16. Joshua

Joshua

I t’s not often a guy gets a chance to be a hero, but when I went over to Mabel’s house ready to wage war on whatever was scratching around in her attic, it was clear I’d scored major points with her.

The poor thing was beside herself and while I tried to hide it, I wasn’t geeked when I stuck my head into the attic and a big old mama rat stared back at me. I might be a vet, but I’d never been a fan of rodents. To be honest they grossed me out. Whenever someone brought pet rats into the clinic I made one of the other vets take care of them.

We loaded Mabel’s bag and her dog into the back seat, then headed the short distance to my apartment. That was the nice thing about Starlight Bay, nothing was too far from anything else. I loved that it still felt like a small town, even when there were lots of tourists around.

“Uh, I don’t have a guest room,” I told Mabel as we entered the house.

I hadn’t thought about that when I invited her over, but I still would have brought her here. It wasn’t like I was going to leave her alone and terrified with the rats scratching overhead. Plus, who knows how long they had been there and how close they were to getting access to the rest of her house.

“It’s no problem, I can sleep on the couch,” Mabel said.

“No, I will.”

“You can’t sleep on the couch, you have to work tomorrow.”

“Don’t you have to work too?” I asked.

“My work is more flexible, I can sleep in and start whenever I get up.”

She paused, her gaze searching. “At the risk of sounding weird, maybe we can both just share your bed? I mean, feel free to say no if that makes you uncomfortable but I’m totally freaked out and I would appreciate not having to sleep alone.”

I was tired enough that it sounded like a good idea.

“That’s totally fine,” I said. “It’s a king bed so there’s plenty of space for both of us. Plus it’s the middle of the night and we’re both exhausted. Let me show you around so we can get some sleep.”

On her previous visit Mabel hadn’t needed to go beyond the living room and kitchen. I showed her the bathroom, including the empty drawer under the sink where she could put her toiletries, then I led her into my bedroom. That’s where the idiocy of this idea became apparent. Having Mabel in my bed only hours after she came so beautifully for me on my desk was going to be torture.

We took turns in the bathroom and since we were both already in our pajamas, we didn’t need to do much to get ready. I got to the bed first, sliding under the blanket and waiting for Mabel to join me. She came in a few minutes later, looking around.

“Where’s Esmerelda?” she asked.

“I set her up over there,” I said, pointing to where I’d put down an extra dog bed I had in the house as well as a stuffed toy and a baby blanket. I might not have pets of my own, but as a vet I always had tons of pet supplies around in case of an emergency.

Her voice turned soft. “Thank you. That was sweet of you.”

After checking on Esmerelda, who was already sound asleep after all the excitement, Mabel walked over to the other side of the bed. Slipping under the blanket, she rolled over to face away from me, at least a foot of space between us.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

She flipped over to face me. Since I was on my back, I turned my head in her direction. I could just make out her features in the light coming through the windows.

“I really appreciate you helping me out. If I’d stayed in that house I would have stroked out and died. Or been eaten by rats. Or they would have waited for me to be incapacitated by the stroke and then eaten me. I hear rats are pretty smart.”

I resisted the urge to smile. “I’m glad to help. Seriously.”

Mabel gave me a grateful smile. I got the feeling that she wasn’t a person who was used to having people do nice things for her. It made me sad.

After double checking that I’d set the alarm on my phone, I turned off the bedside lamp and tried to get back to sleep. I thought I’d be awake for hours, but to my surprise, I fell asleep quickly.

I woke up about five minutes before my alarm was set to go off. Groaning, I turned over, almost forgetting that Mabel was there until I saw her sprawled out next to me.

She was sleeping in a strange position, not exactly on her belly or her side, almost like she’d frozen in the process of turning over. Her top knee was bent and on the mattress halfway up her body, the bottom leg stretched out straight, her pillow scrunched up on top of her bent arm. She looked so peaceful in sleep.

As quietly as I could, I slid out of bed. Esmerelda woke up long enough to see what was happening, then went back to sleep. Needing to get to the clinic, I took a quick shower and pulled on some clothes while I brewed a pot of coffee. I filled a travel mug and wrote a note to Mabel, putting it along with a key on the bedside table by her phone so she would see it when she woke up.

I walked over to the clinic, breathing in the cool morning air, and wondering what my next steps should be with Mabel. I had to say, I didn’t mind waking up next to her. I only wished I could have stayed and cuddled with her for a while.

“I hear you had a guest last night.”

I couldn’t help the way my mouth dropped open as my receptionist Elaine called out to me the minute I stepped into the clinic. Elaine was seventy years old and had been working at the clinic long before I came as an intern. She knew everyone and everything that happened in Starlight Bay but this was fast, even for her. I’d brought Mabel to my house less than seven hours ago.

“How do you know about my having a guest?” I asked.

“Irma Jimenez texted me that she was out walking her dog at one-thirty in the morning…”

“What the hell was she doing walking outside at one-thirty in the morning?” I interrupted.

Irma was even older than Elaine and her dog Precious was smaller than Esmerelda. Neither of them would be a threat to anyone who tried to attack them.

“Irma went to the bathroom and left a plate of enchiladas on the coffee table without thinking. Precious helped herself to some food and got herself some intestinal distress for her efforts.”

“Dogs aren’t supposed to eat spicy food,” I muttered.

“And that’s why Irma was outside with Precious, walking by your building in just enough time to see you coming home with Miss Mabel and her weird little dog.”

“Esmerelda’s not weird,” I corrected. “She just has unusual genetics.”

Elaine rolled her eyes.

“I guess you and Mabel had a late date, huh?”

She gave me a knowing smile.

“Actually, she called me because she heard scratching over her ceiling. I went over to her house and found some rats got into her attic somehow. She was nervous to stay in the house with them, so I brought her home with me.”

Elaine shuddered. “I don’t blame her for being nervous. Rats are gross. But you only have one bedroom, don’t you, Boss?”

“Do me a favor, will you?” I asked, ignoring the subtext of that question. “Call Jimmy at the pest control company and ask him if he can send someone out there today. Give him Mabel’s number if he has any questions.”

“Sure Boss, I can do that,” she agreed. “But just so you know, one of my neighbors had a situation like that and it took several days to get those diseased little bastards out of there.”

Several days with Mabel living in my house? I couldn’t decide if that was the best news ever or a recipe for disaster.