Free ACCORDING TO PLAN by Sue Barr Page A

Sweetheart?”
    Still a bit bemused by the kiss, I could only nod yes.
    Regis mumbled his goodbye and retreated toward his house. I looked
at Tank and ducked under his arm through my open door, intending to lock him
out. His big boot on the threshold prevented it, so I flounced, yes, I flounced
into the kitchen. My equilibrium was returning.
    I’ll Sweetheart him in a minute.
    Mentally I prepared myself for a full frontal attack from Tank. I
waited...and waited. No Tank. Where was he now? For all I knew he could be
peeing in corners, further staking out his territory.
    I walked back to the entrance of the kitchen. Down the hall near
the front door Tank stood staring at a framed photo on the wall. The picture
was of him, Aunt Tillie, my mom and I, taken on a family vacation. We stood smiling,
arms around each other with the beautiful mountains of Virginia as our
backdrop.
    Tank had an old army buddy there he wanted to see, so we three
girls opted to stay in the small city about an hour from his friend’s ranch. We’d
had manicures, pedicures and shopped until we dropped. It had been our last
vacation together and this photo was the only one with my mom and Aunt Tillie
together with me, so I never removed it from the wall.
    “I always liked your mom and aunt. They were like family to me.”
    I knew that. Aunt Tillie had been almost as devastated as me when
Tank left. The kicker was she hadn’t stayed mad, like me. Both she and Polly
had a soft spot for him and wouldn’t let me out-and-out hate him. I grabbed my
bag and headed upstairs with Tank following. Halfway up I stopped and turned.
Although two steps behind, he remained eye level with me.
    “Oh no, cowboy.” I jabbed a finger in his shoulder. “You lost your
chance to stay here. Get out and find some other woman to haunt. We’re through.”
    “Darlin’, it’s my house too. But if it makes you feel any better, I
promise on my mother’s grave I will not lay a hand on you until you ask.” He
placed his right hand over his heart. “I’ll stay in our guest room, cross my
heart, hope to die, stick a—”
    “Shame on you,” I interrupted. “You told me your mother was alive
and well, counting cards in Vegas.”
    He sidestepped me and bounded up the stairs, throwing an
unrepentant grin over his shoulder. “I know, but it worked.”
    The guest bedroom door slammed shut.

Chapter Ten
    My first instinct when I got to my bedroom was to crawl into bed,
pull the covers over my head and hide from the world for a day or two. But Aunt
Tillie always said, Child, it’s better to meet life head on than waitin’ for
it to sneak up from behind. That way it can’t bite you in the ‘you know where.’
    Then she’d laugh and threaten to show me all the bite marks she’d
received from life. Aunt Tillie was my mother’s aunt. She’d come to live with
me when mom became sick and stayed until she passed. Tragically, a short time
later, Aunt Tille was struck by a car on her way home from shopping. I lost
both my mom and Great Aunt within months of each other.
    Sometimes I missed them both so much it felt like a canyon
stretched where my heart used to be. At one time Tank filled that huge void. Then
he took off and the ditch widened even more.
    The doorbell chimed and I hastily wiped the tears off my cheeks.
Taking deep breaths, I willed myself to get a grip before going downstairs. I
opened the door to Polly, who held a bag of nacho chips in one hand and a
bottle of wine in the other. The cloying scent of Poison , by Dior,
wafted on the air as she breezed by.
    “Do you put that stuff on by the gallon or what?” I waved a hand in
front of my face to disperse the air a bit.
    “Put what on?” She blithely continued down the hall to my kitchen.
    “Your perfume. Geez, Polly. There’s a red haze following you and
dogs are crying next door because they can’t breathe.” I followed and watched
her pull out a big bowl for chips, then glasses for the wine. I noticed