Free Final Encore by Scotty Cade Page B

you a little.”
    Bily found everything he needed and within
    minutes had a blazing fire going. Twenty minutes had
    passed, so he removed the icepack from Ian’s ankle
    and placed it in the freezer until another twenty minutes
    passed, when it would be time to put it back on. He
    watched as Ian’s eyes folowed him around the room
    with the slightest hint of a smile on his face.
    Bily brushed his hands together and said, “Now,
    let’s see what I can rustle up for dinner.”
    “I can’t guarantee you’l find much in the kitchen,”
    Ian said, “I don’t cook very often.”
    “I’l come up with something. Let me look around
    a bit.”
    Ian watched from the living room as Bily opened
    and closed cupboards and drawers and found his way
    to the pantry. After rummaging around, he came out
    with two jars of spaghetti sauce and a box of angel hair
    pasta. He opened the freezer and found a loaf of bread,
    located the spice drawer, and retrieved a jar of garlic
    powder.
    “How’s pasta primavera and garlic bread?” Bily
    asked.
    “Sounds great to me,” Ian responded.
    “Do you have a wine opener?”
    “Yeah, but unfortunately, I’m out of wine,” Ian
    said.
    “Not true. I grabbed the bottle of red wine I
    stashed for today’s ride when we switched vehicles.”
    “You’re one smart man, Bily Eagan.”
    “Don’t I know it,” Bily said with a smile.
    Within minutes, Bily was walking over to Ian with
    a glass of wine.
    “Now for some mood music. Where’s the
    stereo?”
    Ian pointed to the cabinet doors at the bottom of
    the built-ins on the left side of the fireplace. Bily turned
    on the radio, which was tuned to 97.9 WSIX,
    Nashvile’s finest, and stood back to listen to what was
    playing. He identified Ty Herndon singing “Steam” and
    looked over at Ian to see if he approved.
    “Perfect,” said Ian.
    Bily went back to the couch, kissed Ian on the
    lips, glanced at his watch to make sure it wasn’t time to
    reapply the icepack, and went back to the kitchen to
    start dinner.
    “I feel like such a slug,” Ian said.
    “Nonsense, this is pretty fun,” replied Bily.
    “Maybe for you, but I’m the helpless one,
    remember.”
    “Just the way I like it,” Bily said in his best mad
    scientist shtick.

Chapter 7

    TWENTY minutes later, Bily was walking toward Ian
    with the opened bottle of wine in one hand, a plate of
    pasta and garlic bread in the other, and another icepack
    over his arm. He handed Ian the plate of food, refiled
    his wine glass, and replaced the icepack, then went
    back to the kitchen and made himself a plate. When he
    reached the couch, he refiled his wine glass as wel.
    They ate in continuous conversation about the day, the
    perfect views, and the accident. Like clockwork, Bily
    removed and replaced Ian’s icepack every twenty
    minutes.
    When they were through with dinner, Bily
    gathered the empty plates and loaded the dishwasher.
    In a very short time, the kitchen was clean. He then
    positioned himself behind the couch and, with his hands
    on Ian’s shoulders, began to gently rub what he knew
    would be sore muscles in the morning.
    “Do you have any hand lotion?”
    “I think there’s some under the sink,” Ian said.
    “Why?”
    “You ask too many questions, Mr. Dilon.” Bily
    laughed and went back to the kitchen, reached under
    the sink, and found what he was looking for. When he
    returned with the lotion, he repositioned Ian with his
    legs at the opposite end of the couch and put a pilow
    behind his head.
    “Lay back and relax,” Bily instructed.
    Ian did as he was told, and Bily gently lifted Ian’s
    feet and slid in under them, examining Ian’s ankle. The
    sweling seemed to have stopped, but the ankle was stil
    very swolen and discolored. Bily opened the bottle
    and squeezed a smal amount of lotion into his hands.
    Rubbing his hands together to warm up the lotion, he
    took Ian’s foot and began to massage.
    “That feels great,” Ian said. “I didn’t realize