Pennies for the Ferryman - 01 (14 page)

I shrugged, “Long story.”

“In that case, you can buy
me
that nice dinner and ‘splain it to me.”

I have to admit, I’ve always liked a woman who knows what she wants. “A bit forward aren’t you?”

Giving a throaty chuckle she replied, “I only move in one direction, sweetness; now you go get cleaned up, into some nice clothes and think of where you’re gonna take me.”

I hadn’t been out on the town in a long time. Other than a steak dinner with Jenny, it was even longer since I’d been with anything approximating a pretty girl. Thinking about the room on my credit card, I figured I was entitled to frivolously blow a bit of my reward money. “The Golden Bull is a nice place, with great food and less attitude than some of the other upscale places around here. You like dancing?”

“Line dancing or clubbing?”

“Clubbing.”

“Well, I guess I should go get my LBD outta my car.”

I was a little slow on the uptake, “LBD?” It sounded like a dangerous weapon.

She let out a whimsical laugh, “Little Black Dress, silly.”

“You brought a LBD with you?” I was right. It was a dangerous weapon, of sorts.

“I wasn’t sure where this night would be going. Doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”

The flirting was so blatant that even an idiot like me couldn’t miss it. “And where do you think this night is going?”

“Well that all depends on you now, sugar.”

I hadn’t showered and changed so fast since my days in Iraq.

In between bites of some fine tasting prime rib and relating my paranormal adventures, I asked, “So, just suppose I was dating Jenny. What would you have done?”

Candy laughed, nibbling on her stuffed flounder. “Oh, I didn’t think I had to worry about that. Women in my family generally circle their prey like a shark for a while. I figured she’d still be stringing ya along. Turns out she was dumber than I ‘spected.”

I suppressed any urge to defend Jenny. After all, she’d been the one lacking any spine. Of course that analogy made me bloody meat, floating in the ocean, which was slightly icky. “So why did you stop circling?”

“I smelled blood.” She smirked at me and looked at something over my shoulder. “Don’t look now, but I think my li’l cousin just came in the door. Looks like she’s moved on.”

Understandably surprised, I glanced, but made certain to be casual about it. Jenny wore a nice sweater and pants, looking her usual cute and perky self. The guy with her was pulled straight out of the pages of an Abercrombie and Fitch ad. He was taller than me, but that describes much of the adult male population. I shrugged and turned back around. The most I’d gotten from Jenny was a peck on the cheek and a bunch of problems. Candy, on the other hand, brought a check – so, advantage to the strawberry blonde in the sizzling black dress.

Turning around, I went back to eating. I could see Candy appraising my reaction. “What?”

“Just checking to see if ya still had a thing for her.”

“Not particularly. From what I see in front of me, it looks like I got the better deal.”

“Oh that’s pretty smooth there, Mike.”

I winked, “Be careful; there might be a hook in this bait.”

She snorted, almost choking on her glass of wine. Fanning herself with her hand she muttered, “Oh that’s bad! We really should stop with the innuendo.”

Jenny and her date were seated a few tables down from us. I liked my odds. I was dressed nicely and Candy looked fabulous. It almost made me rethink my whole thing for “women in uniform.”

While pondering if my date had ever worn, or would consider wearing a French maid costume in the near future, I heard a female voice behind me. “Candy! What on Earth are you doing up here?”

When had the odds ever gone my way?

“Jenny, good to see ya! Isn’t it your birthday soon?”

I turned around and said, “In that case, happy birthday a bit early, Jenny.”

Her eyes went big as she figured out who the clean shaven guy in the dress shirt was. “Mike?”

“Yes?”

The big eyes were replaced with a cold stare and her face seemed to be getting a bit red. “When did you two start dating?”

I gave Candy a quick glance to tell her to let me field this one. “It’s been, what, going on two weeks now, Candace?”

“If it’s been a day, sugar!” It was nice to see she’d attack when she smelled someone else’s blood.

 
Jenny wasn’t very good at hiding her emotions. The words, “I see,” looked like they were painfully squeezed out of her mouth.

“And it’s been the best two weeks of my life!” Candy gave the figurative knife another twist. “We were headed out dancing after this if you … oh wait, I’m sorry you’re only turning nineteen. Well maybe next time I’m up here we can do something.”

“Is everything okay?” her date asked, walking up. “I went ahead and ordered your iced tea.”

“Everything’s fine.” Jenny said through another bout of oral constipation.

“Carlton Binstock.” The guy stated, reaching his hand out to me. Yeah, the name fit just as well as his preppy image. He had a firm handshake though; I guessed either business or law school.

“Mike Ross and this is Candace McKenna.”

The strapping young man shook Candy’s hand while Jenny said, “
Candy
is my cousin. Mike and I go to college together.”

Carlton looked me over. “You’re a freshman?”

“Got out of the Army last spring. Gotta start somewhere.”

“Naturally. Well thank you for your service to our country.”

Good god, I hated that condescending line! It just sounded so damn fake coming out of most people’s mouths. During my rehab, I heard it all the time, so much I’d gotten sick of it! For people who watch enough of that Sunday morning political garbage, it ends up being some kind of Pavlov dog response the moment anyone in the military comes along. The full line should be, “Thank you for your service to our country, better you than me!”

I fought back the urge to strangle him and instead answered, “Thanks, I appreciate it. So where do you go to school?”

“George Mason, first year in Law.”

I began wondering if I had other psychic powers. Maybe it this whole ghost thing didn’t work out I’d have a future in carnivals guessing people’s weight?

I continued on, “Looks like Candace is the only one of us making an honest living. She’s a Deputy in Roanoke.” I said it with pride.

“Well, I still have to powder my nose. I’m very happy for the two of you!” Jenny spun and walked off, leaving her bewildered date standing there. He begged off moments later.

Candy could barely contain her grin, “You’re one evil, evil man, Mr. Ross.”

I felt cheeky. “Behind every good man is a good woman. Behind every evil man is …”

“Watch it! So, how much did she say about little old me on your trip back?”

“Not much after I said you weren’t my type and you and I’d probably never date.”

“Oh really?” she drawled in reply.

“It got her off the topic and it was a long drive back. Of course I’m probably lower than dirt in her eyes right now.”

“Ya realize that ya just ruined lawyer boy’s night.”

“Yeah, well, that was just a bonus. I’m sure he’ll survive.”

Her look became a tad predatory, “Should I go check on my cuz?”

“Let’s just get the check and go dancing. No need to torment her anymore. That’d just be cruel.” She did the “pooh-pooh” face again as I motioned for our waiter.

I suppose “karma” gets angry when you poke her, or in my case, when I took too much enjoyment ruining Jenny’s night out. It explains why after a few hours of dancing, I stood in my bathroom patting Candy on the back while she emptied her stomach into the toilet.

After returning from dinner, I invited her to come back inside. It certainly was a long way to drive back at such a late hour and I’m supposed to be a gentleman. A hotel was a perfectly good waste of money.

As always, fate had a series of hanging curve balls waiting for me. Strike one consisted of my mom waiting for us; it wasn’t really a strike, but more a foul ball.

Having a woman in the house still felt a little taboo, which I suppose only added to the awkwardness. Sure I was twenty-three and this wasn’t like when I snuck a girl into my room as a teenager and got caught. I was an adult and contributed to the household.

Nevertheless, Candy and my mother traded pleasantries for much longer than my liking. Mom didn’t even bring a blanket and a pillow out for me to sleep on the couch. I guess she realized I was growing up, not exactly a Norman Rockwell moment, but then again I wasn’t expecting one.

Nonetheless, I was glad that Mom’s room was on the other side of our house, when she wished us both a goodnight. Candy turned out to be every bit as frisky as I suspected.

Quite honestly, for the first time since that roadside bomb, I felt like a man again, something a woman could actually desire. After a few hours of dancing, or as I saw it, dry-humping out on the dance floor, my rebuilt leg promised that there’d be hell to pay in the morning. Still, she reminded me how much I’d missed being close to a woman. My useless therapist back at good old Walter Reed would’ve been proud. I’d reached another milestone in my “recovery.”

I thought it was going to be my night to get lucky after a long, long dry spell. I’m not particularly fond of one-night-stands but my morals are rather unrefined; I don’t knowingly date married women, I won’t date two girls at the same time, and jail bait, of course, need not apply.

We were getting quite familiar with each other when she suddenly stopped, pushed me back like I was some kind of deviant, and sprinted for my bathroom. That’s when strike two was called.

Some greasy spoon off of I-81 served her a chicken patty sandwich that hadn’t agreed with her. There’s nothing like a bout of food poisoning to really kill the mood. Kissing her suddenly became much less enticing. Fortunately, we had a reasonably full can of air freshener in the bathroom and could continue our conversation.

At least we could laugh about it, “You know this isn’t doing much for my ego, Candace.”

She laughed hollowly. “Probably the first time I’m certain there won’t be any kissin’ and tellin’ come tomorrow.”

“I gotta ask, ‘What’s so interesting about me, Candace?’ Why drive all this way for me?”

Sitting on the floor of my bathroom, she gave me a rather candid answer. “Besides the fact ya can see ghosts? I like your sarcasm and the way you think. We clicked that day and I kept thinkin’ about ya. Couldn’t get ya outta my system. So when the crime-stopper’s reward came through, I figured it was now or never. If Jenny hadn’t sunk her claws into you, I figured that I’d take a shot.”

I’d gone from a bloody hunk of meat in the ocean to some kind of addictive drug. I wasn’t sure if that was better or worse. “What makes you so certain Jenny was ever going to do anything?”

“Women in my family can always spot a special guy. Why do you think li’l Jenny’s so upset? Back home, I could see that she was pretty ‘in’ to you and she caved into her aunt and uncle when they told her to stay away from ya.”

I was flattered. It felt good – it was surprising how low my ego had fallen in the last six months. “Nurse Candy” was just what the doctor ordered. “So how come you don’t already have a special guy?”