Dangerous to Know & Love (58 page)

“So? My grandparents are from Baltimore – I like
Hairspray
. Just do something to make her feel special – so that she knows you care. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive…”

“Thank fuck for that because in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m broke,” Daniel said bitterly. But at the same time an idea came to him. Maybe.

“Look, we should go,” said Rodney, glancing at his watch. “I’ll meet you outside – give you and Lis a few minutes to yourselves.”

Rodney opened the door as Lisanne stamped back inside, nearly taking him out as she barreled past him.

“Good luck,” Rodney breathed, although neither Daniel or Lisanne could hear him.

Lisanne ricocheted around the room, collecting her jacket and purse, feeling like she wanted to whack Daniel around the head with it – on his good side, of course.

He sat patiently, waiting for her to look at him.

Finally, she whirled around. “I’m
so
mad at you!”

“Yeah, I got the memo,” he said, dryly.

“This isn’t a laughing matter!” she yelled.

“I’m not laughing, baby doll,” he said, holding back a smile. “I’m sorry, okay.”

“No! No it’s definitely not okay! You never tell me anything! I have to find out everything by accident. That’s not the basis for a relationship, Daniel.”

His chest squeezed unpleasantly.

“Lis, please. I’ll try, okay. I just… it… I haven’t had anyone to tell this shit to in a while.”

His hazel eyes begged her to understand and she didn’t have it in her heart to punish him anymore. He’d said he’d try. She couldn’t ask for more.

“Okay, but we’re in this together, Daniel. Just
tell
me. If it affects you, it affects me. Get that through your thick skull!” and she tapped him lightly on his head.

“Working on it, baby doll,” he said, seriously.

She sat on his knee and he nuzzled her neck. She was in his arms and there was nowhere else she wanted to be.

They were interrupted by her phone ringing and Rodney’s irate voice telling them to stop
making
out and to
get
out.

Throughout the whole drive Rodney complained grumpily about being the only person not currently getting any action. Lisanne ignored him and Daniel, sitting in the backseat, looked like he’d fallen asleep again.

They arrived just as the Maclaines’ car was turning into the road.

It was like an extreme version of shows on the DIY network.

That first day, Daniel was astonished by how much they got done. Ernie had called ahead to have a dumpster delivered, along with industrial amounts of white paint, brushes and rollers. He’d also arranged for a glazier to come and fit new glass in the seven broken windows. And then he handed out tasks to everyone.

Daniel worked harder and longer and took fewer breaks than anyone else, galvanized to see his childhood home re-emerge from the rubble. He even managed to retrieve some photographs of his parents that weren’t too badly damaged.

Halfway through the afternoon, two men had driven past in a beaten up VW van to buy coke, but Ernie saw them off by threatening to call the police.

“That’ll happen for a while,” he said thoughtfully, “but the message will soon get around… providing it stays that way.”

He gave Daniel a hard stare.

“It will,” snapped Daniel. “I don’t want that shit anywhere near me or… I don’t want it around.”

Ernie nodded and went back to work.

On the fourth day, after most of the clearing out had been done and small structural repairs completed, they started the painting. Harry turned out to have a good eye for staining woodwork without the lines bleeding, so he was put in charge of door frames and window sills. Everyone else was hands-on painting the walls and ceilings.

Ernie even rented a sander, and showed Daniel how to use it on hardwood floors. Some of Pop’s skills with tools had rubbed off on Ernie.

Daniel was worried about how much it was all costing, but Ernie simply said he hoped someone would do the same it if was his kids who needed a helping hand. That was the end of the discussion – at least as far as Ernie was concerned.

The biggest problem was furniture. Monica and Lisanne were given the job of haunting the thrift shops to see what they could find.

“Nothing girly, please, baby doll,” begged Daniel.

Lisanne snickered quietly. “You’ll love whatever I get,” and kissed him quickly so he couldn’t reply.

They were pretty successful, securing sofas, chairs, a kitchen table and two double beds with decent mattresses.

Each night Rodney and Daniel stayed at the house, camping out and washing in cold water, until the oil tank could be refilled. Both of them were wearing five day old stubble.

Lisanne had wanted to stay, too, but had been outvoted by her parents and even by Daniel, who was worried in case any of Zef’s customers came back.

But Ernie seemed to have been right about the word getting around, and no one bothered them again.

On New Year’s Eve, there was one more piece of good news.

Daniel was scrubbing out the downstairs shower room that hadn’t been used for anything except for storing liquor for two years, when his cell vibrated in his pocket.

As he read the message his face lit up, and his shout of happiness could be heard all over the house.

Lisanne came running over. “What is it?”

“They’ve found Sirona! Some asshat tried to sell her to Sal, the guy from the auto shop who’s given me a job. He recognized her and called the bastard on it. I can pick her up today.”

Monica drove him over to collect his beloved Harley and he rode her home, grinning from ear to ear, wearing a helmet that Sal had given him, with another stashed in the saddlebags as a spare for his girl.

Rodney leaned over to whisper. “Your boyfriend looks
hot
in leather.”

“I know,” Lisanne said, smugly.

That evening, they celebrated the house’s rebirth, Sirona’s return, and New Year’s Eve with Mexican takeout, beer and large quantities of ice cream. Daniel and Rodney celebrated by taking turns in a shower that pumped out hot water.

The house still looked a bit empty and the furniture was shabby if functional, but it was a home again. Or trying to be.

Harry and Lisanne were fighting over the last of the Rocky Road when Daniel stood up, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot.

“Yeah, so it’s New Year’s Eve and tomorrow, shit, well, it’s a new year. So, um, I just wanted to, you know, thank you all for everything you’ve done. It’s been like having family, that’s how it feels, to me, I mean. And Rodney, man, you came through and I know you’ve been going through your own shit, so if you need a place to stay… this is home, okay. Monica, Ernie, you guys have been fucking awesome. Um, sorry. But you have. You, too, Harry. You’ve worked hard, man.” His eyes turned to Lisanne, who was holding her hand to her mouth, her eyes bright with tears. “Baby doll, you… I… just… thank you. I mean, thank you for everything. Fuck, I…”

She stood up and walked over to him, looking into his eyes. “I know.”

There was a silence, so full of emotion that it had to be broken.

“Here’s to new beginnings,” said Rodney, holding up his beer.

“Hear! Hear!” agreed Monica, softly.

Lisanne pulled Daniel down onto the sofa with her and held him, until his embarrassment had faded.

“I loved what you said,” she whispered.

“I sounded like a fucking moron,” he groaned. “I had it all planned out what I wanted to say and then, ah, fuck.”

“No, it was perfect.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Perfect, huh?”

Lisanne kissed him on the nose. “Except for all the cursing.”

He grinned at her.

At midnight, they sang
Auld Lang Syne
, and Daniel wrapped his arms around Lisanne’s waist, pulling her against his chest, feeling the vibrations of the song echo through her small rib cage.

Rodney’s words came back to him,
Just do something to make her feel special, so that she knows you care
. He suddenly knew what he wanted to do.

Several things changed that New Year. After a long night of talking it over with Daniel, Rodney had decided to transfer to the same college, and he was hopeful his parents would support that decision. Daniel had offered him a place to live as a thank you for everything he’d done. Rodney accepted gratefully, but insisted on paying rent money – which Daniel refused, until Lisanne took him to one side and told him that she wasn’t going to appreciate him working 20 hours a week on top of studying, when Rodney’s contribution meant he’d only have to work eight. With Rodney and Lisanne ganging up on him, Daniel had lost that argument.

The following day, the Maclaines went home, full of promises to visit again soon. Harry reminded Daniel that they still had to plan an arcade date.

Rodney was leaving, too, but only to collect his things before moving in, ready for the new semester.

Daniel and Lisanne were alone together for the first time in well over a week. Before Rodney and the Maclaines were at the end of the road, they were pulling off each other’s clothes and wouldn’t even have made it to the bedroom, if Daniel hadn’t picked her up and carried her in bodily.

Lisanne was a hot and sweaty puddle, her flesh still quivering from soft aftershocks following a very much needed orgasm, when Daniel rolled onto his side and ran a finger down her cheek.

“Better?”

“Yes,” she sighed. “Much better.”

He grinned.

“Good,” then his smile faded and he looked uncertain.

It wasn’t a look she associated with Daniel – it worried her.

“What’s wrong?”

“So, um, I have my first tuning session on Thursday.”

“Okay,” she said carefully.

“They’ll fix me up with the transmitter and processor…” He took a deep breath. “I was wondering… do you want to go with me? I mean, you don’t have to… if it’s too weird…”

“Oh,” she said, swallowing with difficulty. “Oh! Yes, of course I’ll go with you.”

“You will?”

“Yes, idiot!”

“Okay.”

“Okay!”

He pulled her onto his chest and she lay there listening to the steady, even beat of his strong silent heart.

Chapter 24

Daniel was jittery. He wondered if it had been a mistake asking Lisanne to come with him to the clinic. But there was no backing out now. Where he was reluctant and dragging his weary ass, she was eager and almost fucking skipping along.

Even some very hot wake-up sex hadn’t put him in a better mood, and that shit was just wrong. Wake-up sex put
everyone
in a good mood, didn’t it?

He tried to ignore Lisanne’s high spirits, but every time he looked away, she tugged his arm to make him look at puppies or balloons, or who knew what crappy happy shit. And he
really
wanted a smoke.

They walked past a guy who was pulling a cigarette from a new packet, and Daniel seriously thought about mugging him for his Marlboro’s – a brand he hated.

He stopped abruptly outside the entrance to the hospital, and Lisanne almost crashed into him.

“Just… give me a minute, baby doll,” he grit out, trying to calm his breathing.

She reached up and held his face, cupping his cheeks with gentle fingers. “It’s going to be fine,” she said, placing a soft kiss on his lips. “It’s going to be good.”

He gave a staccato nod, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

Lisanne walked through, then turned to look at him. She held out her hand and he took it, grateful for the contact.

He was checked in at reception, and they were pointed toward the waiting room. He
hated
waiting rooms. He hated waiting, period.

They’d been sitting for less than a minute and his leg was bouncing up and down so hard that he could feel the vibrations in his teeth.

Lisanne rested her hand on his knee, soothing him.

“It’ll be fine,” she said again, chanting out the words as if they were a talisman against every evil.

He didn’t feel fucking fine. He felt sick to his stomach. What if, after all this shit, what if it didn’t work? He’d read the statistics, he’d read every online blog and account that he’d been able to find. He knew the implants didn’t work well for everyone, a minority perhaps, but the way his damn luck was going, he’d be that minority.

He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees, and let his head hang down.

Please let this fucking work.

Lisanne tapped his arm gently and he looked up.

A woman was standing in front of him smiling. Oh yeah, what was her name?

“Samantha. How are you?”

S: Good, thanks. You?

D: Okay.

S: I was hoping you’d get in touch.

D: Been busy.

S: So I see! Is this your girlfriend?

D: Yes. L-I-S-A-N-N-E.

“Lis, this is Samantha. She’s had the CI, too.”

“Oh, hi,” said Lisanne, scanning Samantha quickly, then she remembered to make the correct sign.

S: She’s the musician?

D: Yes.

S: Are you here for your tuning session?

“Yeah, first one.”

S: You look a bit nervous. That’s why I came over. But it’ll be worth it. I promise.

“Yeah, I hope so.”

Daniel’s name flashed up.

“That’s me.”

D: Take care. Bye.

S: Bye.

Lisanne waved awkwardly, smiling nervously at the attractive older woman.

“What did she say?”

Daniel was clearly distracted, but his thoughts weren’t running in Samantha’s direction.

“What? Oh, yeah, she said it would be worth it.”

His mouth tightened into a flat line.

Lisanne held his hand as she walked into the consulting room with him.

Dr. Palmer was there, which reassured them both.

“Hey, doc,” croaked Daniel, his throat inexplicably dry. “Um, Lis, this is Dr. Palmer. Doc, this is my girlfriend, Lisanne Maclaine.”

“Miss Maclaine, a pleasure to meet you again.”