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Pounding. I hear pounding. My first thought was that it was the bigfoot again. I pulled my pillow over my head, but the pounding continued. I moved my hand around and realized I was in my bed in the apartment. Fudge. I struggled to sit up and put my feet on the floor. "Coming," I yelled as loudly as I could. I stumbled to the door. "What's the matter?" I asked as I threw the door open wide and saw bachelor number three standing there.
"Are you OK, Everly?" Tom asked.
"Uhm. I think so," I said, running my hand through my tangled hair and realizing, I was standing there in my bulldog pajamas. "Sorry. You seem destined to only ever see me when I'm a mess. Why are you here? Did something happen to Chance?"
"No. As far as I know, Chance is fine. It's cold out here. Let me in, and I'll explain."
"Sure. Sorry. Come on in." I stepped back and let him walk through.
"Sorry I woke you up," Tom said. "I ate breakfast downstairs and asked Sally how you were doing. She said she hadn't seen you yet this morning. When I finished and looked at my watch, I realized it was pretty late. I guess I was afraid maybe you were having trouble dealing with what happened out there. I just wanted to check on you."
I sat down on my sofa and pulled my feet up underneath me. "After you brought me home last night, I showered until the hot water ran out, then ate a cheese burger and chili cheese fries from the cafe. When the exhaustion kicked in, I crawled between the sheets and crashed."
"That makes perfect sense."
"When I heard you pounding, at first I thought it was the... uhm..." Fudge. I almost said bigfoot. "I thought it was a thunder storm. Sorry it took me so long to answer, and sorry I look such a mess."
"You look great, Everly. I'm just glad you're OK."
"I promise if we're still on for dinner tomorrow night, I'll actually brush my hair and put on normal clothes."
"I look forward to seeing you again, no matter how your hair looks or what you're wearing." He stood up, bent over to kiss my forehead, and headed for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow night."
"Guess I'd better shower and get downstairs before someone else comes looking for me," I said. "If I'm going to keep talking to myself, maybe I need to get a pet."
Later, when I walked into the cafe, Rita grabbed a mug of my favorite tea and brought it to my table. "You survived," she said, offering me a fist bump. "Heard Chance didn't fare so well."
"I survived, but it wasn't pretty," I said. "How are things here?"
"Chugging along, same as always. Want your usual?"
"Sure. Thanks."
I enjoyed my tea, checked messages on my phone, and started making my to-do list for the day.
When she dropped off my food, Rita asked, "Did you talk to Tom this morning?"
"Yeah. If he hadn't pounded on my door, I'd probably still be sleeping."
After breakfast, I checked in with Rick in the kitchen before heading to Yours, Mine, and Ours to catch up with Laurie. She greeted me with a hug and an odd smirk on her face. "What's up with the grin?" I asked.
"Just thinking about you and Tom snuggled up in a tent in the woods."
"OK. That's not something you should be thinking about."
"Tom seems to be thinking about it a lot, but I guess that's OK."
We laughed and talked. I admitted that I had added her brother to my guyumvirate. "Seriously, if I posted pictures of those three, I could start a business running tours to Idaho for single women."
"That's not a bad idea. Let's put that on a list for possible future business ventures. Just realize, I only have one brother, though I do know every eligible man in the county, and I'm willing to branch out if you need me to scout new recruits."
"I'm glad you understand that we might need to make sacrifices for the business."
XXX
After helping Rick with the lunch rush, I called the hospital to make sure Chance was still there and up for some company. I was upstairs changing my shirt, when my phone rang. I was surprised to see Chance's name appear on the screen.
"Chance? How are you?"
"I'm OK. Are you at home?"
"Yeah, we got back yesterday evening. I just called the hospital to see if you were still there and could have visitors. I was going to head over to see if you needed anything."
"Perfect. Did Tom leave the truck keys with you?"
"Yeah. He wasn't sure what the plan was, so we agreed to keep them in the cash register downstairs in case you sent someone to pick it up."
"They're releasing me today, so how about you drive over in my truck and pick me up?"
"Sure. I can do that. Your truck's a little bigger than Snickety, but I think I can manage."
"Great. I'll see you in a couple of hours."