Page 7 of Wine & Dine

4

Curb Appeal

[Dolores]

I’ve been at Denton’s a week, moving from the couch to the bed and then the beach. The triangle repeats, and I find myself sleeping more than anything else. I can’t seem to keep my lids open or the yawns suppressed. Then one morning, the breeze holds a chill, and I tremble. This is California. It shouldn’t be cold, I tell myself. My one sweater isn’t going to be enough, and neither are the knock-off Chucks I bought.

“Where’s a store?” I ask Denton when I call him. I hate to admit I need him. I’m helpless in my new surroundings. He hasn’t asked me to check in with him, but I feel better pretending he wants me to. For the first time in a long time, he actually asks how I’m doing. He doesn’t rush me away like he used to do when we spoke on the phone. Well, when I spoke, and he pretended to listen.

“There’s the Grove or Century City, or you could always go down to Rodeo.”

My brother must be kidding. Me on Rodeo Drive, hardly. I don’t know where any of these other places are located, and I don’t think my concept of a mall matches my brother’s.

“How about a Target?”

“No Target, Dolores. Shop at a real store.” There’s nothing wrong with Target, I want to snap.

“I don’t think I can find those places on my own.” I hate to admit my incapability, but the traffic congestion around here isn’t like Blue Ridge. It’s fast-paced, crowded, and busy, and I don’t trust myself to drive.

“Take an Uber.”

I’m quiet for a moment. I don’t want to tell him I don’t know how. We don’t have Uber or even taxis in Blue Ridge. We don’t need them in such a small community. Thankfully, he seems to understand my hesitation and offers me instructions.

“Download the app on your phone. Use my card for the charges. Then order a driver. It’s actually pretty easy.”

Maybe for him, but I don’t know how I feel about letting a stranger drive me around an area that’s foreign to me. I’ve heard stories. What if he turns out to be an ax murderer or worse? I quiver with the horrid possibility.

“I can call Garrett and ask him to help you.” My brother’s the one to hesitate this time, and I shake my head even though he can’t see me. I haven’t seen Garrett since our literal run-in on the beach. I’ve heard Wally bark once or twice, and it’s the only sign he’s in the condo next to me. Then there was the other night and the sounds coming through the wall.

“I don’t think that’s necessary. I’ll figure it out.” I run a business, I tell myself so I can download a freaking app.

Only I don’t find it so easy as I stand on the curb outside Denton’s condo in my jeans, a light sweater, and canvas shoes, freezing. When did it get so cold? My fingers tremble as I try to download the app, which seems to be taking a long time to load. As I wait, my phone pings in my hand.

Tonight.

I stare at the singular word.

Rusty. It’s about damn time, I want to curse, but realize with sadness the request implies he doesn’t know I’m not in Blue Ridge.

I’m not home.I text back, fingers trembling on the reply.

When you get home.

It’s rare for Rusty to reach out to me. Typically, I’d go to Ridged Edge, the biker bar just outside of town, and find him there with some of his club friends. We’d play this cat and mouse game where he’d circle like he hadn’t seen me and then he’d come in for the kill and ask me to go home with him. We didn’t date. We fucked. My lips twist as I admit the truth and stare at his command. Doesn’t he know where I am?

I’m in California.

Three dots appear and then disappear. Then a question pops up. What the fuck you doing there?

There are so many ways to answer this question and so many statements to make. Has he not realized I’m gone? Has he not noticed my absence? Has he not missed me? With all that happened in the past month, does he not understand my need to leave? I can answer all those thoughts without asking Rusty. No. No, he does not realize, notice, miss, or understand anything about me. We have no emotional tie to one another. Well, at least he has no emotional tie to me. I, on the other hand, have given my body to this man for nearly a decade which has pulled my heart along for the bumpy ride.

Staying at my brother’s.

I thought your brother was here.I can almost hear the sharp intake of his breath with this comment.

Strange how he knows Denton is in town but doesn’t know I’m not.

Sorry to disappoint you. Although I’m certain he’ll believe the disappointment is mine. I’m not itching to get laid, but a little physical comfort would be nice.