Chapter Seven

“How’s your headache, baby?” Sam placed a cup of coffee in front of her and mussed her hair.

           Rory groaned and kept her head down, propped on her arms and resting on the kitchen table. “I had, like, two margaritas. Ugh, is this what being old is like? Hangover every time you drink?”

          “Hey, I used the good tequila,” said her husband, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “I don’t have a hangover. You’re just a lightweight. You need to drink more water.”

          “Do you really have to go into the clinic today?” Rory asked, trying not to sound whiny.

           In the corner of the kitchen, a small TV was on CNN. The news anchor was talking about a cruise ship with five hundred passengers on board docked in San Francisco. Many of the passengers had contracted this virus they were calling the “Coronavirus,” and the United States government wouldn’t let the passengers disembark due to quarantine issues.

According to her Twitter feed, the current administration wouldn’t let the passengers off because it would increase the numbers of “Coronavirus” cases, which was currently around a hundred.

          “Tony’s aunt died, Aurora, and Melissa’s son is sick, so she can’t cover,” Sam said with a sigh, taking the seat next to her at the kitchen table.

          Anthony Rivas and Melissa Summers were Sam’s partners in his pediatric surgery practice. The three of them agreed to work one weekend a month and alternate on the remaining one. Sam had already worked last Saturday and half of Sunday. It seemed to Rory that Sam was always covering the weekend shifts because the other two partners had children, and they didn’t.

          “Did you tell them we have plans today?” Rory groused, picking up her coffee and blowing across the surface to cool it. “This is the last weekend for the artisan crafts’ fair in Topanga, Sam. We’d have to wait for next year again.”

          Sam raised his eyebrow. “Take Jim.”

          Rory almost choked on her coffee. She couldn’t sleep last night because her brother-in-law sometimes invaded her dreams, and she’d been afraid she’d accidentally say his name while asleep. “Oh, yeah, because he can totally go. You’re so insensitive, Sam. You know he has that stupid monitor.”

          “Speak of the devil,” her husband muttered as his younger brother walked into view, looking like he didn’t sleep very well, either. “Rory is pissed at me because I have to go in to work, J.”

          He regarded the two of them with a bleary-eyed frown. “What else is new?” He continued on to the kitchen to pour coffee for himself. “So people are starting to freak out over this Coronavirus thing, eh, bro?”

          “Twenty-five cases in Washington State right now and twelve here in California,” Sam muttered. He picked up the TV remote and turned up the volume. “Acute respiratory distress, high fever, muscle aches, upset stomach for two to four weeks. That’s how the virus manifests. Depending on your immune system, it could be as bad as the common cold or… death.”

          Rory covered her ears. “Ugh, it’s too early for this crap, guys, seriously. Can we not do the gloom and doom thing right now?”

          “It wouldn’t hurt to visit Costco sometime today and buy a couple of cases of water, ramen noodles, and some toilet paper,” Sam suggested in his reasonable tone. “Remember, when the s**t hits the fan, the first thing to go is toilet paper. The scarcity of TP will be the downfall of our society, I imagine.”

          Rory knew Sam was just kidding, but she hated it when he talked like this, so negative and depressing. He was always talking about topsoil erosion, the disappearing honeybees, the melting polar ice caps, the floating garbage island the size of Texas somewhere in the Pacific, and the growing hole on the ozone layer over Australia. Okay, yes, the planet was dying, but she didn’t want to be constantly reminded of it.

          “Jim, are you doing anything today? Maybe you and Rory can stop by Costco later and grab some stuff? Just in case. I don’t know. I have a feeling.”

          Jim had come around to Rory’s line of sight and took the seat in front of Sam with his cup of coffee. “What do you think is going to happen, Sam? An epidemic like SARS, maybe? Something worse?”

          Rory tried to meet his eyes, but Jim was looking at the TV. She studied his profile and swallowed hard. The squareness of his jaw, his sharp cheekbones, and a long, straight patrician nose that belonged to a prince. The Kelly Boys were handsome devils, but there was something about Jim’s looks that made him album-cover worthy. The cover of his third album was just the silhouette of his profile, and it was his best-selling one. Maybe it was that “wounded angel” look he had, with his full lips and soulful eyes that saw too much.

          He must have felt her staring at him because he turned his head to look at her, so she found something else to look at right away, which was her coffee cup. “Did you sleep well, Rory?”

          “Well enough,” she muttered. Heat rose from her neck to her cheeks. She and Sam had made love after she returned to the bedroom, and it wasn’t till this morning that she realized the morning window in the corner of their bedroom was open. She usually left it open because it looked out to the backyard and last night was a little balmy. She hoped Jim didn’t hear them.

          “I need to go Costco anyway to get hotdogs and buns for Mikey’s birthday.” She sighed and headed for the kitchen. “Jim, can I make you something? Your brother’s already had breakfast. I can cook eggs and bacon. I think I still have leftover pancake batter from two days ago.”

          “Mikey’s birthday is today?” Sam repeated, giving Rory a look of dismay.

          “Yeah. We were going to head to Junie’s after the craft fair, remember?” Rory tried to keep the irritation out of her voice. It wasn’t Sam’s fault that he had to work today. And he was a doctor who looked after sick kids.

June Santiago was her cousin who had four sons under the age of twelve. She and Sam had promised to help wrangle the kids at Mikey’s backyard pool party.

          “I’m sorry, mi amor,” said Sam, sounding genuinely regretful.

          Junie and her husband Steve were in the middle of a divorce, which wasn’t easy on the kids. Junie wanted to cheer the kids up by throwing them a party. Steve wasn’t around much, and she needed all the help she could get right now.

“I’ll go,” Jim said with a shrug. “If it’s within my monitor’s distance radius.” He winced. “That is, if the parents won’t mind a guy with an ankle monitor hanging around their kids.”

Rory looked at Sam, who also shrugged. “I’m sure it won’t be a problem, Jim. Just don’t go brandishing it off like it’s a cool new gadget.” She smiled at him. “I’m gonna make you breakfast, all right?”

“Oh, no, Rory. You don’t have to do that.” He started to get up from his chair.

“Bro, when a lady offers to cook you a meal, just say thank you.” Sam patted him on the shoulder, then walked up to Rory. “My last appointment is at 3, but if I finish before that, I’ll let you know and catch up with you at Junie’s.” He kissed the side of her head.   

Rory made Jim three pancakes, a couple of eggs, and a few slices of bacon. She’d had her breakfast of oatmeal earlier, so she wasn’t hungry. She put the plate in front of him. “Eat up, Mister Man.”

He looked up at her with a grateful smile. “Golly, Rory, you really didn’t have to do this.” He took the utensils she handed him. “You spoil me, you know.”

Rory’s face, neck, and chest heated up once more. Had he noticed that she’d been paying particular attention to him and read something into it? “Being nice to you is not spoiling you, Seamus.” She reached out to touch his hair and meant to rub it like an older sister would do to a younger brother, but he caught her wrist instead.

          “Sorry, I thought you had something in your hair. Like a leaf or something,” she said, looking away from him. His fingers wrapped around her wrist felt oddly comforting and familiar. She didn’t mind him holding her like this.

          “No, I’m sorry. I’m the i***t. I’m jumpy because I didn’t sleep well.” He let go of her wrist. “What time do you want to go to the store?”

          Rory cleared her throat and straightened her robe. “After lunch, maybe? I told June I was going to stop at Party City, too, and get some balloons.”

          “We’re going to have a car full of balloons?” Jim asked with dismay.

          Rory laughed, amused by the reaction on his handsome face. “A handful, maybe. We’re not going to look like a clown car if that’s what you’re thinking. Why, do you have a thing against balloons?”

          “What? No. No.” He touched the back of his neck. “I should eat my breakfast before it gets cold. It’d be a shame since you worked hard on it. I mean, I’d still eat it if it got cold because you cooked it, Rory.”

          Rory covered her mouth and laughed. What was going on here? Why were things so awkward between them? “Are you saying I can’t ever count on your judgment when it comes to my cooking because you’ll eat it anyway just because I cooked it?”

          He shrugged. “How many homecooked meals do you think I had when I was touring? And mom was never much of a cook.”

          Rory felt a well of affection for him. She lowered her head to kiss his forehead just as he was lifting his chin up. Fortunately, he was quick enough to move so that her lips landed on his cheek, just under his eye. “Oh, sorry.” She pushed away from him, her heart pounding in her ribcage and her mouth dry. “I’m a really affectionate person. We’re always hugging and kissing in my family. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, I’ll stop. Just tell me.”

          He chuckled. “Rory, I don’t mind. Why would I complain about a beautiful woman kissing me? You just caught me off-guard, that’s all. Next time you want to kiss me, I’ll be ready.” He cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair. “That came out weird.”

          “I’m gonna…” Rory pointed in the direction of the bedroom she shared with Sam. “Take a shower and change out of my jammies. When you’re done, just leave your dishes in the sink, and I’ll take care of them.”

          “You’re not going to keep me company?”

          Rory stared at him. “What?”

          “I hate eating by myself. Just hang out while I eat, will you.”

          “Okay.” She returned to the table and sat at the head, where Sam usually sat, so Jim was on her left.  “So why didn’t you sleep well last night?”

          He cut into his pancake and forked in a mouthful. He was quiet for a while as he chewed, tracing the rim of his coffee mug with the tip of his finger. “I have dreams about things I shouldn’t.”

          Rory froze in her seat. What did that mean? She was afraid to meet his gaze, so she kept her eyes focused on the pattern woven on the table mat. “Bad dreams? I used to have nightmares about lying out in the pool on a floatie and getting chomped right in the middle of my body by Jaws. You know, like that ride in Universal Studios?” He couldn’t be saying that he dreamt about her, too, could he? “What do you dream about?”

          He chuckled. “What do we all dream about? Things we can’t have.”