Laughing Fate Read online

  He could smell her hair, it smelled of fruit and salt water. She had pretty hair, naturally straight and looked like it would be silky. He wondered how weird it would be if he sniffed it, he bet it would be pretty weird. He had never noticed it before, but she had blond highlights that sparkled in the sun. He looked up at the sky and noticed a bird flying in the distance. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was only a turkey buzzard. He resumed his contemplation of her hair while he awaited her decision. She really had pretty hair.

  "I’m sorry." she mumbled to her feet, which were pretty dang cute, now that Potter took a second to notice. She had her neatly trimmed toenails French tipped and her feet were show cased in a flirty pair of flip flops. Why was he noticing this now?

  "What?"

  "I’m sorry..." she said softly. Potter looked at her in surprise. Had he just won? Had he tamed the wild beast? Would it be inappropriate to do a discrete victory dance?? He stared into her face and once again saw the lost little warrior.

  "I’m sorry," she said again. “I know I can be difficult, I just push and push until I drive people crazy. I shouldn’t have made fun of your stupid fear of seagulls, and I shouldn’t have yelled at any of you. I especially shouldn’t have threatened to end their lives-Momma always said not to kill people.” Puck grinned impishly at him and then continued, “You must think that I am horrible, but I’m really not! I’m just under a butt load of stress and I was taking it out on you and your friends, which was wrong of me.” She glanced up at him thru watery eyes, which had gone all soft and appealing.

  "Forgive me?" she asked in a soft voice as she stared up at him.

  Potter tried to remind himself of that dang kitten that kept coming back to her at the sound of her sweet voice, only to be thrown at the dog again. He tried to resist, he really did, but who could say no to that? Her eyes had gone all soft and puppy eyed and stared up at him in such a sweet angelic fashion.

  This new look was a million times more effective than her warrior look. Dang, she had expressive blue eyes. When she laughed they sparkled, when she was mad they flashed lightning, and when she was repentant, she was beautiful. He could have stared at her forever, but then the spell was broken by a matter of fact voice from hell.

  "Don’t look at me like that, this doesn’t mean that I like you. I’m just sorry is all, so don’t go getting any ideas that I want to be ‘special’ friends with you," she said matter-of-factly. What the hey was that about? Her eyes which had once been so soft and sweet had narrowed and gotten hard. She wasn’t angry, just serious.

  Potter was blown away. Here he was about to forgive her for being psycho and she comes out with that? Not that he particularly wanted to be friends with her, she was crazy after all, but did she have to say it like he was the scum of the earth and beneath her notice?

  Not pausing to think, just responding in a knee jerk sort of fashion, Potter said the first thing that came to mind.

  “Darling, you and I will never be friends and that look you saw in my eye? It was pity." Potter winced slightly after the words were out. Wrong thing to say to Puck! She could kill him and no one would be the wiser. Potter knew that his death was imminent when the fire started burning in her eyes again.

  With an amazing show at self control she told him off with a few choice words, never once raising her voice. She then walked away, throwing one last parting shot his way.

  “Go back to your car, Potter; because I don’t want your pity, I don’t want your attention or your notice, or your freakin’ company! I liked it better when you didn’t see me, so let’s go back to that, shall we?" she flung over her shoulder.

  There had been a world of hurt in those last words. Had she really felt like she was beneath his notice? "I’ve always seen you," he said softly as he watched her go. He felt deep regret for having said that he pitied her, it was a low blow, a direct hit to her pride. Potter felt his chest tighten as he thought back on her words.

  Puck wasn’t exactly popular among the younger generation of Sunny Cove, but she was infamous. Hell, the whole town noticed her, People may run out of her way, but they definitely noticed her. Besides, for the most part she had the whole town eating out of the palm of her hand. She had them all fooled into thinking that she was sweet. It was only her old school mates that knew the truth about her…but how would it feel to have that kind of reputation? Potter had always assumed that she liked being known as the crazy one; why else would she do the crazy stunts she was so fond of?

  Puck may not be sweet, but she was hurting. He looked around, noticing how hot it was getting. Puck had a long hike ahead of her and at the end of it she’d be hot, tired, sore, thirsty, and she would absolutely hate his guts. And for some reason Potter didn’t want that. It wasn’t just fear for his life that led him to his decision to fix things with Puck; he had to atone for his stupidity.

  He jogged back to his car, a beat up Jetta, boldly scared a seagull away that was perched on his hood, and then jumped into the driver seat. After a quick shudder, from his battle with the seagull, Potter nodded at his friends who were sitting on their cars eating, and drove off in a hurry.

  "What’s with him?" asked Steve.

  " He loves her! Smoochy smmooochy coochy coo!" sang Brad as he threw potato chips at James.

  “Knock it off, shorty! I’ll throw you to the sharks!”

  “Oh, yeah? I’d like to see you try!” declared Brad boldly as he flicked a potato chip right at James’ head.

  Dave ignored the two men wrestling towards the water, and laughed at Steve. “He’s finally met someone that he can’t control. Puck is like the ocean, destructive, beautiful, at times serene, at others playful. She’s a fighter and Potter can’t keep his mind off of her. I wonder how she’s going to like Potter’s interest? I don’t think she cares much for men.”

  Brad’s head popped up from James’ head lock and asked, “You mean she likes girls? Sweet!”

  “No, you moron!” James said as he tightened his arm around Brad’s neck. “She isn’t gay! Or else she’d be dating women, you dork! She doesn’t even look at girls like that, but have you seen the way she watches Potter? She digs him, even if she don’t know it yet.”

  Steve just shook his head sadly and ate a potato chip. He sure hoped Potter wasn’t falling for Puck, she was crazy. When he was just a little kid she shaved his cat and painted it blue!

  Dave smiled as he watched James and Brad fall in the ocean. Brad was like a puppy, he had to be trained. Not that anything they had tried had worked so far…he was incorrigible, which was why he was so well liked. He was born a class clown, but beneath all the ribbing and inappropriate comments, he was a good man, loyal and honorable. Sort of.

  Dave turned his thoughts back to Potter and Puck. When they had been younger, Potter had always been fascinated by stories of Puck. Unfortunately he never heard any good ones about her, just the horror stories that were still being told to students at Sunny Cove Elementary. Dave, though knew that there was more to Puck than just the stories. She had started a Hunger Drive in High School, but few knew that she was the one behind it because she had let Sandy get all the credit. Also, Dave had seen on many occasions just how devoted she was to her family and friends.

  Dave smiled sagely as he contemplated what life had in store for those two. Love was an odd thing, it snuck up on you when you least expected it. He spoke from experience, having just married last fall to Shannon. It all started in a trap, and what a glorious trap it was. Marriage really changed a guy. Dave popped a chip into his mouth and chewed it loudly. Potter wouldn’t know what hit him.

  ****

  "Darn, Darn, Darn!" Puck muttered as she walked along the yellow dotted line. She was ten times a fool! She should have accepted Potter’s offer! By the time she was done with this death march she’d be so late for work. She was supposed to work at the liquor store at noon, which was only an hour away. No way could she make it on time. Dang her pride anyways.

  She could have been
on her way to town right now if only she had accepted Potter’s offer! Instead she had picked a fight with him! Why? Because he had been smiling down at her and it had freaked her out. Big Al was going to kill her! He had already put her on notice for yelling at a customer, he was going to be so mad when she didn’t show up for work today!

  She heard a car gunning it up the mountain and then the sharp squeal of breaks and tires, which scared Puck half to death. She jumped to the side of the road, hit loose gravel, and lost her balance. One second she was on the side of the road, the next she was falling off the ledge. She had a brief glimpse of the evergreen trees towering above her, but then she felt a sharp blow on the back of her head and it all went black.

  Potter had been speeding up the mountain trying to catch up to Puck. It was dangerous for a girl to walk alone, even if you were Puck. He had not been expecting her to be walking in the middle of the dang road. Was she crazy?? He slammed on his breaks, fishtailing on the road. As he fought for control he watched her jump out of the way, stumble, and fall off the dang ledge.

  What was with her? Was she a dang accident waiting to happen? Dang fool woman! He pulled over and jumped out to rescue the little warrior. He peered over the ledged and gave a little sigh of relief.

  As far as ledges went it wasn’t that bad. It was a pretty gentle slope with thick trees and bushes to stop your fall. He scanned the area for Puck and gasped when he finally saw her. His heart stopped beating and it took a long second for him to process what he had seen and to move into action.

  Scrambling down, he knelt by her side checking her vital signs. It seemed normal, but she still wasn’t stirring. She lay crumpled on the ground, unconscious and rumpled. There was dirt smudged on her face, but no blood, thank god. Why wasn’t she waking?

  "Come on, come on little warrior, wake up," crooned Potter, moving her hair out of her face with a shaking hand and tucking it behind her ear. It was then that he saw it, blood on the back of her head. Oh crap, o crap! He gently picked her up in his arms and stared at the rock. There was one stupid rock in the whole area and she lands on it, dang fool woman!

  Dave’s head appeared over the ledge and cupping his hands around his mouth he yelled, "Everything ok, man? I saw your car parked on the side." Dave’s eyes widened when he saw Puck, “Holy Crap!" David scrambled down the ledge, sliding down the slope on some loose gravel. He gave Puck a quick once over and then sprang into action.

  He opened his cell and called the local hospital, letting them know that they would be arriving with a patient. Then he helped Potter get Puck up the slope, which was easy considering that Potter wouldn’t give up his hold on Puck, he had her cradled gently against his chest, and would glare at Dave any time he offered to help.

  Potter thanked Dave absently and gently laid Puck on the backseat of his car. She looked so vulnerable, lying there like that. He was so used to seeing Puck full of life and mischief, that it scared him to see her so lifeless. He laid a trembling hand on her neck to check her pulse. It was still beating steadily, if a little faint.

  Potter sighed with relief and jumped into the driver’s seat. As he sped up the mountain he crooned to her, told her that everything was okay and that soon she’d be seen by a doctor. She didn’t wake the whole time, who would have thought that Potter would wish to see battle in her eyes?

  ‘No,’ thought Potter, ‘Not wish…beg. I would beg to see her open those fiery eyes and scare the wits out of me.’ He made it to the hospital in record time, and soon he was watching as Puck was taken away.

  ****

  She dreamed of being in an angel’s arms. They were strong and warm and smelled faintly of sea salt. She loved that smell. Her angel muttered angrily and eventually he went away. It was so black and somewhere there was a hammer banging against something incredibly too loud. The ping of the hammer’s blows hurt her head, in fact her whole body hurt. Puck wrinkled her nose and thought about killing the hammer happy bozo. Wait, why was her world black? Was she dead? Well, the old preacher man had been right then, Puck must be in Hell.

  Then her angel was back, bringing with him the ocean smells that she loved. The hammering stopped and she was lost in a memory of past surf trips with her Dad. Those had been such happy times, her Dad surfing while she boogy boarded closer to shore. He had used that exact brand of surf wax…

  Her angel was holding her hand, his thumb lightly stroking her soft skin. It felt really soothing, keeping the hammer at bay, to feel her angel’s touch. It took her a second to focus on what he was saying; surely he wasn’t saying what she thought he was saying, was he? He was muttering about demons and the fires of hell. What kind of angel was this?

  Slowly his words drifted over to her and she began to understand what he was saying. He sounded concerned, angry, and panicked. Maybe, his voice wasn’t so soothing after all. Puck thought she recognized that voice...who could this angel be? And what was this she was feeling? She still enjoyed the sensations of him holding her hand, but his voice was putting her on edge. Kind of like nails being scratched on a chalk board, but she didn’t want her angel to stop talking.

  “If you don’t wake up you damn fool woman I’m gonna kill you. Who else but you could manage to almost die in the ten minutes I left you alone? Ten minutes! My god! You’re not safe to be on your own! Are you listening to me, you devil incarnate? Wake up and show me the fire in your eyes. Hell, rant and rave at me! I don’t care just wake up you fowl tempered shrew! Do what you’re told for once in your life and WAKE UP!"

  That was not an angel’s voice. Scrunching her nose, Puck tried to think of who it sounded like...

  "Potter! Stop yelling at my sister!" cried a true angel’s voice. Perri sounded scared, poor thing. Some one had to tell Perri it was all going to be ok and Potter wasn’t doing it...stupid man.

  Puck moved her other hand (which had an I.V. stuck in it) slowly, searching for Perri’s. Puck could feel the surprise jump through Perri when Puck grasped her hand and squeezed reassuringly. Potter, who was still stroking her other hand, tightened his grip when he noticed that she was awake. It looks like they had been worried about her, but why? And come to think of it, why was Potter holding her hand? Perri was leaning over her now, crying and yelling at her for scaring them both.

  Smiling with her eyes still closed, Puck said in a raspy voice, “Quit it squirt. I have the mother of all hangovers." Funny that she couldn’t remember drinking...

  "It’s not a hangover Puck! You were unconscious for thirty minutes! You scared me to death!" Puck opened one eye just a tiny bit and squinted up into the light. Unconscious? For half an hour? What the hell?

  "Hey there, sunshine, look at you," said the angel in disguise.

  "You’re not an angel you’re the devil," she rasped out, staring up at his face. He looked tired and worried and happy all at the same time. Potter worried about her... imagine that. He slowly smiled and chucked her under the chin.

  "There’s my girl. I didn’t recognize you with out something mean and vile spewing out of your mouth."

  Puck smiled at him sleepily and said, “I’m not your girl," and slowly she shut her eyes. Potter and Perri stayed at her bedside, both of them holding one of her hands. Puck thought she heard the door open and the doctor come in, but she was already drifting asleep. The last she’d seen of Potter, he was grinning down at her with his eyes sparkling. He looked good like that.

  Chapter two-The scared sleep Nazi

  The doctor had been informed that she had awakened and soon they were discharging her. One hour in the hospital equals one thousand dollars. ‘My god, next time just let me die,’ Puck thought. As the sole provider for her family, vacations at the hospital were a luxury she couldn’t afford.

  But on the other hand, for one thousand dollars she was able to call in sick for both jobs. She could probably milk this for at least two days. Apparently Puck had a concussion and couldn’t sleep. It was imperative that she not sleep, not at all. Sleep be a no-no. Absolutely no sleep .
.. none at all. Sleep Bad... Mucho Importanto. No no no no...sleep...

  "Puck! Wake up!" screeched Perri. She was sitting in the passenger seat in Potter’s car. Puck was lying in the back seat. What did they expect from her?? Perri was glaring at her and ranting about Dr’s orders. In the rear view mirror she saw Potter’s eyes on her as well, they were narrowed in concern. Scowling at him and her pest of a sister she argued that she had not in fact been sleeping.

  "Yes you were!" said two firm voices. God, who did they think they were, the sleep police? A darned nuisance is what they were.

  "I wasn’t sleeping... I… was ....just....sle....sleeping..." Puck muttered as she drifted off to sleep. She vaguely felt the car being pulled over, some quiet conversation, and car doors slamming and then warm angel arms were around her yet again. She smiled in her sleep and buried her nose in his shirt smelling the salt and sex wax.

  Then the angel showed his true colors and started slapping her face to keep her awake. "Quit it..." she whined as she half heartedly slapped at his hands.

  "You can’t sleep Puck. Can you hear me? Stop being so dang foolish and stop sleeping," bellowed Potter right in Puck’s ear. The beast had left his stomach wide open with the way he was holding her. Glaring up at him, Puck elbowed him in the stomach as hard as she could. He wheezed as he tried to regain his breath, which filled Puck with perverse joy. Nothing like knocking the wind out of some stupid know it all sleep Nazi.

  Smiling with satisfaction she glanced up to see Perri’s disapproving gaze. She was behind the wheel now and driving towards home. Judging by the scenery they still had quite some time. They lived in a town house about ten minutes out of Sunny Cove.

  "Puck don’t be mean to Potter. He’s just being nice."

  "Shut up and drive Perri.” Puck said tiredly and then yelped when Potter flipped her so she was lying on her back with Mr. Macho right in her face. He wasn’t happy.