California Schemin' - Kate George [19]
Brooks shrugged, but I couldn’t let it go, so when Miles headed back to work I went and sat with Steve.
“Hey,” I said as I slid into the chair across from him. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. Just taking a break.”
“Anything new in your life?”
“You heard didn’t you? Someone told you that Shirl left me. God, I wish people would mind their own business.”
“Sorry.” I stood up. “Thought you might like to talk about it. Give me a call when you feel like company.”
I turned away, but he called me back.
“Oh, sit down! I wasn’t talking about you; I was talking about whoever told you. Can’t keep a damn thing a secret in this town.”
“You expected that would change?”
“No, I’m just mad. I was trying to get a promotion at work, and you know how social it is. Who you know, not what you know.”
I nodded. I did know.
“So I was hanging out with the guys, trying to be more of a team player so I could maybe get a raise. Shirl asked me to cut it out, and I said no, not until promotions were handed out. She kicked me out. Said she had to be more important than work or it was over. I’m bunking with one of the guys for now.”
“Do you want me to talk to her? I might be able to get her to change her mind.”
“Shit, no! You’re part of the problem. She doesn’t believe we’re just friends. Thinks there has to be something going on. Just leave it alone, Bree. I’ll figure it out. I’m thinking I may have to ask her to marry me. That might settle her down a little.”
“Do you want to marry her?”
“If she isn’t going to let me live with her anymore, I guess I’m going to have to marry her.”
“Now there’s an endorsement for romantic love. Jeez, Steve. If you love her, great, marry her. If you don’t, this is as good a time as any to move on.”
“Hell, Bree, how the hell am I supposed to know if I’m in love or not? I’m a guy, for God’s sake.”
“I’m going over to visit Meg. If you get it figured out, let me know.”
He raised his hand in a half-hearted salute as I left. I was having a hard time feeling sorry for a guy who didn’t know if he was in love with the woman he’d been living with for the last ten years. As far as I was concerned, Steve needed to get a grip.
I was standing in Meg’s kitchen surveying the damage to her ceiling. There was a huge chunk of Homasote on the floor, dirt and mouse droppings were everywhere, and a bigger piece of ceiling was hanging, sifting more gross stuff onto the kitchen floor. Dusty cobwebs hung from the slats that used to support the original plaster ceiling.
“I didn’t mean to do it.” Meg wailed. “There’s been a hole there forever, and I’ve always hated this ceiling, so I thought I’d just stick my finger in there and see what happened if I tugged on it. So I tugged, and this chunk of whatever this stuff is fell on my head. God! Who knew it would be so dirty up there? I’ll never get this mess cleaned up. What am I going to do?”
“The first thing we should do is pull the rest of that panel down. Otherwise it’s going to come down on someone’s head. Crap is going to keep falling off it.”
Meg nodded, reached up and grabbed an edge of the errant stuff, closed her eyes and pulled. It came away easily, bringing more droppings and spiders with it. Meg and I were coughing dust out of our lungs when Tom walked in.
Tom’s a pretty understanding guy in most instances. He loves Meg’s spontaneity and isn’t usually bothered by the catastrophes that befall her. But he was also a cop with a stressful job, and he liked coming home to a tidy-ish house with at least the possibility of a meal. It would be a while before there was any food preparation in this kitchen again.
“Meg .” he began.
“It was an accident,” she broke in.
“Accident?” Tom looked incredulous. “You’ve been threatening to tear down this ceiling for the last five years.”
“Well, I wasn’t planning on starting today.” Meg’s voice raised an octave. “It just happened.”
“Sweetheart, this didn’t just happen, it was helped along. By you. I’ll