Interruptions Read online

did she think we were? But I’d play along. I led the way to the living room. “Did you call someone to come pick you up?”

  “Well, I tried to call a friend, and my brother, on my cell but I couldn’t get a signal. I hate to be a bother, but I thought maybe Sam could come take a look at my car? Maybe he can get it going again, or if not, maybe he can drop me off at my place. I don’t live too far from here.”

  It was almost all I could do to keep from snorting. “Sam was just on his way to the shower,” I told her. It was real obvious - to me - she was snooping, maybe thinking she could get Sam out the house. I don’t think anybody has tried that old car-broke-down ploy since century before last. She, apparently didn’t realize how transparent she was. She also didn’t know much about Sam. He doesn’t know diddly about cars. But I do. Daddy is a mechanic, and I use to hang around the garage bugging him so much, he finally decided to teach me a few things. ‘Nother story.

  Sam, bless his heart - see, I’m learning Southern talk - said, “I don’t think I can help you with the car, Eloise, I don’t know much about them.” He eyed her obliquely, then looked at me as if he suddenly had a marvelous idea. “I know - why don’t you take a look, Cady? You’re good with cars.”

  I saw the twinkle in his eyes, though he kept an innocent look on his face. What the flying bat poop was he doing?

  Eloise looked thrown. “You can fix cars, Cadence? I didn’t know that.” Her eyes got crafty. “Okay, then I’ll tell you where the car is --”

  Nope. Wasn’t going to work. If she thought I was going to leave her here with my husband while he was in the shower…

  “Oh, it’s best if we go together, Eloise, so you can show me exactly where it is. I’m terrible with directions.” Not a lie. If I have to go by somebody’s instructions I can get lost out in the backyard. Although, as long as I can smell I’ll never really get lost - sidetracked maybe, but not lost. She didn’t have to know that. “Let me go change out of this caftan and I’ll be right back. Sam, come with me, gotta tell you something.” I headed for the stairs going fast.

  I ran up the steps with Sam right behind me. We got to the bedroom and I started shucking off the caftan, and hissed, “Are you out of your mind? You know she was just snooping to see if you actually live here! The nerve of the woman coming to my house in the middle of the night trying to make a move on my husband right in front of me…” I pulled on an old tee shirt and grabbed a pair of jeans, and as I stepped into them, I saw Sam was turning red from trying to hold in a laugh. He was practically shaking. “And what are you laughing about?” I growled as I pulled my pants up.

  He wiped at his eyes, grinning. “You’re so damned cute when you’re mad - whups, wait Babes, don’t hit me yet,” he said chuckling and holding his hands out defensively as I picked up the bed pillow to bash him. “I suggested you go just in case she really does have a car problem. If she does, you can either fix it or tell her who to call to get it fixed. If her car starts, you will have called her buff and she can get in her car, pretend it must have just needed to cool down or something, and go home. In either case, she won’t try something this stupid again.”

  Okay. He had a point. I was still pissed, though. He leaned down, wrapped his arms around me and brushed my lips with his. “I’ll be waiting for you, Babes,” he whispered in that husky voice that he knows sends thrills down my spine. And he raised his eyebrow.

  Besotted as I am with him, of course resistance was ineffective and useless, and I melted against him, and turned that lip brush into something a tad more impassioned. He looked downright stupefied as I left the room and floated back down the stairs with my sneakers in my hand. I know I was.

  “Lemme get my shoes on, Eloise, and we’ll go,” I said as I plopped down on the bottom step and started pulling them on. “I have to stop in the garage first to get some tools.”

  Eloise looked surprised. “I thought we’d be driving! It’s about a mile away. Can’t we drive there?”

  I looked at her standing there in her designer skinny jeans and low heeled Gucci shoes, and started to give in and get my pick-up. No. I shook my head. She interrupted my night. I was not obliged to make her comfortable. Besides, I don’t mind walking. “Nah, it’s a nice night and I can use the exercise. We can make a mile in ten” - I looked at the shoes she was wearing - “fifteen minutes. Let’s go.”

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