“You don’t wake up to being beaten?”
She shook her head. “No.”
That concerned me. If pain didn’t wake her up, this could literally be a very, very bad thing for her health.
“I sleepwalk almost every night now,” she said. “Lou’s pretty good about keeping watch over me.”
I snorted.
“Tonight, you walked down the middle of the parking lot, down the trail stairs, and almost half a mile down the pathway before you came to a meadow filled with deer that were drinking from a puddle in the middle of the field…”
“And?” she asked, biting her lip.
“I came around the corner, and you were just standing there. You had fucking six deer around you, just watching you curiously.”
She blew out a sigh.
“Shit balls.”
I couldn’t help the grin that tipped up the corner of my lips.
I knew that she didn’t think it was as bad as it was.
But Jesus, when I thought about that man that had called out to her as we were coming back, it made me wonder what would’ve happened had I not been there.
“Pretty much my sentiments exactly,” I admitted. “I think your nighttime habits are a little worse than my nighttime habits.”
Katy snorted. “My habits don’t keep people up at night, though.”
My brows rose. “If you lived with someone that actually cared about you, your habits would keep them up. I know that if I was living with you, I would damn well be concerned about you leaving the house. And the idea of tying yourself up doesn’t sit well with me. I’d be constantly worried that you’d get up and disappear.”
She rolled her eyes. “Which I guess works out well seeing as you’re awake anyway, right?”
She got up off the bed and walked into the bathroom, closing it mostly all the way behind her.
I listened as the shower turned on, and I took that as my cue to go.
I didn’t want to go, though.
What I really wanted was to join her in there.
Even dirty and covered in brown mud, she was still the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.Chapter 7I’m going to get some glow in the dark shoes so I can enlighten your ass.
-Katy’s secret thoughts
Katy
I bit my lip as I looked at the dead person I was about to perform an autopsy on, then back at the two women that were standing there like they were waiting for the show to begin.
Jubilee McGrew owned Bear Bottom Funeral Home. Turner, however, only worked there.
Though, from what I’d been told about her, she didn’t need to work there.
She was doing this as a side gig to her other side gig—a porn translator.
Yes, you heard that correctly.
She was a porn translator.
She worked as a person who watched porn, then added subtitles to it for the hearing impaired…or just those individuals that didn’t like watching their porn with sound but still wanted to know what was being said.
They were both watching me as if I were highly entertaining.
“Are you just going to stand there and watch the entire time?” I asked curiously, scalpel in hand.
She nodded once. “I am. Though, saying that, I’ve never actually ‘watched’ one before. I mean, I’ve seen the aftereffects and all since I’m an undertaker, but I’ve never watched it from start to finish. I’m curious.”
“And I’m just here because I want to be here. Not because I’m actually interested in watching. I’m fairly sure when all the blood starts flowing, I’ll be out of here.”
My lips twitched into a semblance of a smile.
Then, deciding that they probably weren’t going to leave, I began.
“I know this one wanted the autopsy due to the family thinking she had a heart condition,” Jubilee pulled out a bag of popcorn from a bag I hadn’t realized she had, and started munching away. “Do you think that she has one?”
That wasn’t aimed at me, though. That question was aimed at Turner.
Turner stole some popcorn and hopped up onto the stainless-steel countertop at her back, her legs starting to swing.
“I’m going with no.” Turner nodded once. “I’m thinking that she just died of a stroke. Not from anything that has to do with a heart condition. The files that I read didn’t say anything about a heart condition.”
“Should we be talking?” Jubilee asked. “I just realized you’re recording this.”
I shrugged. “I don’t mind you talking. It’s just protocol to record the autopsy. I’m sure that it won’t be reviewed. Talk away.”
Jubilee nodded once. “Good. I forgot about that. I’ll try not to talk about anything that could be considered bad.”
I grinned at her. “Thanks for that.”
She gave a mock bow and then went back to her popcorn, staying silent as she watched me.
It was about an hour into it that Jubilee sighed. “I have to go. Zee’s on his way. We’re going on a hot date tonight.”
“Hot date?” Turner asked. “What’s that?”