by L. B. Dunbar
She spins on me. “Don’t touch me.”
Whoa. My hands fly up, arms spread in surrender at the glare she’s giving me. She’s still too cute to pull it off as fiercely as she intends, but the fire in her eyes tells me to stand down.
“Settle down, pretty lady,” I tell her, my best flirt falling into my voice, but she wants nothing from me. She points a finger at me, jabbing it into my chest.
“Don’t you pretty lady me. Your attitude sucks, and the way you treat your sisters is worse.”
“What the fuck?” I snap. Who is she to pass judgment?
“Your little sister needs positive attention. She misses her mother and lives with a man who frightens her with his voice.”
I . . . what?
“And Lena’s so desperate for attention she’ll go to any length to piss you off just to get it. Looking for a little trouble seems to run in the family, and she wants to fit in so badly somewhere that she’ll do what she can to find it.”
“What do you mean ‘runs in the family’? You don’t know me. You don’t know us.”
“And whose fault is that? I’ve been trying for a month to have a conference with you about your sister. I’m your neighbor, for God’s sake, and I never see you.”
“What are you saying? You want to hang out and shit? Have a barbecue in the fucking backyard? We’re trouble, as you just pointed out.”
“I didn’t say you were trouble. I’m saying you aren’t paying attention,” she emphasizes as if proving her point. “I get it that it’s a guy thing, so I’m trying to help you out.” A guy thing? She raises a hand to stop me from speaking as my mouth falls open. “And before you say you don’t need my help, a word of advice from a younger sister to an older brother, your authority might be better received without the attitude, the yelling, and the rough voice.”
I stare at her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You care about your sisters,” she states as if she does know me. “You probably want what’s best for them, even if you don’t know what that means. I realize they were thrust upon you, so you’re a bit out of your element, but you can’t treat your sisters like you might treat some . . . some woman friend.” She tosses her hand out at me, swiping it up and down to emphasize her point, which I still can’t read. “A little tenderness goes a long way with a girl, especially sisters.”
“I’m not a gentle man.”
Her eyes widen, a gleam passing through them, and then she straightens.
“And I don’t have women friends, whatever the fuck that means,” I state, still gazing into those fire-blazing orbs. Her chest heaves as she glares at me, and it takes everything in my power not to close the final inches between us and kiss those cherry-red lips.
Instead, I pull something from my leather jacket.
“And as long as you’re freely giving your opinion, think this will work for Lys?” Tricia’s porch light is on so she can read the box in my hand. Her eyes drift down to the packaging before popping back up to my face. Surprise is written all over hers. “Yeah, you’re right. I do care.” I wiggle the box of allergy medication at Tricia. “But I’m not their father. I’m not even a parent, so forgive me if I’m fucking this up. I’m out of my element, like you said, and with girls . . . shit. I know even less about what I’m doing with sisters.”
She’s still staring at me, mouth gaping.
“Before you want to pass judgment as quickly as you pass the salt, maybe you should take a better look at the material. You’re a teacher. Study harder.”
Frustrated once again, I fight the urge to kiss those cherry-red lips just to shut them. Instead, I turn on my heels and hop down the steps in one leap, not touching a single one before my feet thud on the concrete in front of her house. Quickly, I cover the distance between our homes and open the door to my own. Before I slam my own door again, my eyes hit on someone standing in the street. I quickly notice his clothes—camouflage pants and a dark T-shirt—but I don’t recognize the guy.
“Get out of here,” I holler at the stranger, overreacting a bit, but the last thing I need is an audience to my failure with my neighbor.
+ + +
A few hours later, things really fall apart. In the middle of the night, the heat should have kicked on. The temperature has dropped, and it’s freezing in the house. I need to keep the temp low to save money, but Lys needs the temperature higher to combat the cold mixing with her allergies. Either way, the heat does not kick on. The carbon monoxide detector goes off, and before I can get it to quiet, the fire department shows up.
I’ve only pulled on my jeans, and I shout for Lena and Lys to cover up and get out of the house. It’s freaking freezing inside but even colder out. The three of us stand in the driveway as two men enter the front door, and the fire chief comes up to me.
“You live here?”
“Leon Ramirez,” I offer, holding out my hand, feeling that old familiar tremble of anxiety in the presence of a person in authority. It’s not that I’m afraid of him. It’s just a natural reaction to hold my ground.
“Joe Carpenter, fire chief.” He shakes my hand and stares up at the house. “This one of Stella Drummond’s houses?”
“Yes, sir,” I answer. He shakes his head again.
“She failed a city inspection last summer with this place. She renting it to you?”
I don’t want the old woman to get in trouble, but I am renting it, and it seems like it has been under false pretenses. “Yes, sir. We have a contract for a year.”
The fire chief snorts. “Well, you aren’t returning tonight. That furnace is a breath away from exploding. It’s leaking carbon monoxide like a balloon let loose. It’s a good thing your detectors were in order.”
“Replaced the batteries myself.”
“She should have it hardwired.”
He’s the fire chief, so I’ll take his word for it since he knows the city codes. If this house isn’t meeting code, how could Mrs. Drummond rent it to me?
“She needs to replace that furnace before you can use it again. As for tonight, I wouldn’t trust sleeping in there, and it’s too cold to keep the windows open and air the place out.” The chief looks at Lys, coughing in her elbow. “Got another place to stay?”
“Guess we can go to a hotel.” There’s a hotel on the other side of the harbor. I stayed at a motel for a week before I found this house, but I can’t take my sisters there.
“They can stay with me.”
We all spin to see Tricia Carter standing on her bottom step, arms crossed over herself. She’s not wearing a coat but dressed in a long robe and snow boots. Damn, she looks cute, but I can’t think about that. She schooled me earlier tonight, and I’m not staying at her house.
“We’ll figure something out,” I toss out to her.
“It’s the middle of the night. I have the room,” she says, glancing at me before looking over at the fire chief.
“Tricia? I didn’t know you were staying here,” Chief Carpenter calls to her.
I watch as Tricia licks her lips and tightens her arms around her.
“Moved in the week before Labor Day,” she announces.
The fire chief’s eyes narrow, taking in a woman he clearly knows, and then he nods. “You let me know if you have any trouble.”
My head shoots from Tricia to the chief and back to her. Does he know about her soon-to-be ex? Rolling her lips inward, she nods at him. “Thanks, Joe. It’s gonna be better soon.”
My attention moves back to the chief, who offers her a weak smile before he glances at me. “I’d take her up on the offer. Known her since she was born. She’s got the space and offering. It’s a warm bed without more disruption to your night.”
I glance at Lys and Lena, who are both looking at me to make a decision. Fuck.
“Can we enter the house for a few things? We’ll need some necessities, like a change of clothes, and the girls need their school stuff.”
“I’ll give you a mask and h
ave one of my guys escort you in. You should probably all go to the hospital and be checked for carbon monoxide poisoning.”
“The detector went off. Shouldn’t that mean we were safe?” I don’t want to deny medical assistance we might need, but for the second time tonight, I’m reminded I don’t have insurance for my sisters.
“It should, but I’d get checked out to be safe.”
“I’ll call Pam,” Tricia counters behind me, and I close my eyes.
“Who’s Pam?” I whisper.
“Her older sister. She used to work for me, but now she runs the flower shop up the highway. One of my best EMTs once upon a time.”
More help. More Carter invasion.
“We don’t need your sister,” I call out, peering over my shoulder to find Tricia is no longer standing on her porch. A fireman approaches me, holding out a protective mask. I take a deep breath before setting it over my face to re-enter my house and gather a few things for our night at Tricia Carter’s.
+ + +
A blurry-eyed blonde enters Tricia’s home, which as Tricia mentioned, is the mirror image to my house. Pam Carter examined all three of us for signs of carbon monoxide poisoning and then suggested Lena and Lys go to bed. Tricia has them share a room with two twin beds.
“Reminds me of when we were kids,” Pam huffed as Lena grumbled about sharing with her younger sister.
“You had a better bed,” Tricia teased, and Pam snorted.
“They were both twins. How was one better than another?”
I shake my head, slightly relieved to see sisterly bickering is the norm.
I’m offered a room between my sisters’ and Tricia’s. It’s small with a strange dormer, and I can hardly hold my head up in some spots, but the space offers a double bed, which my larger body needs. One day, I want a king-sized mattress with a solid frame.
“The sheets are clean,” she tells me, after pulling down the covers like I’m a hotel guest. She stands in front of me, while I block her exit, and our eyes catch. She has the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen. The brown-green mix reminds me of soft moss against the base of a tree. It’s the perfect metaphor for her—gentle and solid.
“Thanks for this,” I say, my voice too rough for the kindness she’s showing me and my sisters.
“It’s what neighbors do.”
“Not where I’m from,” I say, lowering my voice and my head.
“Well, you aren’t from there anymore,” she whispers before she touches my forearm and leans up on her toes to brush her lips against mine. It’s soft and sweet, like the tip of a pencil on the surface of fresh paper before my sketching begins. She brushes back and forth rather than applying pressure, and I’m reminded of when my lips touched hers in the bar in a show of defiance to her asshole ex. Suddenly, I’m shaking with restraint. I want to grab her and pull her to me. I want to lose myself in her. The reality of this evening is catching up to me, but too quickly, her mouth retreats.
“I’m glad nothing happened to you or your sisters tonight. It’s frightening to think it could have been . . .” Her voice drifts on the final word—deadly. If I hadn’t replaced the batteries in the detectors. If the gas had leaked for much longer. If the furnace had actually blown.
Tricia’s hand slowly slides from my forearm. Her gaze lowers, and she watches her fingertips brush over my skin before releasing me.
“Good night,” she whispers before slipping past me into the hall. I look up to see her retreating, pulling the door closed behind her. The soft click causes me to snap out of my stupor. My heart races. I realize too late I haven’t said a thing in response to her kiss, her touch, or her words. Frozen in place, I stare at the door that separates us and wonder what on earth I’d done right to get her as my decent neighbor.
+ + +
After a restless night, I’m feeling grumpier than usual, and Tricia is just too chipper in the morning for my taste. However, she knows just how far to push groggy teens, and my sisters easily respond to her attention. What do they want for breakfast? What would they like in their lunch? She’s too good to girls she hardly knows, but the effort to make the morning smooth doesn’t go unnoticed by me. The most surprising part is when she asks me if I’d like her to make me a lunch. Who does that?
“I’ll just get something in town,” I say although I have no idea what or where. I just can’t accept any more kindness from this woman. And as for her sweet kiss last night, I try to ignore it ever happened even though the touch of her lips on mine lingered well into the night.
After a long day at work, Jess Carter meets me at the house. His news could have a major impact on our future. While the morning was smooth, I’m reluctant to return to Tricia’s for another night.
“Mrs. Drummond sent me,” he begins, “even though I told her I’m not a HVAC man and neither is my brother, Tom. If the fire chief shut this place down, there’s nothing to fix. The furnace needs to be replaced.”
We stare at one another. “She’s not going to believe me if I tell her.”
“She doesn’t have a choice. Joe doesn’t want to serve her with an infraction, but he will if she doesn’t get this place up to code.”
“What do I do in the meantime?”
“Find another place.”
Shit. It’s just after October first. I already had a hard time finding somewhere that would rent for a full year since most places are tourist rentals and have weeks here and there marked off on their calendars.
“Know anywhere?” I ask hesitantly. If it were only me, I’d head back to the shit motel down the highway and just figure it out, but now I have my sisters, and we need more space than one room. Not to mention, they can’t live in a motel.
“My sister’s been wanting a roommate to share the cost of renting that house until her divorce. Why don’t you ask her?”
“I can’t move my sisters in with her,” I huff, a bitter laugh mixing with the sound, but my heart races like it did last night. Like when her lips brushed over mine.
“Why not? You need a place. She wants renters. You were each paying full price on these houses. Now you’d each be in for half.”
I can’t ask Tricia to allow me only half the rent with three extra people in the place, not to mention utilities. Lena takes a long freaking shower, and Lys’s computer sucks up the internet.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” My heart continues to hammer. My brain is questioning why I’m putting the brakes on this suggestion.
Jess looks over at his sister’s house. “I don’t mean to be vague, but I’d feel better if someone were in that house with her.” He glances back at me, his gaze scanning my body and noting my physique.
“What’s the story with her ex? I don’t need any trouble if he wants his wife back.” In referencing Trent, it clicks that he was the one I saw standing in the road last night, watching her place. Something prickles over my skin. I recall the truck following her home from the high school the night we shot hoops. It had to be him. “She safe from him?”
“I don’t know,” Jess says, glancing back at his sister’s place. “I just don’t, but there’s no chance she’s going back to him.” He shakes his head like he’s ashamed he doesn’t know the situation, and it reminds me of what Tricia said to me. Tenderness and girls and siblings. I also remind myself she told me the divorce proceedings had begun.
“I don’t think your sister is a fan of mine,” I offer, lowering my voice and giving him fair warning. Despite her kindness, I don’t think she’ll agree to roommate arrangements. “We haven’t exactly seen eye to eye lately. She’s kind of pushy.”
Jess laughs, a good-natured bark. “I know someone just like that.”
His laughter makes my lips twist into a half smile, and I recognize the look of a guy happy with a pushy woman.
“Let’s look at that furnace. I’ll call Mrs. Drummond and give her the bad news, then I’ll remind her your lease is now void as she isn’t providing the house she promised.”
S
hit. My head lowers, and I shake it slowly side to side. I cannot get a break. Not one fucking break.
Within minutes, Jess and I stare at the old metal beast. “It looks original,” he marvels, “but dangerous. You’re lucky this didn’t explode.”
“That’s what Joe said last night.”
“Well, Joe’s often right in his assessment. He’s going to shut this house down.”
“I’d love to buy it and fix it all myself, but I just don’t have that kind of cash,” I admit, hating how I’m thirty-five and still at zero.
“My sister’s doing the same. She struck a deal to rent until the divorce is over. Then it’s a rent-to-buy situation. She’ll cover all repairs and updates as she goes.”
Nice deal, I consider and realize Tricia has that kind of pull. She knows Mrs. Drummond. I do not. I’m a guy with a ton of tattoos, a dark look, and a name Mrs. Drummond can’t pronounce correctly.
“We’ll take care of this,” Jess assures me, nodding at the furnace.
“I’m thirty-five and failing at everything,” I say for no reason. I don’t know this man, and I sound like a fucking sap.
“I’ve been there, man,” he admits, and my head shoots up. Minus the 1970s ponytail, he looks like he has it all together. He told me he had a little girl, and he lives in a house a few blocks over. He seems happier than the last time I saw him, and I wonder if the pushy woman he referenced has anything to do with the expression on his face. “It gets better.”
His assurance doesn’t give me much hope.
“Talk to my sister. This could be a win-win for both of you.”
“Yeah,” I mutter because I sure could use a win somewhere.
Lesson 14
Lots can happen before midnight.
[Tricia]
Suddenly, I have three renters instead of one. I couldn’t argue with the deal, as Leon was adamant he would pay more than half because he was moving in three people. He argued he was paying full price next door but staying with me was a cut in his expenses, which he could use because of the addition of his sisters. He didn’t need his name on the lease. Given that Jess stands beside Leon while he presents his proposal, I don’t say no, even if I’m hesitant about this arrangement.