Free Wolf on the Road by Lynn Red Page A

either, so it all worked out.
    “Make sure he doesn’t kick down any walls when he gets his shots,” Erik said. “It cost me like eight hundred bucks to get that stuff rebuilt, and I’d rather not have Jenga thinking I owe him anything. Even if I do.”
    “He’s so good with Freddie,” Izzy said as she walked down the hallway and poked her head into the bedroom door. Frederick was strapped to her chest with a backpack device that Erik insensitively called a “papoose-to-go” in his endearingly offensive way. “And the only reason he made you pay for that was because you offered. He said not to worry about it, but you already had your wallet out.”
    “Yeah well, what can I say? I’m not the kind of jackass whose kid punches a hole in the wall after he gets a shot and then I refuse to pay for it. I mean, I’m a jackass in other ways, but—”
    “Open up in there, Danniken!” a screechy voice from outside the bedroom window came. It was accompanied by a series of knocks that rattled the window frame. “I know you’re in there you lazy bastard, open up!”
    “That voice is familiar,” Erik said quietly as he rolled out of bed. He kissed Frederick on the head, then pulled Izzy against him, and kissed her much too hungrily for morning time. She sighed, smiled, and gave him a quick peck back.
    “You’ve got three meetings at the courthouse starting at noon, and then you have Complainer’s Court tonight at six. I’ll come by after I drop Freddie off at pre-school with Lilah, all right?”
    “How’s she doing?” Erik asked, as he casually pulled his jeans up. “Should probably take her a casserole or something. When’s the baby supposed to come?”
    Izzy laughed. “About six months too late, whenever it decides to show up. That poor girl. She’s been a mess since the second month. I guess that’s why raccoons and bears don’t usually end up mating?”
    “Oh she’ll be fine,” Erik said. “She’s a limber girl.”
    He somehow said that without a shred of irony or mindfulness. Izzy arched her eyebrow at him. Slowly, he turned to face her. “What?” he asked. “Why are you staring at me?”
    “Limber? Really, Erik? How would you know that?”
    He flushed a deep crimson across his cheeks and neck. “I mean, er, she’s a raccoon. I mean, they’re limber, right?”
    Hardly able to keep herself from laughing, Izzy meant to continue the cross examination, but the pounding on the window interrupted her thoughts. “Open up, Danniken!”
    “I swear I’ve heard that voice before,” Erik said aloud, but distant. “Who do I know with a really squeaky voice, who would be pissed off enough at me to bang on my window, and would also be either dumb enough or brave enough to do it before noon?”
    “Either open the door or I’ll, uh... I’ll wait until you do, damn it! I’m a busy bunny, you get the hell out here right now!”
    “Did you make coffee?” Erik asked casually, completely ignoring the increasing volume of Petunia’s jeering.
    Izzy grabbed her keys off the nightstand. “Yeah, it’s still in the pot. Might want to let it warm up for a few minutes, but it’s made.”
    “Thanks babe,” Erik said. “What would I do without you?”
    She shrugged. “Probably be less able to completely ignore whoever that is banging on the window. You should address that before you end up having to spend the weekend re-caulking.”
    Erik snickered, and then laughed for a moment. “I’ll re-caulk something ,” he said, and then grinned widely in pride. “Get it? I’ll re-caulk something, I said!”
    Izzy rolled her eyes so hard they almost clacked in the back of her skull. “Right, thanks. Yeah, I got it. Now will you please deal with whoever that is before I deal with you ?”
    “I’ll deal with you !” Erik said. “Get it, I—”
    She hushed him with a finger on his lips. “Yes,” she said, “thank you very much for the keen humor that would have been at home in a National Lampoon movie