by Steve Richer
“Oh, you two,” said Libbie. “Are you sure you two aren’t more than just colleagues? I mean Tom’s nice, but talk about chemistry!”
She kept her tone light and laughed carelessly at the end, just to be sure they knew she was joking. They both laughed in response, which was good. She loved planting seeds on such fertile ground.
“Really, no,” said Alice, but Walter had briefly opened his mouth to say something first of all.
Libbie fixed him with a look and waited, knowing a guy like him would have to fill such an awkward silence.
“Well,” he started before Alice stepped in to rescue him.
“We went out a couple of times,” she said, chuckling. Briefly, she squeezed his arm before letting go again. The two really were good together. “Way back. Long before I got with Tom, and Tom knows all about it. He teases Walter about the one that got away every time they see each other. The running joke is that it’s never clear whether he means I was the one who got away, or that Walter had a narrow escape.”
Libbie laughed dutifully. God, these people were easily amused.
“You kissed! Please tell me you kissed.”
They all laughed again.
“It wasn’t a success,” said Alice. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, Walter. You were there too!”
He shrugged. “I guess we found out we’re more like brother and sister than anything like that,” he said.
“Listen, we’re going to be late for our class,” said Alice. “Catch you later, Walter? Thanks for your help this morning.”
Soon the two of them were in Libbie’s Toyota heading across town.
“Walter was helping you?” asked Libbie. “I thought he wasn’t on the Mapleview pitch?”
“Not officially, but he’s my go-to sanity check. I’m always running things past him.”
Libbie smiled and said nothing, storing all this up.
“Look, I’m sorry I was late just now. This Mapleview pitch is swallowing up my time. It’s the biggest deal I’ve ever worked on and they’ve made me the lead. The company has millions at stake. It’s make or break, literally.”
“For the company, or you?”
“Both. I have a shot at vice president if this goes well.”
“Heady stuff.”
“It really is.”
They pulled up at the yoga studio a short time later, a squat square industrial-looking building in a row of similar commercial units.
Libbie looked across at her passenger. “You’re not feeling this, are you?”
Alice had been so polite about this, right from when Libbie had first mentioned it last night. She clearly hated the thought, though. It was tempting to pretend not to notice and make her go through with it. The thought of an hour watching her trying and failing the simplest positions was funny beyond belief.
But sometimes it was better to build bonds.
Libbie leaned closer. “You want to know a secret? I hate it too, even though I know it’s good for me. I never was much of a gym bunny. All those sweaty women…”
“In sweaty yoga pants…”
“Whoever looked good in yoga pants?”
“Not me.”
“There’s a place two doors down,” Libbie said conspiratorially. “Wholefood. Mostly vegan. I imagine they’d have plenty of options suitable for you. I still feel bad about that cheesecake.”
“Oh, don’t! You saw the look on Tom’s face. He loved it.”
She had seen that look. It had been almost as funny as the look on his face when he’d stood gaping out of the window the night before.
But she didn’t say that. Sometimes bonding was so much more valuable than easy victories, no matter how much fun.
~ ~ ~ ~
It was funny spending time with Libbie alone. The dynamic was different to when it was the three of them, and it was undeniable Tom added a different tension to the mix.
Today, Libbie seemed more relaxed. Teasing Alice about Walter. Reading her well enough to spot that Alice really had no desire to spend her lunchbreak doing yoga with a group of sweaty strangers.
And she was being so sensitive about the food! Alice could have assured her it was fine. Knowing that the combination of skipping a meal and exercising might tip the balance, she’d checked her blood before coming out, so she knew everything was good. But she hadn’t wanted to risk either patronizing her, or making her feel she was being educated on the subject, so she’d let it pass. This organic place wasn’t at all bad, in any case.
They sat at a table on the terrace outside. The weather was still fine for this late in the year. Who’d have expected to be eating outside so close to Halloween?
At one point, she caught herself smiling fondly at her new friend. They really had bonded today.
“What is it?” asked Libbie. She’d spotted the look.
“Oh, I don’t know. Sometimes you get so carried away with life you forget what the simple pleasures are like. Things like this. The sunshine, having lunch with a friend.”
Libbie smiled shyly at that.
“So what’s your story? Why the fresh start in a town you don’t know?” Libbie looked suddenly defensive, so Alice rushed to add, “Please, don’t tell me if you prefer not to. I wasn’t being nosy. I just wanted to get to know you a bit.”
“No, that’s fine.” Libbie smiled again. “Small town like this. Stranger comes along. I get it. It’s not so exciting, though. I grew up in the Big Apple with folks who bounced around from job to job, apartment to apartment. Soon it was just me and my mom, and then… well. Foster care isn’t exactly all it’s made up to be, and it’s not made up to be very much.”
Alice felt a heavy wave of sympathy for the girl. She was probably not much younger than Alice, but right now she seemed young and fragile, a true waif. It was easy to fill in the gaps in her story. An orphan—at what young age?
Such a harsh way for a kid to grow up.
“That sounds… tough.”
Libbie smiled. “It makes you tough. You learn to stand up for yourself. To give as good as you get. Some of the things you have to deal with…”
Alice hated to think just what kind of things Libbie was referring to. She’d read the stories, seen the documentaries. It was an entirely different world from the privileged one she herself had grown up in. Right now, she felt a little bit nauseous, and it wasn’t a blood sugar thing.
“You went to NYU?” she said, probably a little too brightly.
“I worked my way up. I guess my childhood was character-building. You could say all the knocks made me who I am today. I stood up for myself, got out of the system as soon as I could. Worked my way through odd jobs around the city, just like my folks had. And yes, somehow managed to scrape my way into NYU and pull myself up by my bootstraps.”
“Listen, you want to see something really exciting? Tom and I have an investment property on Whitetail Lane. That’s just the other side of downtown from here. Why don’t we swing by there on the way back and I could show you around?”
Libbie looked genuinely impressed at this. “I can’t wait to see what you’re doing with the place. You’ve made such a lovely job of your own house, and my apartment. If you want, maybe I can take some pictures of the work in progress for you? I have my kit in the car. It’d be nice to get some photos of you there.”
“That’d be great. And when the place is finished and we’ve decided whether to sell or rent it, maybe you could take some more for us? A paid job, obviously. It’d be good to get a professional in and show it to its best potential.”
“I’d love to.”
Only a short time later they were on site. Franco Vialli and his crew were sitting out back in the sun with their lunch when they arrived. Immediately, he leaped to his feet and insisted they’d been working flat out all morning and this was the first time they’d stopped.
Alice laughed at his fiery show of defensiveness and assured him she wasn’t spying on him. Even as this was happening, Libbie had her big Niko
n out and was taking pictures of the exchange.
“You want to see the place? Come on, let me show you around.”
She took Libbie’s arm and led her into the building, mindful of Franco’s warnings about all the dangers of roaming around a live construction site.
All of a sudden, they were like two schoolgirls on an adventure. Alice hadn’t had so much fun in a long time. And it felt good to be showing this place off to Libbie. It made her see it all as if for the first time, and that was exhilarating.
“This really is impressive,” said Libbie, Alice’s excitement mirrored in her eyes. “You must be thrilled with it all. I couldn’t quite imagine doing something like this. Such a big investment. Such a big risk for you and Tom to take! I could never imagine trusting a guy to anywhere near that extent. That’s so special.”
Libbie smiled.
It was. Special. The trust they had.
The trust they had everything staked on right now…
Chapter 13
Libbie pulled up outside the Granger residence. She couldn’t get that smile off her face. She was having such fun!
She reached for the camera and flicked through the photos she’d taken today. Pictures of Alice with the dark horse Walter. She was pleased. She’d captured that look between the two of them. She could do a lot with a photo like that.
And pictures from the investment property.
Alice flirting with the Italian construction site manager.
Alice in the half-built kitchen. Alice in the den. Alice in the master bedroom.
Alice, Alice, Alice.
She was glad she’d taken the trouble to invest in some decent camera gear before coming here. She’d never used anything more than an iPhone for snaps before this and hadn’t known one end of a DSLR from another. It was amazing what you could learn from YouTube, though.
She’d put together a good—and convincing — portfolio, too. All compiled from Google Images and a few good stock photo sites.
She was nothing if not methodical and thorough.
As she sat there, rain started to spot on the windshield. About to make a dash for her apartment, she paused.
She’d seen movement at the far side of the house. Tom. Every inch the dull suburban drone trying to look cool in his black skinny jeans and mid-brown, tastefully distressed leather jacket. He had a half-shell motorcycle helmet tucked under one arm while he stuffed an envelope into an inside pocket with his free hand.
“Hey,” Libbie called, getting out of the car and not minding the rain at all now. “Going somewhere?”
He jumped. Why did he always look so guilty when caught unawares?
“Oh, hi there. Just heading downtown. Need to take care of some paperwork at the bank.”
“I thought all that was online these days.”
“They need signatures.” He shrugged.
Libbie looked up at the heavy gray sky and held a hand out, palm up. “Listen, do you want a ride? I’m heading into town anyway. I have some things to do, too. I don’t imagine it’s much fun riding that Kawasaki of yours in this kind of weather.”
Let him wonder how she knew what kind of bike he rode. It was always good to sow a few seeds of curiosity.
“Come on,” she pleaded in a lighthearted tone. “It’s nice to talk to people. I don’t know many people here yet.”
He was too polite to say no. Of course he was. That, and he clearly enjoyed her company.
After he’d put his helmet away, he climbed in beside her. She smiled, and paused, letting the moment draw itself out just a fraction longer than was comfortable.
He looked at her, looked away, looked back again.
“How was yoga?” he asked, grasping for conversation.
She fired the Toyota’s engine and laughed. “Oh, yoga,” she said, drawing air quotes around the word with the first two fingers of each hand. “We didn’t quite make it to yoga. Not really Alice’s thing.”
Tom laughed. “I was surprised she said yes last night.”
“She was just being polite. You two are too sweet. You’ve been so kind to me. We got as far as sitting outside the yoga studio then went for lunch instead.”
Tom laughed again. “No cheesecake, I hope.”
He was teasing her. That was good. It meant he was relaxing.
“No cheesecake! We went to a wholefood place. All organic lettuce. And more organic lettuce. I’m sure Alice thinks I need to diet.” She took one hand off the wheel and ran it down the curves of her body.
“Oh, she wouldn’t mean anything by that!” Tom assured her.
She smiled and he blushed. They both knew he’d been looking as she ran that hand down her body. This was going well.
“We came by your investment property after lunch. That is such a cool place! You must be really excited. I told Alice how impressed I was. I could never imagine taking on that kind of financial risk with another person. You must have staked everything on it.”
“And then some,” said Tom.
“Things must be very tight.” Of course they were. Nobody rented out their basement for laughs. And she’d flicked through some of the bills in the letter rack in their kitchen.
“Oh yeah.”
“So much must depend on Alice.”
She saw a tensing of the muscles in his jaw. No other response than that. A sensitive point, then. The fragile pride of a kept man.
“It’s good you two are so close.” She kept her voice light. “That’s so sweet to see.”
~ ~ ~ ~
He couldn’t work her out. She really was the perfect tenant. Friendly. Helpful. Considerate.
She was easy to be with, easy to talk to. And then, every so often, she would say something in all innocence that triggered Tom’s deepest fears.
Yes, the investment place was a huge financial burden and risk. He and Alice had debated it at length before committing. In truth, Tom would have been far happier consolidating efforts on their own place rather than taking on a new risk, but Alice had convinced him, as she always would.
And now…
“When I picked Alice up she was with a guy. Laughing and fooling with him. She really is such a friendly person, isn’t she? She could get on with just about anybody. If I didn’t know that of her I’d have been sure they were a couple!”
“A guy?” His mind was racing.
“Hm. Good-looking, in an off-beat kind of a way. Name was Wilbur or Walter or something.”
“Oh, Walter!” He relaxed a little. “We’ve known Walter for years.”
“That’s nice. That explains why they were so easy with each other. Alice said they’ve been spending a lot of time together lately. That big account she’s chasing. Walter’s not officially on that one, but apparently he’s been going out of his way to help her with it. I thought that was really good of him.”
It was.
Of course it was good of him. Walter was that kind of a guy.
Nothing was too much trouble for Walter. Particularly where Alice was concerned.
Tom glanced across at Libbie. She was concentrating on her driving, clearly oblivious to the seeds she’d sown.
He cursed himself for thinking this way.
For doubting his wife.
Libbie was right. He and Libbie had committed to a lot together. It was stupid to start doubting things now.
“How about I treat you to coffee and a donut?” asked Libbie, as she pulled up into a parking space. “I know you don’t get to satisfy your sweet tooth too often at home.”
“Oh, I couldn’t. I just need to do the bank thing and then head home. Really. Thanks for the ride. I’ll be fine from here.”
“I insist. You guys have been so kind.”
He hesitated, his hand on the door handle.
A few minutes later, they sat in a coffee shop, rain streaming down the windows.
“I bet you’re glad you didn’t come on the bike.”
He nodded and took another bite of his donut.
“I h
adn’t imagined you on a motorcycle, but that jacket and helmet kind of suited you. I bet you look at home in the saddle.”
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s just a way of getting from A to B.”
“Said no guy ever when he’s talking about bikes!”
He felt flattered by the attention, and with a flash of guilt he realized he was enjoying the novelty of being with someone new. Since making the shift to homeworking, he didn’t really get out much at all.
He looked up from his coffee. She was studying him, a strange look on her face. Intense.
“I like this,” she said.
He took a sip. Swallowed.
“Being out with a guy again. Maybe I should consider dating again.”
He allowed himself to breathe. At first, he’d thought she was actually hitting on him, but then that last comment made clear that she was talking in generalities. She enjoyed the concept of being in the presence of a guy. Not this particular guy. And she was thinking in terms of dating someone, not focusing her attentions on Tom.
“What about that guy the other night? Doesn’t that count?”
She tutted at him disapprovingly. “That was a one-off. An aberration. I told you to put that out of your mind.” She paused to moisten her lips. “Looks like you found that hard to do.”
“I…” At first he thought she was cross with him, but now realized that, of course, she was teasing him.
He recalled hearing a horn outside, looking out and seeing her lit by the streetlights. Her dress pulled down. That guy’s hands on her.
“You’re seeing it now, aren’t you? I’m shocked.”
He didn’t know what to say.
Then she laughed and reached out to put a hand briefly on his forearm. “I’m only kidding, Tom. Covering my embarrassment, I guess. Don’t think anything of it, please. Listen, you go and do your bank business and I’ll meet you back at the car when you’re done. And I promise not to remind you about what you saw that night.”
And then she winked, stood, ran her hands down her waist and hips to smooth her clothing and turned to walk out of the coffee shop.
She was a bit like a force of nature, Tom decided. She blew into your life, turned things upside down and then left you wondering exactly what you’d just encountered.