by Unknown
I shrugged my shoulders and stepped back. “So what? Don’t change the subject.”
“I’m not trying to.” She sounded hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s not a big deal, Madi.”
“Then why hide it.”
“Landlord.” I tried again to change the subject back to him.
“Nope.” She crossed her arms on his chest. “You talk, and then I talk.”
I found myself leaning against the counter. I looked around making sure no one was listening and then lowered my voice, “I said it’s not a big deal.” I lied. “When I was little, I got teased a lot, so I wear it.”
She thought about it for a few seconds. “I wanna see it,” she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me down the hall to the bathroom. “Take it out,” she ordered after shutting the door.
“You have to promise not to tell anyone,” I begged. “I have blue eyes. I’m used to it, and I want it to stay that way. Please, promise.” I wasn’t sure why it was so important to my parents that no one knew. There was no way I could hide it now that she saw it. Even though she now knew this secret, I had a feeling she wouldn’t tell anyone. Plus, I still lied about it. I didn’t tell her the whole truth. My mom said it would be hard to trust people and I wanted to trust Madi with all my secrets, but I couldn’t do that.
Grabbing my hand she hooked our pinky’s together. “Pinky swear. Now take it out.”
I sighed, and took the contact out of my right eye. Madi’s mouth hung open, and I just stood there and let her stare.
“Oh Adalyn, you’re beautiful already, but … Wow … This is the coolest thing I have ever seen … it’s just more beautiful than … well, I don’t know. You’re gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous Adalyn, you shouldn’t hide it.”
“Not everyone thinks so.” I popped the contact back in before it dried out and washed my hands.
“Then they’re jealous, because it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”
I gave her a hug and thanked her, but I needed to know about my landlord and to stop talking about me.
“Ok. Enough about me. Now spill it.”
“Oh yeah. Archer.” She shrugged. “You guys share a house. He’s your landlord. He’s also a cop, I mean detective. He’s been a detective for a while.” She tapped her chin thinking. “I don’t really know why he still does cop stuff, but he’s a hard ass. He’s never let anyone out of a ticket. Trust me, I tried, but he was seriously pissed about me speeding.”
I couldn’t believe it. I lived above a detective. Maybe with time I would feel more comfortable, safer even. If something happened, he lived downstairs. People wouldn’t mess with him, and that included me, as long as I was at his house. So many things and possibilities were running through my head, and I was finally able to start to relax a little. My parents would be happy knowing this information, and maybe it would bring us all back together again. Unfortunately, there was no way of finding out since I had no way to contact them.
“You know he looks like that Superman guy from the movie we watched,” I said.
“I know, right? That Doppelganger thing, but trust me, he isn’t Superman.”
We walked out of the bathroom, and she continued, “He doesn’t date. He’s never been married, and he keeps to himself. Always has. He can be an ass, but I heard from Tera, who works at the diner, that he tips well. So I guess he has that going for him, plus he’s a good cop. He’s the one who catches the bad guys and all that stuff. He’s been in the paper a few times too; they did a whole article on him when he was shot and covered his ‘heroic recovery’. But don’t worry, he’s obviously fine.”
“So he’s lived here all his life?”
“Yep. He left for the academy, and then came right back after he graduated. His parents left him that house after they died in a car accident. It happened right before he went to the academy, and I heard he almost didn’t go because of it,” she paused, looking off in the distance, and I could tell she was trying to find any last additional details for me. “He’ll be thirty this winter.”
“Wow.” He’s alone like me. No parents. Processing this information would have to happen later. It seemed like a lot to take in and I really wanted to enjoy the party. We both sat down on her couch. More like sunk down into it. It’s huge, plush, and super comfy. I loved it; it was spectacular compared to mine.
“It was sad when his parents passed away; they were super nice whenever they visited the store.”
“You really do know everything about everyone in town, don’t you?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Most everyone.” She turned to look at me. “I lived and worked here my whole life, Adalyn. I’m going to know a lot of the people here, and I’m going to know a lot about all those people.”
A thought crossed my mind. “Why are you single?”
Without missing a beat, she replied, “Did you hear what I just said? I. Know. Everyone. I know things I don’t want to know. Plus, there’s like maybe five guys I could date. Not a lot to choose from, and only one of them have shown interest, and you don’t want to get me started on Rocco. Anyway, my high school boyfriend left for college and never came back.”
“Were you two close?”
“He took my virginity, so yes.” I must have made a sad face because she tapped my leg and said, “Don’t look at me like that. We planned it that way. It was special. We fucked like rabbits until he left. No biggie.”
Something told me it wasn’t a ‘no biggie’ kind of thing, but I didn’t say anything because she jumped off the couch and held a hand out for me. “Come on. We got two hours left; let’s go play cards with Jack and Jill.”
I smiled at their names again. They’re older than Madi and I, probably in their forties, and owned the flower shop in town. Madi had nothing but good things to say about them earlier when she introduced me to them.
The party ended at ten p.m. and most people had left by then. Jack and Jill stayed and helped Madi and I clean the house up. It barley took ten minutes to clean, because everyone was respectful and cleaned up after themselves throughout the night. We mainly had to put the leftover food away and wipe down the counters and table.
I had just laid my head back on the of the couch when Madi came bursting into the room. “I’ve got the best idea! Two weeks. Dinner party. Dress up required.” I turned and looked at Jack and Jill, who shrugged their shoulders and smiled. They were used to this.
I let out a sigh, and dropped my head back onto the couch. “This is so going to rock.” I heard Madi tell herself as she walked away, probably back into the kitchen.
I closed my eyes and thought about how much I liked my new friend. She didn’t push the contact issue, didn’t push my whole mid-life crisis speech - which I had planned for a month, and thank God she believed me – she wasn’t nosy when it came to my personal details. I liked that. She also made me laugh constantly. She was typically very polite, except with Old man Jacobs. And she thought I was beautiful, both inside and out.
I’m pretty sure she was becoming my best friend. I haven’t shared that with her, and I wasn’t about to. At least, not yet.
After today, I finally started to feel like I was fitting in. Not just Madi, but also everyone was so very nice and welcoming me into town. As my thoughts started to settle, I wondered again how my parents are. Where they could be, what they’re doing, and if they are together. I can only hope they’re proud of me. I feel like I’m doing what they asked.
Chapter 2
Tonight was the night, my first sunset on my very own patio, and I was more than prepared. My mom, while in a rush, somehow managed to pack my camera. I don’t remember the act of her putting it in there, so I was pleasantly surprised when I unpacked my suitcase and saw it there.
Madi insisted I open the housewarming gift she got me before shopping for what I needed. I’m glad I did. She bought me everything I needed for the kitchen. She knew I liked to cook - it made me feel close to my mom now that
we are apart -and wanted to make sure I could keep doing that. I then made a list of things that I still needed. There was no dresser, so I needed some hangers, and I got a small plastic storage bin for the clothes that I couldn’t hang up in the closet.
Finding Madi, or more like Madi finding me, was a blessing. If it weren’t for her, where would I be right now? Would I still even be in Aster Lake? I didn’t want to think about that too much. I would try to push it all aside and relax. Soak in the sunset, the calmness it brought me. I could continue to question things another day.
Because I had almost a fully functioning kitchen now, I decided to pick up ingredients to make homemade sugar cookies. My mom gave the secret ingredient to me, so they weren’t ordinary sugar cookies. They were soft, moist, and melted in your mouth. I hadn’t had them in months and I needed something to remind me of the home I was missing.
After the cookies were baked and cooling, I grabbed a wine cooler, my camera, and sat out on the patio. The wine cooler was different from what I drank at Madi’s house. It was raspberry lemonade, but still delicious.
I spent my first sunset alone. Just me, which was perfect.
I got comfortable, and as the sun started to set, the colors started to come to life. Orange blended with light purple behind the mountains, and just a hint of pink brushed against the lake’s surface. The intense, vibrant colors that surrounded the sun made it look like it was dipping into the water. I snapped a few pictures, hoping I could capture the beauty before me.
I relaxed into my chair and soaked up the calm, peaceful air that surrounded me. This was the first time in six weeks that I felt this way. I was starting to settle in and get a little comfortable with my new life. I just wish I could share this information with my parents.
The sun had almost set completely when I heard a pounding noise coming from the side of the house. At least, I thought it was; I couldn’t see what was on that particular side of the house. There were a few seconds in between each pound and they echoed in the air. I stood and leaned forward, trying to look around the house, but the patio was too small and the house was too big. My curiosity got the best of me, so I set my camera and wine cooler down and headed downstairs.
By the time I had cleared the second door, the pounding cracked in the air louder, scaring me. I grabbed my chest and sucked in a few breathes of air. It was louder and getting louder as I continued walking towards the noise. I heard it again and finally determined exactly where it was coming from.
A couple hundred feet, and at the tip of the woods surrounding the property, I saw him.
My landlord.
The detective.
The man living in the same house as me.
He was shirtless, cutting wood. His jeans hung low on his waist and I watched as he picked up the ax and swung it down on a block of wood, splitting it in two.
I was beginning to sweat just watching him. His muscles moved with each powerful swing. He made it look easy, as if the ax weighed nothing. His hair was wet from sweat and curled around his ears. He took a moment to pull a towel from his back pocket to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He shoved it back in his pocket and set the ax down next to the stump. I wrapped my arms around the beam of the house and continued to watch.
I was attracted to him. Intrigued.
Reaching around the other side of the stump, he brought a bottle of water to his mouth. He finished it off, twisted the lid back on, and tossed the bottle to the side where I noticed another bottle lay. He bent down and picked up as many pieces of wood as he could fit into his large arms and walked them over to a shed that I noticed was already half full of split wood. When he turned around to head back to the stump, he noticed me.
He stopped.
I waved.
He didn’t.
Instead, he continued to carry the wood to the shed, and I continued to watch. I wasn’t sure why he was cutting wood in the summer; maybe he had a wood stove downstairs I didn’t know about. I never did go look at the front of the house. I only noticed a front porch that wrapped around the side but didn’t come all the way to the back of the house.
I glanced around the yard and saw another shed behind it. It was the same shape and color, and I knew it was locked because of the large, shiny silver Master Lock holding the latches closed. When the last of the wood was in the shed, he locked it up and started walking towards the front of the house. I’d witnessed the same confident walk at Madi’s house. His strong jaw still had stubble and was tense. He was irritated. I wasn’t sure why he’d be mad at me; he wouldn’t even wave back. I immediately got embarrassed and was a little relieved when he disappeared around the side of the house without saying a word to me.
Why had I just stood there like an idiot and watched him?
How long had I been standing there like an idiot watching him?
Crap, I missed the rest of the sunset!
I ran back upstairs. The cookies were cool so I grabbed one before going back out on the patio. By the time I finished my cookie, I heard the faint sounds of water running and knew he was in the shower. I felt exhausted, so I cleaned my mess up, stored the cookies, and headed for bed.
***
“I don’t believe you,” Madi told me at the same time she jumped up on the checkout counter. The fact that she was wearing a dress didn’t deter her movements. Today it was a pure black dress with a large white flower print design covering the majority of the right side. Her straps were wide like always, and I’ve noticed all of her dresses had a high empire waist. Her wedges were pure black and she wasn’t wearing her tool belt yet.
It was Monday afternoon and we didn’t have many customers. This was very odd, considering the other days I worked the store usually had several customers milling around.
“Well, believe it,” I said resting my head in my hands. “I left cookies for him after he left for work. I felt bad for gawking at him for so long. No wonder he ignored me.”
“I told you he could be an ass.”
“You should have seen him cutting wood. I tried to force myself to stop watching him but I couldn’t. I just stood there. Staring. It was captivating.” I moved from behind the counter and stood in front of her. “Since you know everything, why would he need that much wood?”
“He does it for a few older people in town. He helps them out since they can’t do it for themselves.”
“Well, that’s nice.”
“Yeah it is, but he’s still an ass.”
“It’s part of the job, I’m sure.”
“I think the worst he could do is give you a ticket. Or maybe turn the hot water off.” She laughed. “Now, that would be hilarious.”
“Not if you were the one in the shower,” I replied.
“True. But I wouldn’t be.” She hopped off the counter and adjusted her tool belt. “Ok. I think you have a little crush on your landlord. And that’s okay, if that’s what you’re into, but we’ve got more important things to talk about than Rudd Archer.”
“I don’t have a c-”
“It’s time to talk about the party.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me along side of her. “I’ve got an idea. I’m thinking,” she puts her hands in the air, in some kid of big grand gesture, “a themed party.” She smiled with excitement. “Like sixties or eighties inspired. I’ve always wanted to do that.”
While Madi created an unwanted spotlight on me, she also had a way of distracting me from life and take my mind off things. I definitely needed my mind off my landlord. “We could raid my parent’s closet and find some clothes,” she continued. “I’m keeping it to eight people. I think that would be a good size for a dinner party, right, Adalyn?”
“I guess, but tonight you’re coming over for dinner at my place to watch the sunset with me, right?”
“Hell yes!”
We finished the day with more customers than we had that morning, making the day disappear into the night.
I just finished making dinner when I heard Madi walking up the stairs.
She cleared the top step and I noticed she changed into a different dress. This one reminded me of a rainbow, because the pattern swirled with strands of colors of the rainbow and her wedges were pure white, like clouds.
“Oh my, that smells amazing.” She tossed her stuff on the couch and stood over by the stove. She closed her eyes and inhaled the smell of dinner. I made breaded chicken stuffed with mozzarella cheese, and just pulled it out of the oven. It was delicious dipped in homemade Alfredo sauce, which I also made. It was so filling that you only needed a simple side salad to accompany it.
I was delighted she already thought highly of my meal.
“It’s my favorite and I wanted to share it with you.”
We filled our plates with food and sat out on the patio. We got comfortable and started eating.
“This is incredibly delicious, Adalyn. We should have this at the dinner party; it would be the talk of the town.”
More attention, something that I wasn’t able to hide from anymore. But, the town was small, tucked away at the base of a mountain, thousands of miles from New York. Surely, I was safe.
“Jack and Jill are in. I’m still thinking about the other four I want to invite.” She took another bite, closed her eyes, and chewed her food slowly. I just shook my head at her.
The sun started to set and I set my food aside to watch the colors mix and come to life. Tonight’s colors were different; there was more orange and yellows with a fine line of pink mingling in.
“It is beautiful,” Madi whispers slowly, taking it all in.
“It gets better.”
I could do this every night, sit here and enjoy the beauty the world had to offer. It bothered me I’d never witnessed a sunset like this before, but I wasn’t going to let it ruin my night. In a way, I wanted to let my parents know that the whole world wasn’t bad. I haven’t been here long, but I’ve only had positive experiences so far.