Payton walked out, locking the door behind him. He was pretty sure Russell and his partner didn’t need him for anything. Even so, he let Russell know he was leaving.
“Why in the fuck is your car so cold?” Payton rubbed his hands together when he got into Betsy—what Sherman called his piece of shit.
“The heat went out. I should have told you to grab a blanket since I know you’re too delicate to handle the freezing temperatures,” Sherman said with an evil grin.
“I’m not delicate,” Payton argued as Sherman reversed from the driveway. “There are a lot of people who would rather hibernate in the winter. Snow sucks, and the cold can kiss my luscious butt cheeks.”
Sherman grimaced. “Don’t mention butt cheeks. I’ll lose my appetite again.”
That was highly unlikely. Sherman would be able to eat a spaghetti dinner over a dead body. His cousin had a healthy appetite, even if the food he ate wasn’t healthy.
Sherman was a bit plump, but it looked good on him. If Payton had gained an extra thirty pounds he would look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.
He would know since he’d lost thirty pounds over the last year. He was surprised Pyke had even looked twice at him, let alone dated him.
That just showed how genuinely nice Pyke was and how horrible Payton had acted. Part of it had been the weight. Payton had been embarrassed by it, but most of it was the fact that Payton never really felt that the two of them connected.
Something had always held Pyke back, and being the desperate, needy type, Payton had taken that to heart. It didn’t help that Payton had grown up in a dysfunctional home. With his parents arguing all the time, it was a miracle he hadn’t turned out worse.
Hence him acting like a true bitch to Pyke.
Payton would have to apologize to his ex, but he didn’t see that happening anytime in the near future. He’d promised himself that he would leave Pyke alone, and that was what he planned on doing.
“I hate when there is nowhere to park,” Sherman complained when they arrived at the diner to find every parking slot taken. “Since you’re still recovering, I’ll let you out by the door and I’ll find somewhere to park.”
“Aren’t you a saint? Now I can go thaw my nuts inside the diner.”
“We’ve been in the car for five damn minutes,” Sherman said. “Get your delicate ass inside. Order me a soda, and if I don’t make it inside in the next hour because I had to park so far away, order me a corned beef sandwich with fries. Don’t forget the pickle.”
That sounded delicious, but Payton was going to eat a salad. He refused to put the weight back on after struggling so hard to get rid of it. “Gotcha.”
He ran from the car into the diner, rubbing his hands together as he looked around at the familiar faces. Payton had grown up in Maple Grove and knew a lot of people, and unfortunately, they knew his parents.
From the way the two acted in public, Payton should have been a pariah.
“Hey, Payton.” Kenny, the waiter, smiled at him. “Take a seat at the only available booth.”
Payton groaned. He should have waited until the lunch crowd had cleared out before coming here.
He inhaled the amazing smells as he hurried to the booth. Thankfully it wasn’t by the door. He didn’t want to feel a cold blast every time the door opened.
As soon as Sherman entered, Payton saw snow falling. Crap. He hoped that Russell and his partner were able to finish the steps. Could they still fix them with the snow coming down?
Payton wasn’t sure but was glad when the waiter approached so they could order their food. He shoved away thoughts of butt cracks and the prospect of a lonely Christmas as he enjoyed Sherman’s company.
* * * *
“Bilbo!” Payton was beside himself. It wasn’t like his cat to stay gone for two days. Something must have happened, and Payton was terrified that his furball had been hit by a car and was lying dead somewhere.
Or Bilbo had been killed by a wild animal. There had been bear sightings in Maple Grove, along with a host of other exotic animals. Payton didn’t believe the stories about cougars, panthers, or tigers. The ones about wolves might be true, and what if Bilbo had become a snack?
God, he hoped not. Bilbo had been a rescue animal, already having a rough life before Payton had given him a home.
“Bilbo!” He shivered in the cold, rubbing his arms as he looked around his backyard and up and down the driveway. Payton had listened for his cat for the past two nights, but so far Bilbo hadn’t whined to come inside.
He made kissing noises, a sound that normally made Bilbo run to him, but all he heard was the wind. All he saw was the snow, which was coming down lightly. There was already a healthy dose of the white stuff, and it was getting into his slippers. Maybe Sherman was right. Payton was too delicate for this cold crap.
Payton had started back toward the back door when he heard it.
Meowing.
“Bilbo?” Payton looked around, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from since he didn’t see his cat anywhere. “Where are you, buddy?”
Another meow, only this time it was long and soulful.
Payton moved closer to the back steps, listening, wishing the wind would shut up long enough so he could hear more clearly. Already he was close to becoming an icicle, and he wanted to get inside his toasty house, but not without his cat.
This time Bilbo let out a loud panicked meow.
Payton gasped.
The men who had fixed his brick steps had done so two days ago, and Bilbo was trapped inside of them! The back porch was maybe two by two, made of brick, and there was no way Payton would be able to get Bilbo out by himself.
How the hell had he gotten stuck in there in the first place?
Payton rushed inside and grabbed his phone from the kitchen counter. Who the hell was he supposed to call when his cat was trapped inside a brick porch?
The fire department.
Payton couldn’t think of anyone else who would be able to rescue his poor cat.
“Hang on, buddy,” Payton said when he rushed back outside. “Daddy is getting help. Just hang in there.”
Bilbo was probably scared and definitely hungry and cold. Payton feared his furball was on death’s door as he talked rapidly to the emergency dispatcher.
“Did you just say Bilbo Baggins is stuck inside your brick porch?”
“Yes! I just had it redone, and I think Bilbo might have crawled inside and hid while the men did their job. Please, you need to send someone quickly.”
That had to be it. Bilbo must have gotten inside when the men went to their truck for something. Payton knew from firsthand experience that Bilbo was fast. It would have taken only a second for him to sneak past the workers.
“Bilbo Baggins, as in Lord of the Rings?” She didn’t sound as if she was taking him seriously. “Listen, crank calling 911 is—”
“Who the hell said I was crank calling you?” Payton argued as he rubbed one of the steps, as if that would bring his cat comfort. “He’s stuck in my back steps, and I need you to send the fire department to get him out!”
“I’ll send Gandalf or Frodo to help.” She hung up.
Payton pulled his phone away from his ear and blinked rapidly at it. Had she really hung up on him?
Payton had no choice but to break his promise to himself. If emergency workers weren’t coming, he needed to enlist someone else’s help. Bilbo Baggins needed him, and Payton wouldn’t let him down.