Part 4

*Part 4

Driving back home without Melissa didn’t seem quite right to Hayden, but he understood her reasons for staying behind.  For the next few hours he would be shuffled between interviews at the Ranch and, had she been there, she would be doing a whole lot of nothing. Melissa hated doing nothing.  Her brother and Beth needed her now, so it made sense that the hospital was where she would stay.

Arriving at the house, he was greeted quite promptly by an excited Kona.  Being raised always by Melissa’s side, her exuberant partner didn’t fair well with being left alone.  Calming her down was something Hayden didn’t have a lot of experience in, but a good game of fetch usually did the trick.  Kona had run circles around Hayden before making a dash to the car, sniffing the passenger door as if trying to figure out just why he hadn’t opened it yet.

“Oh, sorry girl, she’s not with me,” he explained.  There had been a time when he felt silly talking to the large dog like she was a person, but as he grew to know her, he saw the comprehension in her dark marbled eyes.  Communicating with her came easier after that.  “She stayed with Eric and Beth, but she’ll be home soon.”

She tilted her head as he spoke, the wagging of her tail slowing with each word, letting Hayden know she understood.  Satisfied with his explanation, she trotted to the porch. Finding a tennis ball hidden beneath a rattan chair, she snatched it in her mouth and brought it over to spit at Hayden’s feet.  “Ok, but then I have to get cleaned up,” he grinned, throwing the ball across the back lawn of the house.  “I’ve got a date with the sharks.”

A few long passes ran some of the energy out of Kona, eventually allowing him to go inside and prepare for the rest of his afternoon.  Showered and freshly shaven, he put on a pair of well worn jeans, an equally as worn set of boots, and the tan linen v-neck Melissa had hung out for him.  Pulling the cool material over his head, he caught the faintest hint of jasmine. 

They had managed to meet, date, travel and marry without him ever discovering the source of the scent that seemed to follow her everywhere.  She, of course, claimed to not smell it and there were no jasmine laced toiletries hiding in their bathroom.  He was sure of that.  He’d looked.  A lot.

As much as he yearned for a more tangible reason, he was coming to accept that it really did seem to be the outward aroma of her natural body chemistry.  The freshness of it created mental visions that he cherished.  With as little effort as it took to smell it lingering in their house, he could see her walking through a spring garden - flowers reaching out to brush against her, leaving little bits of themselves behind to excite the senses of everyone she met.  It had stopped mattering to Hayden just exactly where it came from, only that it was there and that she came along with it.

Kona watched him get ready, stretched out on their bed doing her level best to ignore Phoebe, who was using her as a kitty jungle gym.  When she was frisky there was no rest for her surrogate mom, only hope for some interference from the houses human inhabitants.

“Pheebs, leave her alone for just a few minutes,” Hayden laughed, snatching the intent calico just as she prepared to pounce once again.  “Come on girl, you can stay outside this time.  Maybe the youngster here will chase butterflies instead of you.”  The idea sounded good to Kona, at least if the speed at which she bolted to the door was any indication.

‘Outside’ was a loose term at best, it was really a fenced in corner of the yard where Kona could lay around in the grass and sun herself.  She was hardly ever in there because she was always with them, but the yard adjoined a finished basement where either animal could retreat should the weather turn unfavorable.  Hayden knew Melissa wouldn’t be that far behind him and Kona loved being anywhere that held distractions for Phoebe.

Right on cue, the crazy kitten hit the ground and took off after a butterfly.  Kona was less flighty, waiting for a scratch on the head and molasses cookie before finding a sunny spot and stretching out.  Wishing he could do something similar instead of the press interviews he was scheduled for, Hayden walked toward their golf cart and climbed in.  Pausing to gaze longingly at the hammock hanging still between the trees, he turned the key and drove down the back path that lead directly to a back entrance of Skywalker Ranch.

*****

Getting Eric out of the hospital had taken longer than expected and even then, the trio first had to stop by Beth’s apartment so that she and Eric could get ready.  Hampered by plaster and painkillers, her brother wasn’t exactly racing through his preparations.  When he finally finished it was on to the house so Melissa could do the same.

Phoebe had moved on to stalking rabbits that had come up to nibble the grass.  Kona did a good job of moving just as she was about to pounce, scaring off her target.  The determined cat never gave up – always going right back to stalking a creature that Kona would undoubtedly always ensure was never caught.  Phoebe had yet to loose her invincible kitten innocence and didn’t seem to understand that those wild rabbits could tear her limb from limb, but Kona would see that she never got close enough to find out.

All it took was the sound of the car in the driveway to get them both up and waiting, knowing that it would be only moments until the door opened to let them in.  As always, Kona went straight to Melissa, checking on her before moving on to Beth and Eric, spending extra time on the full leg cast he was now sporting.  Phoebe batted at the plaster a few times, jumped over it and then bolted back when Eric startled her with an unprovoked “BOO!”  She didn’t look the least bit amused.

“You’d better watch it,” Melissa warned her older sibling, “she’ll start using that sock over your toes as a scratching post and I won’t stop her.”

“Thanks for nothing Sis.”

“My pleasure,” she grinned as she picked up a note.  “Hayden took the cart, figured your leg would fit better in the car.  We’re supposed to park behind the main house.  That means we’d better get hoppin’… oh, sorry bro.  No pun intended,” but judging from her giggles as she headed upstairs, she wasn’t sorry at all.