by Kimi Flores
“Of course you are.”
She stepped closer, wiggling her fingers near her crazed, wide eyes. “Let me enrich your mind while I feed your body healthy food. Together, we’ll live so much longer than all the doubters.” Her evil laugh practically echoed all around.
Chuckling, I shook my head. “No thanks, I’ll enjoy my short life.”
“Well, in that case, Shelby brought you fresh baked cinnamon rolls and some coffee. I guess she didn’t trust that I’d go grocery shopping first thing this morning.”
“Shelby’s been bringing me food every day. When I asked where your coffee was, she laughed and said you only drink tea.” I figured since she felt comfortable teasing me, I would give it right back to her. “Gluten-free. No coffee. I definitely don’t want to be part of that cult.”
She gave me a deadpan stare. “Ha. Ha. Go ahead and dig. I’ve got some work to do, so I’ll be out of your way for the most part. I’m normally holed up in my workshop out back.”
My eyebrows shot up. “In that huge bunker? Is that where the rest of your compound members are hidden.” I couldn’t help my smirk.
“Okay, smartass. I was going to offer to show it to you, but forget it.” She started to head toward the back door.
I jumped off the stool, grabbing at the chance to spend a little more time with her. “No seriously, I’d love to see your workshop.” As we stepped off the porch, I admitted, “By the way, you have a great backyard. This is where I’ve spent nearly every day this past week. I think I’ve sat in every spot out here.”
She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, letting the sun caress her face. “It’s one of the things that sold me on the place. Just be warned.” Her eyes opened and she pointed to one of the only spots that wasn’t protected under a sycamore tree. “That’s Fritz’s favorite spot in the middle of the afternoon when the sun hits it just right.”
“Fritz?” My stomach sank with a sudden disappointment. I’d been under the impression she lived here alone.
“Speak of the devil.” She looked at the roof of her garage just before the same grey and white cat I’d seen with her last night jumped onto the top of a camper parked in the driveway then landed and teetered on top of the wooden fence. “He must’ve heard us talking about him.”
His whiskers pointed forward when he let out a squeaky meow.
I could barely contain my grimace. That sure is one scrawny and hideous-looking cat.
Andie reached up, grabbed the scrappy, half bald kitty, held it close to her chest, and kissed his furry head. “This poor little guy showed up on my doorstep about six months ago, shivering since the bottom half of his fur is missing. He’s still pretty skinny, but he’s finally gained some weight.” Fritz leaned his head into her hand as she continued to stroke his fur. “I have to mash up all his food since he’s missing most of his teeth and can’t really chew. He was probably the runt in the litter and rejected by the mama cat.”
Well, now I felt like a huge piece of shit for thinking the cat looked like a hot mess.
“Mrroww,” Fritz growled as if he’d just noticed I was standing next to his beloved owner. He glared at me with one eye while the other pointed down toward the grass.
Andie laughed, “I swear, he’s the sweetest thing once he warms up to you.” She moved closer to her workshop.
“If you say so,” I muttered under my breath and tentatively reached out to pet the top of his head as a peace offering. “Why the name Fritz?”
She unlocked the side door to her garage, then pushed it open. “I’ve kinda got a thing for old monster movies.” She flicked on the light as we walked in. When she pointed to the end of the space, I saw framed posters of classic horror films, along with a huge flat screen TV, large comfy looking sofa, a life-sized statue of Frankenstein, and a massage chair that was identical to the one in the living room. This girl really takes her relaxation serious.
“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever met a girl into horrors.” Actually, I didn’t think I knew anyone into them.
“Yeah, well, I’m full of surprises.” She wiggled her eyebrows, setting the cat down on top of a drafting table.
A good portion of the room was filled with tables covered in jewelry displays, small hand tools and random strings and beads. But the pewter and jewel sign hanging on the wall, along with the handful of crystal globe chandeliers, stood out among everything else.
“You’re Vintage Vigilante?” Of course, I already knew that since I’d looked her up online after we first spoke on the phone. What her business website and private social media accounts failed to show was a picture of her. It would’ve been nice to have seen what she looked like beforehand. “I mean, that’s your jewelry company?”
“Yep, that’s me.” Her face lit up with pride, and I couldn’t help but smile.
After meeting several women in town, Andie was so different from what I’d expected. I figured she’d be nice and hospitable, but I still couldn’t decide if she was a sweet girly girl or a tomboy vixen. Probably somewhere in the middle and that was a dangerous combination for my sanity. Throw in the fact that she was a successful business woman, and I knew I was going to have a difficult time hiding my attraction to her.
She picked up a string of beads from her drafting table and rolled them between her fingers. “So you’re familiar with my stuff?”
“Yeah, my sister loved your designs after seeing a few celebrities wearing them. I got her several of your pieces last Christmas.” But as I stared at the bead between Andie’s fingers, the realization hit me that I’d never be buying Tiffany another piece of jewelry. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I forced a smile.
Andie beamed, looking pleased. “She probably saw Karina Black.”
I just nodded since I knew Tiffany had been a huge fan of the pop star.
“Karina lives here in Hope Falls and once she started getting photographed on the red carpet at music awards wearing my stuff last year, my sales have gone through the roof.” Andie put the bead down and picked up a small jewel. “Let me know which style she likes best and I can make you something special to take home to her. Maybe paired up with a charm that she’d enjoy.”
My voice lowered. I hadn’t meant to go down this road today. “Oh, um, she passed away at the beginning of this year.”
Reaching out, she gently touched my arm. The compassion from this one gesture overwhelmed me. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
“It’s okay. It’s getting a little easier to talk about.” And although that was mostly true, my gut still tightened.
She made a point to look me directly in the eyes. There was no pity or sympathy there; it felt as though she genuinely cared. “When did she pass?”
“January.” Strangely, I was comfortable talking to Andie about my sister without drowning in guilt. With just a few simple gestures, she made me feel relaxed and somehow connected to her.
“How old was she?”
I looked at Fritz swatting a few stones around on the table as though he didn’t have a care in the world. He was a cat, of course he didn’t know the heavy subject matter we were talking about. “We are, I mean, we were twins. She was thirty-one, just missed our thirty-second birthday.” Until now, I hadn’t thought about how every birthday before this year was celebrated with my sister. Each one from this point on, would be another reminder that she was no longer around.
I can only imagine the face I’d made because Andie took my hand and rested it against her chest. While nothing came out of her mouth, the compassion in her eyes told me everything I needed to hear in that moment. She was there for me.
And with that one look, I knew my plans of doing nothing but studying the next several weeks were completely shot to shit.
Chapter Four
Andie
The sharp smell of chlorine hit me the moment Blaine opened the glass door that led to our indoor community pool. Although I wasn’t here for the kids, I loved the welcoming sounds of their laughter and the splashin
g of water that filled the huge space.
“Thank you.” I pushed my sunglasses to the top of my head, then leaned in to him when he came alongside me again. The damp air immediately clung to my skin. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” I still couldn’t believe he’d asked to join me when I’d told him where I was going today.
Cocking his eyebrow, he asked, “Jumping around in a pool with a bunch of seniors? Sure, why not?” He just made himself at home, not a single sign that he would rather be anywhere than here, with me and a pool full of crazy old folks.
I knew he’d come to Hope Falls to study and, although he’d done plenty of that since I’d gotten home last week, he’d also taken every opportunity to be shown around town.
I couldn’t say I minded hanging out with him. At first, I was worried it wouldn’t take long for him to become bored by our small-town ways. Personally, I loved the slower paced life we lived here, but even I had to get out of town every so often.
Not only had he adapted well, but when he wasn’t looking I would watch him appreciate the small things. Just yesterday, I caught him staring at the clouds while he sat on the front porch. When he noticed me peeking around the side of the house, he’d pointed out the different shapes. I hadn’t done that since I was a kid.
Without him even knowing, he’d been reminding me of the beauty in simplicity.
After the two-mile walk from my house to the community pool, I was a little achy but my muscles were warmed up enough to teach this class. “So you’re jumping in the pool, too?” I asked, playfully.
Our tennis shoes made squishy sounds on the wet pavement as his eyebrows drew together, emphasizing the confused expression on his face. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I get in the water?”
I bent down and placed my bottle, towel and sunglasses next to the thick mat already set up. “You can if you like, but I usually teach the class from the deck.”
Blaine put his things down next to mine and helped me roll the cart filled with water weights toward the edge of the pool. “Oh, I just assumed we would be getting in.”
“They like it better when I show them the moves from outside.” I slipped the dance music CD I’d burned this morning into the player and spotted a group of older ladies hanging out in the shallow end. They weren’t difficult to pick out of the crowd since they were wearing those god-awful vinyl swim caps covered with vibrantly colored fabric flowers.
Blaine caught where I was looking. “Why are those two women mad doggin’ each other?”
I watched one woman strut confidently out of the lady’s locker room until she’d spotted the other woman in the pool. Both now glared at each other and were practically arching their backs like two cats about to attack.
Releasing an exasperating sigh, I explained, “The one in the pool is Mrs. Rivers and the other is Mrs. Samson. Apparently, they’ve had a rivalry going on for years. I’ve actually had to separate them before.”
He started to laugh, obviously not believing me. “Separate them? Really?”
“Yup. They’re worse than two teenage girls competing for the star quarterback's attention.” Spinning around, I completed my mental checklist to ensure I was prepared for this class. Old people were like kids; they liked their routine and you didn’t dare turn your back for a second.
I lowered my voice since I’d noticed everyone starting to wade toward us. “Last time, I had to physically get between them after class.”
Trying to stifle his laugh this time, he held his palm to his chest. “If anything goes down between them today, how about if I’m the buffer so you can have a break.”
A small part of me worried I hadn’t been diligent enough to hide all my aches and pains from him, but I had the feeling his offer had nothing to do with my ailments. He’d already shown me several times this past week how much he enjoyed helping. Plus, he was just a really nice guy.
We’d also had a lot of fun together so I decided to give an amusing response. “You sure about this? They’re constantly trying to outdo each other. A couple weeks ago, they started fighting about which of their grandsons was more successful.” I left out that they’d been trying to set me up with said grandsons. From what I’d heard, they’d done the same thing to Lily Soltelo when she’d first moved to town and taught the senior salsa dance class.
Amused, he gave a confident smile. “Sure, I’ve got this. Just so I’m prepared, what’s their beef today?” He leaned in like we were reconstructing a scene out of a Nancy Drew mystery.
“Who knows?” I shrugged, then saw it. Mrs. Samson threw her shoulders back as she slipped her swim cap on and walked toward the pool stairs. It was the same exact coral-colored swim cap with three large white blossoms popping out on one side as Mrs. Rivers’.
“Look at their caps,” I said discreetly.
He snickered. “Check out the straps on their swimsuits. Same color, too. I wonder if someone in town thought it would be funny to sell them the same design.”
“Well, whoever did that is going to have to deal with me if those two go at it today.” Ready to call everyone’s attention, I spotted a familiar hairy guy with a protruding belly leaving the men’s locker room. And he was heading in our direction.
I could’ve warned Blaine, but where would the fun be in that. With a huge grin on my face, I stared at Blaine and just waited for the moment he got a load of what was about to happen. He stared back expectantly and then his eyes widened. Making his usual tooting sounds with each step, the older man walk-jogged between us and jumped in the water, splashing the ladies around.
“Dammit, Sam. Do you have to do that every time?” Gertrude yelled as she wiped the water off her face.
Sam chose to ignore her comment, found his spot, then turned his full attention toward the front of the class. A few of the ladies stepped away when tiny bubbles surfaced behind Sam. It took everything I had to not bust up.
Blaine stepped closer to me and it was the first time I could see the delicate swirls of color in his blue eyes. His warm breath spread over my shoulder. “Well, shit. That’s not something you see every day.”
Snickering, I handed him a couple of water weights. “Actually, Speedo Sam is here every day the pool is open, so there are plenty of opportunities to see him.”
Taking the equipment from me, he smiled and said, “Good to know, but for the record, this is not the kind of jet stream I was hoping for.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to take air in my lungs as I laughed harder than I had in a very long time.
“You liked that, huh?” Blaine whispered in my ear, creating a completely different reason for me to catch my breath. If I thought his voice was enticing over the phone, that was nothing compared to him speaking directly by my ear.
Clearing my throat, I didn’t look at him as I rotated around to get the class started. I clapped my hands together to get everyone’s attention. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman. I hope everyone is having a great summer so far. I’m sure a few of us have indulged in a little too many bar-b-que dinners already so let’s burn some of that off today. After all, we’ve only got a week before this year's Fourth of July festival and the senior social.”
I moved over to the CD player, turned it on and “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars blared through the speakers. Feeling the humidity, I ripped my tank top off and placed it next to the radio. Instantly, Blaine’s eyes were on me, and I unexpectedly felt self-conscious. The one-piece bathing suit and work out shorts weren’t too revealing. But, maybe it was more of my skin than he’d been prepared to see today.
Ignoring his reaction, I stepped up to my non-skid mat and alternated lifting my knees up and down. “Let’s get started by marching in place.”
From the corner of my eye, I could see Blaine clumsily following my lead, then I heard Mrs. Crandall ask, “Hey, who’s the cutie next to you, Andie?”
The sound of the water sloshing filled the space, especially near Sam as I continued to march in place. “This is Blaine.”
I breathed out. “He’s staying at my house since Mountain Meadows is full.” I don’t know why I felt the need to explain the details since I was sure these gossips already knew who he was.
Blaine gave a quick wave as he tried to follow along. I was surprised how uncoordinated he was. It was kind of endearing.
Forty-five-minutes later, we wrapped up with some stretches, then everyone brought their dumbbells to the edge of the pool. After hearing a few comments throughout the class, I motioned to Blaine for him to quickly put the weights into the cart. “Thank you so much for joining us today. Have a great week.”
Scooping up my things, I watched the two old women rush to the stairs as they continued to peek back at Blaine.
“Unless you’d like to be set up with either Mrs. Rivers or Mrs. Samson’s beautiful granddaughters, I suggest we hustle it out of here.” I popped the CD out of the player and strolled toward the exit.
“Beautiful granddaughters, huh?” he asked mischievously.
Frozen for a split second, the idea of ripping those granddaughters’ hair out from the roots skittered through my mind. I shook my head to clear those thoughts and peeked over to watch his face as he said, “I bet they’re the spitting image of their grandmas.” He shivered.
“If that’s what you’re into, don’t let me cramp your style, but I’m outta here.” I kept walking, wondering why I’d instantly felt jealous.
He turned and spotted the women racing our way, the flowers on their swim caps bouncing in unison.
“Uh, no thank you.” He joined me as we speed-walked. When we made it outside and through the parking lot, I was eager to get home and eat.
“Man, it’s so beautiful here,” Blaine said as we turned off Main Street. It was picturesque. Full, bushy trees and white picket fences lined the two-lane street with the Sierra Nevada Mountains painting a gorgeous backdrop off in the distance. “I can only imagine how peaceful it is to live here.”
Seeing that he lived by the beach, I thought that was an odd comment, but it also reminded me that he would be leaving soon. “I’m sure Santa Barbara isn’t a bad place to live, either.”