The damn bottle of Jack was empty. Again. Or was it the same bottle? Maybe. It was empty before. Earlier? Last night?
The bottle wavered in front of me, and I frowned. Why was the table moving? And when had the sun come up? Wasn’t it, like, midnight?
“Well, here you are, morning glory.”
A series of heel clicks—way, way too loud for my aching head—was coming my way. I squinted, turning to look at who might be in my house. In heels.
For a brief, other-worldly moment, I thought of Angela and once again, the fleeting, ethereal memory of seeing her recently tickled at a corner of my brain. I remembered a thousand different times I’d sat at this table and listened to the sound of her approaching me, her heels somehow seductive on the tile, as if I could already picture her legs under the knee-length skirt and scent her sweet perfume.
But it wasn’t my wife who appeared in the arched kitchen doorway. Instead, it was a small woman in a short sundress and high-heeled sandals. Her white-blonde hair was in a high, sassy ponytail that swung as she walked. And on her face was a wide smile.
“Juliet.” I frowned. What the hell was she doing in my house?
“In the flesh.” She paused, her eyes raking me up and down. “And look at you, Noah Spencer. I’d say you’re a sight for sore eyes, but honestly, looking at you makes my eyes even sorer. You’re a mess.”
“Am not. I took a shower today. I promised one shower a day, and I . . .” My voice trailed off. Maybe I hadn’t taken a shower yet today. Was it today again, or was it still yesterday?
“I beg to differ.” She popped her hands on her hips. “Your house doesn’t look as bad as I’d heard, but I assume that’s because you graciously allowed your housekeepers back in. I sure hope you gave them a hefty gratuity as well. I have a feeling they earned it.”
I scowled, even though doing so hurt my face. “How did you get in here, anyway?”
Juliet shrugged. “Zeke lent me his keys. He said that you might not be able to get to the door to let me in—oh, and then he said that you might want to open the door to let me in. We decided it was a safer bet for me to bring the keys.”
“Did you even knock?”
“I did not. I just used that key and came sailing through the front door like I owned the place.” She moved closer to me and reached over to pick up the empty bottle from the table. “Looks like you had company last night. And here I’m thinking that you’ve been all by your lonesome, feeling sorry for yourself.”
“I didn’t have company.” I shook my head and then winced. “No one here but me and my good friend Jack. But apparently he couldn’t stay.” I pointed to the bottle. “I don’t know when that got empty.”
Juliet wrinkled her nose. “I’m going to guess somewhere in the wee hours of the morning, judging by the smell of you.” She kicked the empty chair next to me out of her way and strode across the kitchen to the counter where my basket of drugs sat—antibiotics, pain relievers and other goodies the doc had sent home with me.
She snatched up a random bottle, frowned at the label and turned to glare at me over her shoulder. “Noah, are you taking this stuff? Like, now? Did you have any in your system yesterday? Because you shouldn’t be drinking while you’re on this kind of medicine. You’re lucky I didn’t come in here and find you dead on the floor instead of just smelling like you might be.”
I blinked, trying to clear my head. “I didn’t take them last night. Night before, yeah. But not last night. I had a couple of drinks, then I couldn’t remember which ones I should take and which ones not, so I just left them alone and asked my pal Jack to ease the aches and pains.”
She visibly wilted, her shoulders relaxing. “Well, there’s one thing, anyway. Okay. So our first order of business now is to get you into a shower and then into clothes . . . and we can’t drag our feet, because you have a PT appointment in an hour and a half, and I’m driving you there.”
“You are?” I snorted. “I don’t think so, sister. It’s gonna take a bigger woman than you to get me to go, unless you plan to knock me out and drag my body into your car.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Juliet shot back. “You’re going to that appointment, Noah, or so help me, I’ll call your mother and get her down here again. And your brothers, too. They’re big enough guys to toss you over their shoulders and get you to the clinic.”
I stared at her, my mouth dropping open. “You’re using the mother threat on me?”
“Damn straight. Your mom and I got to be good friends while you were in that long siesta they called a coma. I have her number—we text regularly.” One fine, pale eyebrow arched. “You crushed her heart when you threw her out of the hospital, you know? She called me crying. I can’t believe you would do that to your own mother. I’m ashamed of you.”
I bowed my head. “She was driving me nuts. I don’t need her here to baby me. I can take care of myself.”
Juliet swept her hand in a large circle, indicating the room. “All evidence to the contrary. You’re not taking care of yourself, Noah. You’re destroying yourself. And I’m not going to let it happen. Not if I can help it.” She narrowed her eyes. “Now pick up those crutches and get yourself into the shower. You’ve got twenty minutes to shower and dress.” She eyed me critically before adding, “Maybe consider a shave, too.”
“Naw, I’m keeping the beard.” I rubbed my jaw. “You’re not going to force my hand there.”
“Fine. Keep the damn beard. But get yourself cleaned up.” She picked up my glass from the table and carried it to the sink.
“What’re you going to do while I’m showering?” I didn’t want her nosing around my house.
“I’m going to go get the box of stuff I brought from the stadium out of the car.” Her voice softened. “Your stuff—your personal belongings. Coach asked me to bring it all over. I also happened to bring some good-for-you food on the off chance that you haven’t done much grocery shopping lately. And then I’m going to clean up your kitchen, run your dishwasher, and check the state of your refrigerator to see what food you have in there. I’m going to make you breakfast if you have anything decent I can use to do that. By that time, you should be dressed. You’ll eat, and then we’ll go.”
I wanted to argue with her. I wanted to talk back. But I saw the glint of determined steel in those blue eyes, and I knew that she wouldn’t hesitate to carry through on her threat—she’d call my mother, and God almighty, that was the last thing I needed.
