don’t believe in magic.”
“Sure I do. I’m just leery of incompetent animal psychics.”
“You’re calling my girlfriend incompetent?”
Now Triple looked genuinely pissed off, and Ruby realized she’d gone too far.
“No, Triple, I’m not. It didn’t come out right.”
“Uh huh,” Triple said.
She tried backpedaling. Asked for more details on Gretathe Animal Psychic, but Triple was hurt now and would answer only in grunts.
“I’m sorry. I’ve had a bad few days, Triple.”
“Whatever,” Triple said.
Ruby tried to exude niceness for the rest of the ride. She told cute anecdotes about Alicia and Captain, but it didn’t help.
Triple looked gloomy as he nudged the Chevy to the curb near Ruby’s building.
“Thanks, Triple. I appreciate the ride, and I’m sorry to be such a downer.” Ruby scooted closer to him and kissed him on the cheek.
“Please don’t hate me,” she said.
Triple finally looked at her. “I won’t,” he said, giving a tiny smile.
7. RATS
R uby opened the door to her apartment, and Stinky tried to trip her. As she bent down to pet the cat, she smelled something good coming from the kitchen.
“Where were you?” Ed was standing in the kitchen door, holding a giant spoon covered in tomato sauce.
“You’re home? And you’re cooking?”
“Evidently,” Ed said, leaning down to kiss her.
“I was at the barn,” she said when the kiss was over.
“Oh. Right,” he said, looking down at Ruby’s muddy barn boots. “I’m making pasta,” he added.
“Nice,” Ruby said. She watched Ed stir the pasta sauce. She had told him thousands of times that pasta after 5 P.M. did strange things to her body and made her feel stupid the next day. Ed had either forgotten or didn’t believe her since he thrived on late-night pasta in spite of not having any Italian ancestry. Ed was of German and Irish descent. There shouldn’t have been any predisposition for nighttime pasta. Unless you factored in the German people’s love of Italy. There was a long history of college-age Germans going to Italy to find themselves. Or so Ruby’s German ex-boyfriend had once told her.
As Ed tasted the sauce, Ruby tangentially thought aboutthe German ex-boyfriend, Axel. He had married a Chinese computer programmer moments after he and Ruby had broken up. The Chinese computer programmer had not been fond of Axel’s exes, so Ruby hadn’t heard from Axel in six years. She missed him slightly, the way she slightly missed most ex-lovers. Attila was the only one she missed violently. The only one who haunted her. Of course, he was the only one who’d been murdered. Ruby had no idea what she’d feel for him if he were still living.
Ruby ate a good portion of pasta and felt it like lead in her belly. She mentally cursed her boyfriend but outwardly smiled. He’d made her dinner.
Ruby did the dishes then went into the living room, where she found Ed on the couch, eyes closed, a
Law & Order
rerun on the TV. As Ruby sat on the edge of the couch, Ed opened his eyes. They were bloodshot with exhaustion.
“Any idea why your shrink’s husband is selling that colt?” he asked.
“What?” Ruby feigned complete ignorance.
“I saw Violet earlier. She was acting mopey and didn’t want to tell me why. I finally dragged out of her that she’d just finalized a sale on Fearless Jones. I asked her why the hell Jody’s husband wanted to sell the horse, but Violet didn’t seem to know.”
Ruby worked at looking stunned and disappointed. She was all that and more. And on the verge of telling Ed about The Psychiatrist and the leg when Ed reached up, pulled her to him, and kissed her deeply. The Psychiatrist’s story could wait.
ED WAS LONG GONE when Ruby woke up the next morning. She fed the cats then read a few pages of
Rats
while sipping a cup of very black coffee. Once the caffeine hit, she rolled out her mat and did forty-five minutes of yoga. At the end, she sat in lotus attempting to
“Sure I do. I’m just leery of incompetent animal psychics.”
“You’re calling my girlfriend incompetent?”
Now Triple looked genuinely pissed off, and Ruby realized she’d gone too far.
“No, Triple, I’m not. It didn’t come out right.”
“Uh huh,” Triple said.
She tried backpedaling. Asked for more details on Gretathe Animal Psychic, but Triple was hurt now and would answer only in grunts.
“I’m sorry. I’ve had a bad few days, Triple.”
“Whatever,” Triple said.
Ruby tried to exude niceness for the rest of the ride. She told cute anecdotes about Alicia and Captain, but it didn’t help.
Triple looked gloomy as he nudged the Chevy to the curb near Ruby’s building.
“Thanks, Triple. I appreciate the ride, and I’m sorry to be such a downer.” Ruby scooted closer to him and kissed him on the cheek.
“Please don’t hate me,” she said.
Triple finally looked at her. “I won’t,” he said, giving a tiny smile.
7. RATS
R uby opened the door to her apartment, and Stinky tried to trip her. As she bent down to pet the cat, she smelled something good coming from the kitchen.
“Where were you?” Ed was standing in the kitchen door, holding a giant spoon covered in tomato sauce.
“You’re home? And you’re cooking?”
“Evidently,” Ed said, leaning down to kiss her.
“I was at the barn,” she said when the kiss was over.
“Oh. Right,” he said, looking down at Ruby’s muddy barn boots. “I’m making pasta,” he added.
“Nice,” Ruby said. She watched Ed stir the pasta sauce. She had told him thousands of times that pasta after 5 P.M. did strange things to her body and made her feel stupid the next day. Ed had either forgotten or didn’t believe her since he thrived on late-night pasta in spite of not having any Italian ancestry. Ed was of German and Irish descent. There shouldn’t have been any predisposition for nighttime pasta. Unless you factored in the German people’s love of Italy. There was a long history of college-age Germans going to Italy to find themselves. Or so Ruby’s German ex-boyfriend had once told her.
As Ed tasted the sauce, Ruby tangentially thought aboutthe German ex-boyfriend, Axel. He had married a Chinese computer programmer moments after he and Ruby had broken up. The Chinese computer programmer had not been fond of Axel’s exes, so Ruby hadn’t heard from Axel in six years. She missed him slightly, the way she slightly missed most ex-lovers. Attila was the only one she missed violently. The only one who haunted her. Of course, he was the only one who’d been murdered. Ruby had no idea what she’d feel for him if he were still living.
Ruby ate a good portion of pasta and felt it like lead in her belly. She mentally cursed her boyfriend but outwardly smiled. He’d made her dinner.
Ruby did the dishes then went into the living room, where she found Ed on the couch, eyes closed, a
Law & Order
rerun on the TV. As Ruby sat on the edge of the couch, Ed opened his eyes. They were bloodshot with exhaustion.
“Any idea why your shrink’s husband is selling that colt?” he asked.
“What?” Ruby feigned complete ignorance.
“I saw Violet earlier. She was acting mopey and didn’t want to tell me why. I finally dragged out of her that she’d just finalized a sale on Fearless Jones. I asked her why the hell Jody’s husband wanted to sell the horse, but Violet didn’t seem to know.”
Ruby worked at looking stunned and disappointed. She was all that and more. And on the verge of telling Ed about The Psychiatrist and the leg when Ed reached up, pulled her to him, and kissed her deeply. The Psychiatrist’s story could wait.
ED WAS LONG GONE when Ruby woke up the next morning. She fed the cats then read a few pages of
Rats
while sipping a cup of very black coffee. Once the caffeine hit, she rolled out her mat and did forty-five minutes of yoga. At the end, she sat in lotus attempting to
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