For Better or Cursed. Mary Leo

car?” Vinney asked and waved back at Rudy. “You got him trapped in there or somethin’? Trying to get your revenge?”

      “No. He did it on his own. His foot is stuck.”

      “Geez, Cate. That curse thing just don’t want to let you go, huh? He didn’t propose again, did he?”

      Cate’s temper reared up and she lashed out.

      “No, Vinney. There were no proposals. He’s just stuck. Can’t a guy get his foot stuck without it being related to some damn curse?”

      “Hold on. Don’t have a coronary. I was only kiddin’.”

      He leaned inside the open door on the driver’s side of the car. “Hey, man. How ya doin’? It’s been a while.” They shook hands.

      “Been better,” Rudy said. “Can you get me out of here, dude?”

      Cate had to smile watching laid-back Vinney deal with uptight Rudy.

      “Oh, sure, man. Don’t worry about a thing. We’ll have you outta here in no time.”

      “Can we do it before the press finds out?”

      “They ain’t gonna find out if I don’t tell ’em, now are they?”

      “Thanks, dude. I owe you one.”

      “Just doing my job, man. Now let’s see what’s going on under there.” He turned around and yelled for one of the other firemen to get a light, and suddenly the whole street lit up like the sun had just come out.

      FOR THE NEXT TWO HOURS, Vinney and his rescue team from the Loomis Street Station worked to set Rudy free.

      In the end the front passenger seat had to be removed through the roof, which, of course, required a hole. Cate actually cried a little when she saw the roof come off and the seat come out in tiny pieces.

      “Don’t worry about it,” Aunt Flo said, as chunks of Cate’s car hit the pavement with a sharp clank. “Rudy told me he’s still got plenty of loot. He’ll get you a brand-new one of them bug cars.”

      The ’79 classic Beetle had more sentimental value than retail value, so the replacement idea had little impact. Cate had bought it secondhand when she was a teenager. She had worked a whole year in a hot bakery and saved every dime. She loved that car and had a hard time lending it to her sister…who had promised to take good care of it, which, until Rudy Bellafini came along, she had.

      But it wasn’t her sister’s fault, it was Cate’s. She was sure of it now.

      When Rudy finally came limping out of the car, using Vinney’s right arm for support, the group, which now consisted of the entire neighborhood plus a couple of lost tourists, cheered.

      A male paramedic checked out Rudy’s foot. Cate could tell Rudy was anxious about something, which was good. The sooner she could get him into that ambulance, the better.

      “Can you walk?” the paramedic asked.

      “I think so. I just want to get inside somewhere.”

      He started to take a step but he stumbled. Vinney grabbed Rudy under one arm for support, and the paramedic grabbed the other.

      “Easy there, fella. Put your weight on me,” Vinney commanded, his tone official. That was something Cate wasn’t used to. It gave her a new sense of respect for her former boyfriend.

      “I guess I’m in worse shape than I thought,” Rudy said with a slight edge to his voice.

      “Maybe you should lie down. Take it easy. You might do better at the hospital,” Vinney told him.

      “I’ve had enough of hospitals. They can kill ya. No telling who they let in there. I’ll call a cab and go back to my dad’s old house. I’ll be fine there,” he said, but then gazed over at Cate with his “save me” look that she never could refuse.

      “Bring him inside,” she told Vinney, guilt oozing into her reasoning. She told herself it would just be for a few hours, just until he was steady on his feet.

      “But—” Vinney started to say.

      Cate broke in. “He’ll be fine. Nothing’s broken.”

      “Whatever you say.” Vinney helped Rudy across the lawn and up the stairs. Gina led the way, opening doors and moving anything and anybody in their path.

      “We’ll put him down in a chair in the living room for now,” Cate said, but the living room was crowded with neighbors admiring Henry’s indoor garden, and the dining room was filled with hungry relatives, so they took him to the one place in all the world where Cate thought she would never, ever see Rudy Bellafini again.

      Vinney walked him up the stairs to Cate’s bedroom and put him right down in the center of her queen-size, antique, walnut bed.

       5

      RUDY REMEMBERED all the times he had sneaked up to this bedroom when they were dating, and wondered if he was lying on the same mattress they had made love on countless times.

      God she was hot.

      It was essentially the same room. Frilly and girly, just the way he liked it.

      Of all the bedrooms in all the world, I had to walk, okay, hobble back into this one.

      “Hope that foot don’t give you too much trouble,” Vinney said. “Say, if you’re gonna be around for a while, come on over on a Friday night. Got a card game going with some of the old gang. Love to get my hands on a little of that dough I been hearing about.”

      “I don’t know. I’m not much of a gambler,” Rudy said with a dismissive tone. “But, hey, thanks for everything, dude.” He stuck out his hand for a closing handshake. Vinney took it and gave him one of those heartfelt shakes, making Rudy feel a bit uneasy. He pulled his hand away.

      “Well, I better go,” Vinney said.

      “Don’t start any rumors, Vinney McCally. He’s only in here because there was nowhere else to put him,” Cate snapped.

      Vinney raised an eyebrow, smiled and lumbered out of the room, dragging his black-booted feet as he went.

      “He’s still the same slow guy,” Rudy said once Vinney was out of earshot.

      “He just pulled you out of a bad situation and that’s all you can think of to say about him?”

      “No. I was just saying—”

      “Well, don’t be. Vinney’s a hero.”

      “I never said he wasn’t,” Rudy said, feeling totally awkward. If he could be anywhere at that moment, it would not be in Cate’s bed. At least not like this…with her lying next to him, naked, perhaps…but not when he was completely immobile and as helpless as a kid. The mental visual of Cate’s naked body gave him a total body rush, and when Cate leaned over to remove his shoes he felt excitement in his groin. He liked everything about the situation, until she dropped his foot, hard, on the bed.

      The flush of excitement immediately vanished. What was it lately with angry women and his feet? “Look, I’m sorry about what I said or didn’t say about Vinney.”

      He could see her anger soften. At least he had said the right words that time.

      “Let me get you a couple aspirins. They should help with the pain. If it gets worse, I have something stronger. I’ll be right back,” she told him, and left the room.

      Rudy had to admit that his body hurt like hell, but it already felt a little better to be in a prone position. He pulled another one of the pillows under his head and looked around. The girl still had a thing for pink.

      He pushed himself up on his elbows so he could check himself in a mirror above the dresser.

      “See anyone you like?” Cate asked.

      He