance guy, do you have any nosy neighbours that you could phone who would know if there were strange people wandering around the neighbourhood asking questions?"
"Sure. Mrs. Wilson, just down the street from our house. I think she lives for the sensation of knowing what's going on around her. In fact, she seems to have her nose firmly planted in everyone's business. She has a heart of gold, but along with it she has the curiosity of a cat. She always seems to be looking out her window."
"Do you think you could call her?"
So I called Mrs. Wilson even though I thought it might be early for her. To my surprise, she answered on the second ring.
After hearing who I was, she poured out her sympathies to me, then asked if there was anything she could do to help. When I asked about news reporters, she said she thought that there seemed to be several of them there and added that there was even a TV camera crew with a big van parked down the street. If I was slightly annoyed with the insurance adjuster before, that news was enough to really set me off. I thanked her for her help and then turned to Arlene, telling her the news. Then I got out of bed.
"I thought it sounded fishy," she sighed. "Where are you going?"
I'd gotten up and was rummaging through my wallet. I turned, holding up a card.
"My 'buddy,' the insurance adjustor, gave me his card," I held it up. "This has his company's office number on it. I think they should know that they may have a person on their staff who is opening them up for the possibility of a lawsuit. I plan to phone and complain."
"Good for you," she said, as her lips twisted into a feral grin and she grabbed her portable phone. "I'm going to see if I can rattle a cage or two myself. I have an idea."
It took me a moment or two to get through to the manager of the insurance company's local office, but I managed. After I had explained what I believed was going on, he gave me the impression that he was definitely not impressed with his adjuster's actions. He asked me to hold for a moment, and put me on hold. Then to my surprise I was suddenly involved in a conference phone call that included the manager, the adjuster, and myself.
"Mr Gamble, I apologize for trying to induce you to come to your home today," the adjuster said quietly. "My wife's brother works for the Clarion and he happened to hear that I was handling the cleanup of your . . ."
I completely lost my temper at that.
"You son of a bitch! I don't care why you tried to get me there," I roared, interrupting him. "I have more than enough personal problems of my own to deal with. Your apology means absolutely nothing to me, because it's forced, probably in an vain attempt to keep your job. I've seen more compassion displayed by a rattle snake than I have received from you and I don't wish to speak to you in any way at the present time or at any time in the future. In fact I think I'll let my solicitors handle any further communication with your company. Goodbye to you both, at least for now, but I imagine I will see you in court in the near future. You are both responsible for the situation and for my anger at this time and if I have my way it's gonna cost you both, big time!"
As I hung up the phone, I found myself simply shaking with anger. I knew it wasn't being reasonable, but I couldn't seem to control the rage I felt. Getting to my feet, I ignored Arlene and went into the bathroom. I hopped into the shower, perhaps hoping to wash away the feelings I was trying to deal with.
The shower seemed to help and after several minutes in a lukewarm shower, I felt more in control of myself. I dried off, then wrapped a towel around my waist and went back to see Arlene in the bedroom. To my surprise, both Cindy and Shannon were laying on the bed listening as Arlene still talked on the phone.
"Hi Daddy," Shannon said quietly rolling over and holding out her arms for a hug.
As I wrapped her in my arms and hugged her close, it took a few seconds for me to realize that she was nude and so was Cindy.
"Are you still angry, Daddy?" Shannon asked quietly as she leaned back in my arms just far enough to see my face.
"I'm not angry with you, Punkin. I'm still upset about the idea that the newspaper people are making our lives more difficult though,"
"That may stop pretty quickly," Arlene said, holding a hand over the phone. "I'm on the phone with the police chief and he's going to try to get the news people to stop their harassment of you and your family."
"But they haven't really . . ."
"Yet," Arlene interrupted. "But that isn't saying that they haven't tried. Just let me see what we can do about a gag order of sorts. Okay?"
"Okay," I shrugged my shoulders.
"I need your lawyer's name. Then you'd better call him. He needs to be warned about this and everything else that's happened this weekend," she continued, pointing at the regular phone.
I stared at her for a second. Try as I might, I couldn't remember my lawyer's last name, instead I could only remember his nickname from University, Jaro. I had to send Shannon to get my laptop so that I could look up his name and phone number, then I almost slapped myself for being so silly. His nickname might have been Jaro, but his real name was Santos Jarosinski and the real kicker was that he'd been my roommate for four years. That's when I knew that my concussion had affected me more than I'd thought, but then I was under stress as well. Right at the moment I didn't have time to worry about it though.
After giving Jaro's name and number to Arlene, I sat down on the edge of the bed. With Shannon cuddled against my side, I dialled his number. It was too early for him to be in his office, but I was able to leave a voice message about what had happened. I asked him to call me back about the news people and about the insurance company, then suggested that I wanted to see him in person.
After calling him, I called my sister, and told Michelle about the problems we'd been having with the news people and warning her that they might be around to talk to her if they happened to trace her name and address. After talking to her about that and a few other things for a while, I was able to hang up and simply relax for a moment. I'd hardly shifted to hold Shannon in a hug when Arlene hung up her cell phone and smiled at me.
"There, now even I could use a cup of coffee," she sighed. "Cindy, do you suppose you and Shannon could make some for us? I need to talk to Dave for a moment and I think we should be alone."
I was surprised that Shannon didn't argue. Instead, she hugged me tight for a second, then slipped out of the bedroom with Cindy, and even closed the door behind her.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Well, the chief took the time to explain a bit about the investigation of the deaths of Claire and your mother-in-law," Arlene said quietly. "From what they've found, they think Claire committed suicide in full view of her mother. They think that drove her mother over the edge and she committed suicide herself."
"Oh cripes," I stared at her in disbelief.
"They're going to go over the house once more today. Sometimes in a case like this there's a suicide note hidden somewhere in the house."
"I just can't believe it," I shook my head. "I don't see why Claire would be suicidal."
"Dave, she may have thought that she was at a dead end. She may have thought she'd killed you. She may have felt remorse over the way she'd treated Shannon. She would certainly have thought she destroyed her former home and that phone message from her mother did say that Claire wasn't welcome there. She may have felt she had several reasons to commit suicide, especially if she was mentally ill in any way. From what I saw and heard of her actions, she certainly seemed unstable to me. I think just about anything could have caused her to become violent toward others or herself."
"Okay, I'll admit that Claire suddenly changed and seemed to me to go bananas, but her mother?" I looked at her in wonderment. "I mean the old lady was eccentric, but I don't think she would have taken her own life for any reason."
"Dave, if the woman isolated herself from the world like she did, I can't see her being very stable to start with," Arlene said quietly, shifting over beside me and laying an arm across my shoulders. "I don't think it would take much to send someone like that off the deep end and into a downward spiral. I'm afraid I can see her doing just what the investigation seems to be proving that she did. At any rate, the Police Chief thinks you should talk to either him or one of the investigators sometime today."
I just sighed and let myself settle against her, accepting her implied offer of support. We were still sitting in that position when there was a light knock on the door.
"Yes?" Arlene spoke.
"Umm, Hi guys," Noreen said quietly, slipping inside and closing the door behind her. "Look, about last night, I'm sorry for being a fifth wheel, I didn't really realize that you two were sort of . . ."
"We were what?" I snapped.
"Unh, involved, I guess," Noreen almost whispered. "I should have known from the way you acted, but it just didn't sink in somehow."
"Noreen, he keeps turning me down," Arlene chuckled. "You weren't doing anything more than postponing my frustrations."
"Just a minute," I snapped. "I've explained myself before. Right now I can't devote the time I think you deserve to you or your family."
I shook off her arm and stood up, grabbing my shorts and slipping them on. "As it is, I need to worry about Shannon and myself. I have to make sure we're settled into some form of stability again before I can even contemplate adding more complications to our lives. I thought you understood that."
I didn't wait for an answer. Instead I walked out and across Arlene's studio to the sliding doors and from them out into the morning sunlight in the back yard. Flopping into one of the deck chairs, I mentally berated myself for being so quick to anger. Then I sighed as I realized that it was the pressure brought on by everything that had happened. That's what was making me step so far out of character. The only problem was that I didn't know what to do about it.
I stared at Dave's back as he strode away and realized that I'd tried to be funny at the wrong time. I'd upset him again and he had a right to be upset. I hadn't meant to criticize him, but my smart aleck remark certainly had sounded like I did. I'd been laying the blame for my personal frustrations on him when they weren't his fault, they were mine. I could feel tears of frustration at my own stupidity welling up in my eyes.
"Oh dammit Sis, I am sorry," Noreen said.
"It was my fault, not yours," I admitted and then the tears broke free.
I was angry at myself, I was frustrated that I'd screwed up again, and I admit it, I was more sexually frustrated than I'd ever felt in all my life. I'd reached a point where I had to either lose my temper or break into tears. Thankfully, the tears had won out.
Noreen wrapped me in her arms and I wept on her shoulder, then I heard Cindy asking Noreen what was wrong.
"Your mom and I said the wrong things at the wrong time and we set off Dave's anger. He walked out rather than paddling us like we deserved because we didn't listen and we hurt him. It wasn't intentional, but it was our fault," Noreen answered.
"Daddy wouldn't paddle anyone for anything," Shannon said sharply.
"Honey, that's not what she meant," I managed to blubber. "I'm the one who set him off and I guess I do deserve to be disciplined for being so stupid."
"Mom, what did you do?"
"I teased him when he was hurting and I shouldn't have been so insensitive. I guess . . ."
"Oh God, look at the time! I'm sorry Sis, I've got to run or I'll be late for work," Noreen squawked. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yes," I snapped. "Get going. We can talk later."
As Noreen hurried off to work, both Cindy and Shannon moved closer, almost instantly I was being hugged even tighter than before. I let myself cry for a bit, then I realized that tears weren't helping my mood, and they certainly wouldn't make me feel much better. The only thing that would do that would be to apologize to Dave - again.
After only a few moments, the anger had boiled away and I was left feeling ashamed of myself for reacting the way I had. It wasn't so much that I was ashamed of being angry, instead I was ashamed of being angry at someone who had only shown me kindness. Now I felt like crap and knew I had to go inside and apologize.
Only I didn't get the chance.
Instead, Arlene suddenly appeared in front of me, fully dressed and looking like she'd been crying.
"Dave, I'm so sorry for pushing so hard. I know I wasn't being fair to you or letting you recover in your own way. I really truly am so sorry," she managed to say before she started to cry.
"I'm the one who should be apologizing," I muttered as I stood up and wrapped her in my arms. "You didn't deserve my anger to be directed at you."
We'd been standing for a minute, literally crying on each other's shoulders when we heard a noise right behind us.
"Daddy, just kiss and make up, please," Shannon's voice plead.
"Yeah. We're starving," Cindy added.
"And we know you both want to."
"So do it. Then we can eat together like a family should."
I actually had been going to kiss Arlene. The quote "out of the mouth's of babes" popped into my mind for an instant. At the same time there was something about having my daughter and her daughter, both standing there and rooting me on, that put me off. Arlene pushed back from me and turned on the two girls.
"That's enough teasing, you two," she said shortly. "I was just apologizing to Dave for pressuring him when he's under so much stress. He certainly doesn't need pressure from you as well. Both of you are quite capable of cooking breakfast for yourselves, so if you're that hungry, go make yourself something to eat."
"Sorry," they both said almost in unison as they slipped away, looking like they had just been chastised far worse than they had.
"They're not that far from the truth," I said quietly. "But you're right too."
"Pardon?"
"Okay," I sighed deeply. "I do feel a tremendous physical attraction for you as they surmised, but right now just being here and near you is putting me under more pressure than I need. Yet I really don't know where else I could go that would be any better, most places I can think of would be worse."
"Look. I'd like another chance," Arlene almost whispered. "This time I'd like to be supportive, but not pushy. Please, can we try again?"
"I'd like that," I smiled. "I have so many things on my mind that I need to make some notes and try to organise my thoughts. Then I suppose I need to prioritize the essential tasks and take care of them one at a time."
She looked at me calmly and nodded. "I have a table and chair I can set up for you. You could put a phone and your laptop on that, with lots of room left for you to have writing space. Would that help?"
"Actually, all I need is a place to sit and a telephone to use. I can use the laptop anywhere," I answered. "I could work in the bedroom if you want me out of your way."
"I think you should be out where you have company and people to run errands if you need anything," she shook her head. "You might as well be sitting comfortably at something like a desk as well and that's no problem. All I have to do is move a few sketches from the small table I use as a desk."
I didn't get a chance to argue, she was on her way inside before I could even start a discussion. Feeling slightly hungry and a lot calmer, I sighed at her forcefulness, but followed her inside after a moment. She was busy picking up a series of sketches from a table near the tall windows that faced the garden; meanwhile, the girls were setting the table.
"Breakfast is almost ready, Daddy," Shannon said quietly. "Noreen even borrowed some ground coffee from the neighbours so you could have real perked coffee this morning."
"Well, I guess I owe Noreen a thank you."
"You'll have to thank her later, Mr. Gamble. She's already left for work," Cindy said.
"Besides Dave, she did it because Shannon asked to run to the corner store," Arlene said quietly. "She's really the one who deserves a thanks for thinking of your addiction to caffeine."
Since that statement felt like an invitation to start an argument, I simply reached out and hugged Shannon. She snuggled close for a few seconds, then excused herself to go back to preparing the table.
"Mom's a nut about food addictions, Mr. Gamble," Cindy grinned. "She hates the idea that I eat white sugar when I'm away from home. Have you got any idiosyncrasies like that?"
"Does a really strong dislike for Siamese cats count?" Shannon asked.
"Shannon, you're talking about two particular cats and they were spoiled from the day they were born," I stopped suddenly. "Oh damn. Those two bloody cats are running around free. What can we do about them?"
"Go catch them?" Cindy offered.
"They hate Dad and me," Shannon replied.
"Cats are resilient. Just ask a neighbour to set out some cat food for them," Arlene suggested. "Or you could get that insurance adjuster and have his cleanup crew try to catch them, that is, if they come inside. But then if they catch them, what do you want to do with them?"
"Get rid of them," Shannon barked.
"They have pedigrees as long as your arm," I shrugged. "We could always give them to some cat fancier."
"Don't you mean sell them?" Cindy asked.
"No, he meant give them away," Shannon stated flatly. "I know I wouldn't want to charge anyone for that pair of mean little bitches and I don't think Daddy would either."
"Shannon, watch your language," I said automatically.
That little flurry about the cats set my mind to work. In only a few minutes I'd eaten a bite of breakfast and was sitting at the desk that Arlene had prepared for me, working away on my laptop.
First I prioritized the items that I needed to take care of. I needed to see the doctor. I had to speak to my lawyer about that stupid insurance adjuster, then have him check on both Claire and her mother's wills, because I might need to make the arrangements for their funerals. I made a note to myself to ask my lawyer about Mrs. Leech's house too, supposing that Shannon might inherit it, at least from what I remembered of the old witch's will she might.
As I was making notes on my laptop, Arlene wandered over and I adjusted the laptop screen slightly to let her see better.
"I wasn't trying to look over your shoulder," she protested.
"I wish you would. I need your expertise," I turned and looked at her. "As a cop you must have a better idea of what I need to do than I do. I've never been involved in anything like this myself."
"Let's see, doctor, lawyer, funeral home, don't forget you need to talk to the Police Chief sometime . . . What about a car? I think you're going to need one and I don't know if you want to go back to your house to get yours. Could you afford to rent a car for a few days?"
"Sure, but the doc at the hospital said I wasn't to drive for a few days."
"That was two days ago. If you get an appointment to see your doctor, I'm willing to bet he gives you a clean bill of health, at least as far as driving is concerned."
"Right, the doctor is the first thing on the list then," I grabbed the phone, then glanced at her. "If I get an appointment, will you . . ."
"I'll drive you, yes," she smiled, interrupting me. "I'm not suggesting that you get a car because I don't want to drive you around, I was suggesting it because it gives you back your independence. It also gives us the opportunity to go in two directions at one time if we need to."
I smiled my thanks at her, then had to pay attention to the phone because the receptionist at the doctor's office answered. When I explained to her who I was and what I needed to see the doctor for, she suggested that I come straight down to the doctor's office and she'd slip me in to see the doctor as soon as possible. I was surprised, but she continued by explaining that the newspapers had a front page story about what had happened and she knew that the doctor would want to help me out. She also mentioned that he knew a bit about the situation since the hospital had called and warned him.
As soon as I hung up from speaking to the doctor's office, I dialled my lawyer's office and spoke to his secretary about my concerns with the insurance company, both Claire and her mother's wills and the questions I had about their funerals. The secretary told me that she'd have him call me back so I explained that I had to go see the doctor and then perhaps arrange for a car rental. Arlene immediately spoke in the background, telling me that there would be someone around to take messages all day. I gave the secretary Arlene's number and asked her to leave a message if I wasn't in, then I could call back.
With those two calls done, Arlene suggested I put on street clothes and go to the doctor's as soon as we could in order to get that out of the way. I was surprised that she suggested that I take along my laptop, and I agreed that it might come in handy.
When we were driving away from the house, she sighed deeply.
"Something wrong?" I asked.
"Yeah, in a way," she said quietly. "I'm a bit uncertain about this funeral thing."
"You aren't the only one," I admitted. "I take it you haven't been involved in a lot of funerals either?"
"My Dad's, but that was quite a few years ago and that was all taken care of by my uncle. Mom, Noreen, and I were all basket cases at the time, so he did everything," she explained.
"Well, I was off in South America when my Dad died, I managed to get back into town the day of the funeral and was exceedingly lucky to even make it in time. If I had been in town, I guess I'd have had to deal with it, but like your family, my uncle did all the arranging for Dad's funeral," I spoke quietly.
"Dad had cancer but the doctors had given him at least a year and he insisted that I go on that trip. He thought I had lots of time. I'd gotten a job working on an archeological dig down there and since they gave him anywhere from one to two years, he insisted that I go. A week after I left, they found his cancer had metastasized and was all through his body, but by then I was out of contact. If I'd had any idea that there was a chance for the cancer to spread so fast, I'd never have gone. As it was, I had a really hard time of it for a while. If Mom hadn't been so rock solid about it and my uncle hadn't stepped in to help, I think both Michelle and I would have been basket cases too."
"That the way Mom was too," Arlene smiled sadly. "Dad was a cop and he died in a building accident, but Mom always said he died doing what he liked to do best, protecting people. There had been a gas explosion in an old apartment and Dad was getting out the last person who was inside when a floor gave way and he fell four floors. Everyone else got out alive."
"Well, my Dad was a top notch carpenter, but when he was younger, he worked for a heating firm and handled a lot of asbestos insulation. He got lung cancer when he was just fifty-five and although we can't prove that it was caused by the asbestos, that's what I suspect caused it. He'd had an operation to remove part of one lung and he was good for about three years, then just before I left for Peru, the cancer came back. By the time I heard anything more I was so far out in the boonies that it took almost a week to hike to an airstrip. That meant by the time I got home, it was too late for me to see him to say goodbye. He was already gone."
"So to change the subject a little, did Claire have any other relatives?"
"No, she was an only child, so was her mother and her father died when Claire was only fifteen. I don't think Claire had any contact with her father's family at all."
"So, will you have to arrange for a funeral?"
"I guess I have to, don't I?"
"I hate to say this, but I think you should find out what the two wills have to say about arrangements before you step out on a limb and make any decisions yourself."
"I think you're right. I'll get my lawyer to do that."
"Good, you can tell him that the coroner will have made out the death certificate. Then let him and the executors of the two estates handle the rest of it if you want to."
"I'll think about that, and let him know how I feel about the whole situation," I answered shortly.
I was feeling very strange. It just seemed weird to be riding in a car with a woman that I could talk to about my wife. Especially since my wife had refused to talk to me about anything important and we'd been married for almost fifteen years. What was strangest was that I felt I had grown closer to Arlene in just a few days than I had ever been with Claire.
In a way, I think it made me feel guilty that I hadn't tried harder to save my marriage. On top of the guilt, I was feeling angry with Claire even though she was dead. She had been at the root of each and every one of the problems that I was now being forced to handle. The fact that she was dead made my present situation even more frustrating because I had no way to vent my anger on the target I felt deserved it. That was causing my temper to flair for the most unreasonable excuses. I felt as if I was acting like a loose cannon with a short fuse and I didn't like the situation at all. Because my temper was so short, I was taking my frustrations out on innocent people and that brought on even more feelings of guilt.
I had to find a way to reestablish some control in my life, but at the moment I was unsure how to manage that feat.