TUESDAY TALES - "HUG" - BREAK MY HEART CONTINUES...

Welcome! Thanks for coming. "Break My Heart" continues this week with the word prompt "hug". Scroll down to go back to Tuesday Tales. Thanks for stopping by.

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There was a fine line between restful peace and quiet and it being so still you could lose your mind. Rick bemoaned no parties to anticipate or dress for. He’d cut a dashing figure in the latest fashions he had received free from the companies he’d modeled for. All his clothes had been lost in the fire.

The phone rang, relieving his loneliness. Of course, it was Mindy. Who else would be calling him? None of the three hundred names he’d had in his phone. One-by-one they had disappeared from his life. He’d erased them all after he’d left the hospital, anger and bitterness released with every push of the delete button. 

“Mindy, darling. Why don’t you come over for a drink?”

“I’m calling to invite you to dinner tonight. Be here at six.”

“You assume I have no plans?” he asked.

“Who would you have plans with? You don’t know anyone in town except Jess.”

“And now Doctor Dani, too.”

“Oh? Come for dinner and tell me all about it. I’ve gotta go.”

The phone when dead. He frowned then smiled. Now he had a reason to shower and dress up. He’d take Oliver with him.

****

He pulled into Mindy and Drew’s driveway and parked the car. He and Oliver stopped at the door. Mindy yelled “it’s open!”

Man and dog entered. The sound of a loud hiss halted them. A Maine Coon cat greeted them. She stood on the stairs, back arched, fur sticking straight out, making her look twice as big. Oliver whimpered and plopped down on the floor.

“It’s okay, boy. I’m sure she won’t hurt you,” Rick said, picking up his dog.

“Don’t worry about Minerva. She’s all hiss and no bite,” Mindy said, kissing Rick on the cheek and shooting a dirty look at the cat.   

Once he was unleashed, Oliver took off, nose to the ground, exploring the new territory. Mindy handed her cousin a vodka and tonic.

“No, it’s not made with fancy vodka. We watch our pennies here,” she said, leading him out to the backyard.

Drew manned the barbecue, turning chicken as the other approached. At the smell of fire and the sight of the grill, Rick stiffened. Mindy hugged him.

“I’m sorry. I forgot. Do you want to go inside?”

“That’s okay,” he said, moving a chair far away from the flames. “Just don’t know why you need an open fire to cook meat when electric stoves are cheap.”

Drew raised his palm in greeting, then bent down.

“See this baby? We’re prepared for any catastrophe,” he said, patting the large fire extinguisher standing next to the barbecue.

Rick downed his drink quickly. 

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