Ch.5, Pt. 3: To her horror, Katherine felt herself blush.
To her horror, Katherine felt herself blush. Her skin tingled where Rick had touched her. She was about to speak when Rick turned and saw the old stove. “Wow! How did I miss that? It’s a beauty.”
“Isn’t it?” Katherine was relieved at the change of focus as he lifted the stove lids and opened the doors. “Do you know how it works?”
“Here’s the firebox,” he was saying, “so you light your fire here, and these are two sizes of oven, and you cook on top.”
“Would you be able to help me start it sometime? Just to make sure that it’s safe.”
“Sure. It’s in great condition. It’ll give off a hell of a lot of heat. You won’t need your furnace.”
Katherine studied his face as he appreciated the stove. He was back to being enthusiastic and light-hearted and she felt happy in his company. “How about you come for dinner sometime, and start it for me?”
“Sure. When?”
“I don’t know, how about next Saturday?”
A shadow flitted across his face and then was gone. “Friday’s better.”
“Friday’s fine with me.”
“You got any wood?”
She shook her head. “But I’ll get some if you tell me where.”
“You throw in a nice bottle of wine, and I’ll bring you some wood to get started.”
“It’s a deal.”
“No, it’s a date.”
* * *
“But I don’t date!” Katherine wailed extravagantly into the phone that evening.
“It looks like you do now,” said Frieda. “But it’s no big deal. I mean, you don’t have to wear a fox fur and let him open the car door for you. It’s just a word. Relax. You want to get to know him better, right?”
“You don’t understand. I can handle all kinds of people, but as soon as a man says ‘date’ to me, I feel sick. I can’t breathe. I want to throw up.” Katherine was stretched out in the living room, her legs up on the back of the couch. Noodle was on the floor beside her. “It means that he’s interested in me,” and here she lowered her voice to a stage whisper, “as a woman!”
“Isn’t that refreshing? It’s about time, too. So, did he kiss you?”
“Frieda! Of course not! But he stroked my cheek. I almost smacked him.” She was lying, of course. Her impulse had been to grab his hand and press it against her face.
“Terrible. Should have castrated him.”
Katherine grinned. “This was before there was any talk about dating. And you know me, I never know when someone’s interested in me unless he clubs me over the head and drags me off to his cave. Why don’t men do that anymore? It’s so much simpler.”
“You’d know where you stand, wouldn’t you? But was there anything else that told you he’s interested in you…that way?”
“I don’t know! I thought I was imagining things, but he sure talked about cookies in a sexy way. I mean, he was funny, and suggestive about the sugar and the apple juice.”
Frieda was silent a moment. “Sure doesn’t sound sexy to me. I think you had to be there. That’s love talk. Essentially ridiculous unless you’re involved.”
“It’s been so long, I can’t remember. But if I think of it like that, as a date, I’ll gag. I won’t be able to be myself, and I’ll ruin things.”
“You mean you’ll go out and get your hair done?”
Katherine chuckled. “That’s right, I’ll curl it and wear it up.”
“And greet him at the door in a frilly apron.”
“I’m beginning to wonder whether I have any mascara.” Katherine giggled at Frieda’s hoot of laughter. “This is bad. Stop me! The only way I can do this is by thinking that he’s just coming over for supper and to show me how to light the stove.”
“That is just exactly what’s happening, Katherine. Nothing more. That’s all that a date can be at times.”
“Right. We’ll have supper, drink some wine, he’ll light a fire, that’ll be our date. Oh my god, what if he plans to kiss me then? I hate thinking about the first kiss. I’d much rather have the first kiss when I’m naked in bed with a man.”
“Katherine.” Frieda paused as Katherine kept talking, then tried again. “Katherine. Get a grip. Take a deep breath. You’re getting carried away.”
“What does he want with me?” Katherine’s voice was getting higher. “What’s his agenda? He can’t really be interested in me. I’m too fat. Men are pigs. They’re only interested in gorgeous women, for their bodies.”
“Hey, wait a second. Douglas isn’t that way.”
“You were extremely lucky with Douglas. There are just not that many around like him. I’m going to have to be very careful. What could he want? A job at the station? Money? He should know I haven’t got any, I just bought this house.”
“Why don’t you concentrate on what, if anything, you want from him?”
“Good idea. I don’t know yet. I don’t know him well enough. Where does he live? What’s his job? Is he bright? You know I don’t like dumb men. That’s another thing. Most men don’t want smart women. There’s a lot to figure out here first.”
“Right. And the way to do that is by going on a - ” Frieda changed her mind and said, “spending time together, like having dinner, or going to a movie. You focus on the activity, and get to know each other almost by accident.”
“I know you were going to say date,” Katherine said with a laugh. “You can’t fool me. But I’m cool with that now. I’m just going to see what he’s like. Whether I like him. But I’m still going to watch myself. Find out what he wants from me.”
“Good idea. I better go. I’ve been talking too long. Frank wants me. Let me know how it goes.”
“I will.”
After hanging up, she found a mystery on TV involving a newspaper reporter who solves a triple murder. During the first commercial break, she went to the kitchen for a family-size bag of chips that she had tried to hide from herself in the back of a high cupboard. There’s a special device in every bag, she thought as she reached for a bowl, and it emits a vibration that draws me to it no matter what I do. Giving Noodle a loving stroke, she settled back down on the couch for a lovely, mindless evening of munching and gazing.
When the movie was over she was ready for bed, but first she had to prepare Noodle for the night. They went outside, Katherine hoping that he might go on the grass, but he held it until they were back inside and he was on the newspaper. “That’s technically correct,” she said shaking her head. “Good boy.” And Noodle seemed to grin with pleasure. She located her hot water bottle, filled it, wrapped it in a towel, and tucked it in a corner of his bed. Then she snapped her fingers as she remembered the clock. Her small travel alarm clock was the only non-electric, ticking one she had. After winding it, she set it on the floor beside his mat. “This should make you more comfortable,” she said, picking him up and putting him on his bed. He sat watching her as she put the boards in position again for the night. With one last reassuring pat, she turned and went resolutely up the stairs. She heard nothing from him as she moved about upstairs in the bedroom and bathroom.
But as soon as she was tucked in bed, Noodle started his complaints. The series was the same as last night: first the baby yelps of distress, then the warning barks turning into anger, and finally the howls of a lone wild creature. Katherine groaned and stuffed a pillow over her ear. “Go to sleep, go to sleep,” she prayed. And that is what he did. Half an hour later. For exactly half an hour. And then the refrain started again. Katherine dozed while Noodle cried, drifting into deeper sleep during his power naps, and willed herself to turn to stone as his puppy voice grew hoarse.
In the morning she staggered to the bathroom and then downstairs. In addition to a mound of poo and soaked newspapers, she found the alarm clock far across the floor against the boards, his bed mat in a clump, a soaking wet towel, and the hot water bottle ruined by puncture holes. In the middle of the chaos sat Noodle, bright and perky, his tail wagging a welcome, happy to see her.
“I guess I didn’t fool you with that hot water bottle and clock,” she said scooping him up and sitting down with him in an armchair. As he stood on her lap licking her face, she started laughing and gently squeezed his round belly. “You troublemaker stinker, you’re a pretty clever puppy. I can see you now, thinking ‘What is this hot thing in my bed? And what’s that stupid loud metal thing? Take that!’ And you booted it across the floor, didn’t you?” She held him away from her face and shook her head at him, smiling. “But what am I going to do with such a clever dog?”
All that day she dragged around the house, exhausted. What made her even more tired was the thought of the difficult night to come. And she had interviews in the morning. “I have to get some sleep tonight,” she agonized.
In the afternoon she tried napping on the couch. Noodle didn’t make a sound. He slept as well, happily on the floor beside the couch. When she awoke, groggy after two hours, she made a mug of tea and started to feel human. She took Noodle outside to wander around the house and play a bit of ball, and then came in and prepared supper for both of them. After reading for an hour or so, she closed her book thoughtfully. Can’t go through another night like that. But I can’t sleep on the couch, either. He’s so good on the floor here. “If I let you sleep on the mat beside my bed, will you be quiet?” Noodle looked up solemnly.
Words from the dog book drifted into her mind: Resolve to be firm about having the puppy sleep in his bed, not yours. She pushed them aside. “We’ll try it, but you’re not sleeping on the bed.” Noodle looked shocked at the thought. She carried him up the stairs and set him down outside the bathroom. He was waiting for her when she came out.
He explored her bedroom while she undressed, seeming to enjoy the smell of her shoes and laundry basket. Getting under the covers, she indicated the mat beside the bed, and Noodle seemed to understand, immediately curling up on it. “Any bad behaviour from you and you’re back downstairs,” she said sternly. Noodle didn’t budge.
Both of them slept like the dead. Morning came, and Katherine awoke before her alarm, refreshed and rested. Noodle appeared not to have moved. From then on, that is where he slept. At least, for a while.