Eliot Strange and the Prince of the People

26) Wine and Dine

We go through the back door of my house so no one from the street can see us. Funny, even when you've been fighting for survival at the end of the world, home still feels like home. I almost relax for a minute, and then I see it.

Someone has left a note on the fridge. Even from across the room, I can see it's the paper dropped from a helicopter with a picture of a smiling prince under the letters WANTED.

I walk across the kitchen and snatch it off the fridge. On the bottom in tiny letters in my dad's handwriting are the words:

Boo Boo,

Went to check. Then, to camp. Thought you might head this way with G. Supposed to meet him here. No show for you both. You know what to do now. Will wait until noon, and then go pick up Mama Bear. Be safe.

Dad  

Torin looks at the note. "That is one cryptic note. Is it from your dad?"

"Yes," I say. "They went to check out the Canadians in Pilot Mountain and then to our camp. We were gone. Dad came here. He waited here because Gus was supposed to meet him here. Must have not felt safe. He went to our emergency rendezvous point."

Torin reads the note again. "You got all that from this?"

I nod.

"Where is the emergency rendezvous point?'

"You know it. At the dugout where you left me the note."

A light bulb goes off. "Ahh, that is what - you know what to do - means. He is writing in code."

"Sort of, but not really, if you know him. He was supposed to meet Gus here today."

I go to check the frog on the front porch. No note from Gus. My dad would be all in for Gus's plan, he does not like to leave unfinished business. If Gus talked to my dad, Gus doesn't need me for his plan. He would probably think my dad could talk reason to my mom. And if not, my dad would definitely finish off the general. 

 Have I been left behind? Weirdly, I am mad and relieved all at the same time.

"Let's go," I say to Torin. I explain that Gus is probably going to use my dad now to persuade my mother and kill the general. My dad would be behind that plan 100%.

"We can't catch them, Eliot. It's late afternoon, they are long gone. And..." He pauses here and unconsciously touches his broken hand.

"It's dangerous," I fill in the blanks. We can't go to Stuart. I feel suddenly very exhausted and helpless. "What now?" I ask. Torin quickly changes the subject.

"Spaghetti and meatballs? Why the hurry? No need to make any hasty decisions." Torin starts looking for food in already open cabinets.

"Someone else has been here. I never leave cabinet doors open. That is a pet peeve of mine. Somebody was here."

"Maybe your dad left them open."

"No, I get my order from him. It had to be Gus and Mr. Thomas."

"Would Gus and Mr. Thomas know where to go if they read this note? Where he'd be waiting? Why wouldn't they just head straight to Stuart."

"Yes, Mr. Thomas gave me the last note. And Gus wants to find his dad too. He was supposed to come here and meet my dad today. Maybe, he did."

"So they rendezvoused with your dad and maybe Agent Lancaster Senior there?"

"Maybe. Yeah, we need to go," I say while Torin continues to search cabinets.

"I think there's time," he says, "Your dad and Leia and certainly Agent Lancaster can handle themselves. I don't know about, what is your fiancé's name again?"

"Patrick," I say. How did he know about Patrick? Big mouth Gus I am guessing.

"Voila," he says as he pulls a can of spaghetti from a lower cabinet where I now remember hiding it. "I would say this is a sign, a very good sign."

"A sign of what, Torin?"

"A sign from the gods, the gods of love and romance, a sign that we are meant to be together, even the gods support this."

"A can of spaghetti told you all that?"

"Yes, my lady, a can of spaghetti. I should like to make you a romantic dinner."

"It's early for dinner."

"No matter, I don't think we will tarry at dinner too long. It's more the gesture, the courtship, before..." his voice trails off. He takes my hand and kisses it. "I'm trying to create a mood here, Eliot."

"Mood for what?" I say as I reach for Torin and pull him closer and kiss him like a grown ass sexy woman that I am suddenly now pretending to be. He puts his hand on my shoulder, strokes my neck. His hand wanders below my shirt top and under the strap of my bra, and he pulls it to the side and kisses there.

There is an urgency now that was not here last night. It does not feel like we are both in a dream. I feel awake and aware of every single nuance, every kiss, every stroke, every sensation of skin on skin. Torin feels it too. I can tell.

He takes his good arm and knocks everything off the kitchen counter. Old bills, empty cans, my mama's favorite scented candle, all cascade to the floor. "Got to clear the table for dinner," he says.

"Dinner?"

"The spaghetti I'm going to make you," Torin says as I realize his hand is inside the back of my pants.

"Damn the spaghetti," I say. Down lower, lower the hand goes. He is cupping my ass with his one good hand. Oh Lord, thank you for yoga pants that are easy to get in and out of.

Torin backs me to the edge of the counter. I help him get his sling and shirt off and am careful not to hurt his hand. He is naked from the waist up and I touch him and trace his scar down, ever down, the familiar path.

With my help, my one armed man sits me on the counter.

I touch his face. "You could use a shave, you're all scratchy." I turn my nose up like he disgusts me.

"Disguise," he says as he touches my face to his. "I am in disguise. Word on the street is that there is a prince wandering the countryside. He is dangerous. All the ladies must hide."

"Not this lady." I kiss his scruffy face. "She is not afraid."

He looks me in the eye and says seriously, "Eliot, I found something at Mr. Thomas's house today."

I smile. "I know, my prince, your breath smells delicious and you taste scrumptious." I kiss his lip, bite it a little. "Spearmint?"

He pulls a small box out of his back pocket and places it near my hip. I pick it up and read some of the words : Lubricated, for her pleasure, intense.

I raise an eyebrow. Where, when did Torin find these?

Mr. Thomas, 'ol Clementine himself. Mr. Tomas had condoms and Torin found them. Why did Mr. Thomas have condoms? Gross. These thoughts almost kill the mood, and I guess Torin reads my mind because he says:

"I know obscene and crass, huh, don't think about it." He reaches around me and unhooks my bra, and then other things.

Soon, I am not thinking at all about Mr. Thomas.