Chapter 3
I stood on the steps and waved as my dad pulled down the driveway.
My smile stayed put until he was out of sight.
As soon as he disappeared, so did it. He’d stayed the two days, but he hadn’t found a car for me or relented to move me somewhere near my mom’s family.
When he’d asked why it was so important to me that I meet my mom’s family, I’d stopped talking.
I couldn’t tell him. So instead, I stayed where I was—in the middle of nowhere—and watched him leave.
I was now at the mercy of my crabby, very unrelated neighbor who, according to Dad, had happily agreed to take me anywhere I needed.
Imagining Racer “happily” doing anything was a stretch for me.
Each time we had run into each other, he’d been abrupt.
Not in an overly rude way, more of an I’m-not-here-to-chat way.
Sighing, I turned and went back inside. After arriving in the cold rain, yesterday and today had remained mild. I opened my windows and booted up my laptop.
Hours later, I closed the lid in agitation. I liked learning. I liked reading. I even liked the quiet. But at the moment, all three were annoying the heck out of me. How was I going to finish my classes like this? Stupid Chuck. Darn overprotective, misleading Dad.
I changed into jogging clothes and pulled on a light windbreaker.
My problem wasn’t school or people. I was annoyed and had too much energy.
After all the cleaning yesterday, I wasn’t sure how having too much energy was even possible.
I jogged down the steps and sat on the last one to lace up my runners.
“Going somewhere?”
Racer’s voice startled me, but I managed not to react and kept tying my shoe.
“Yep. I thought I’d go for a run.”
He heaved a sigh. “Fine. Just give me a minute.”
His door closed before I could look up. Did he want to go, too? Finishing, I stood and stared at his door. Was I really supposed to wait for him? The door opened before I could decide what to do.
“Come on,” he said as he closed his door. He wore loose nylon pants and a tight long sleeve shirt.
“Racer, I didn’t mean you should come with me.”
“I said come on.” Annoyance laced his words. He held the door and watched me impatiently. I fought to hide my reaction to his openly rude attitude.
“I’d prefer to go alone. I just need to burn off some energy. No big deal.”
“I promised your dad I’d keep an eye on you. No wandering around alone.”
This time I didn’t manage to prevent the slight narrowing of my eyes. Dad. He’d be getting a call from me tomorrow when he got home from work.
“Look,” Racer said. “If your heart’s not set on running, you can use some of my equipment and have all the alone time you want. Either way, you have to step out the door.” His tone oozed impatience and arrogance.
Holy heck, I wanted to strangle him. I stepped outside and followed him around the house to a pole shed. It was set back from the house by about ten feet. Enough room to fit a vehicle between the two buildings.
He opened the door and motioned me in. I looked around the twenty by thirty space filled with exercise equipment.
“Wipe your feet to keep the floor clean,” he said, pointedly looking at the floor mat that lay just inside the door. “I’ll be on the other side. If you need anything, yell.”
He headed for the wide, double-hung doors that partitioned the part of the shed we’d stepped into from the rest of the shed.
He closed himself into that side, leaving me alone.
Mats covered the majority of the cement floor.
Out of habit, I took off my shoes and left them on the mat.
Warmth seeped through my socks. A heated floor. Unreal.
I walked around and looked at the weight machine, free weights, stair climber, treadmill, and the punching bag hung from the ceiling. It’d be cool to come out here in winter to work out. But today I really wanted to run outside. I slipped my shoes back on and quietly left.
Outside, I breathed deeply. Fresh air filled me, the sun warmed me, and the birds talked to me. I quickly stretched then set out, enjoying the crunch under my feet.
When we’d pulled into the driveway late Friday night, I’d noted that the road was gravel, too.
I liked the sound of it, the thump of my shoe and the crunch of gravel.
Then, I heard it. The echo of my step. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Racer keeping pace twenty steps behind me and calculated how long it would take Dad to get home.
My call might not wait until tomorrow night.
I stopped running and waited for him. My breathing wasn’t steady but I wasn’t gasping either. He seemed unaffected when he stopped by me.
“So what exactly did my dad say?”
“He asked that I keep an eye on you.”
“Did he say not to let me out of your sight or are you just being an overachiever here?”
He remained quiet. Interesting.
“Did he say why he wanted you to keep an eye on me?”
“Some guy isn’t leaving you alone. It worried your dad enough he was willing to move his just turned eighteen daughter out of state. He said you’re his life and if anything happened to you…” He didn’t finish. He didn’t need to. Some of the anger and resentment I’d harbored toward Dad left me.
“So, I run, and you unhappily follow out of obligation. I stay put, and you can happily ignore me. Got it.”
He didn’t say anything but the frown finally disappeared from his mouth as he studied me.
“All right. Let’s go back. I don’t feel like running anymore, anyway.” I turned and began the walk back. He quietly followed.
When I veered toward the house, he moved toward the pole shed. At least I’d have quiet time in the house. At the door, I kicked off my shoes before bounding up the stairs.
I called Dad and left a brief message saying I was still safe and that Racer was definitely keeping an eye on me as he asked. I also told him I loved him. The first part would let him know I was still annoyed with him, but the second would tell him I was getting over it.
After that, I dug out a movie and vegged out for the rest of the night. Though I wasn’t holding onto my grudge, I didn’t mean to accept my isolation meekly.
For three days, I plotted. I did schoolwork during the day, cleaned more than I needed to, and watched movies.
All the while, I listened for Racer’s daily routine.
He either didn’t have a job or didn’t need to leave his home for work.
Even if he did by some miracle leave, I needed a car to go anywhere fun.
I used the internet to scope the nearest town.
It wasn’t much of a spec on the map but at least I could jog there. If I could get away from my babysitter.
On the forth morning of my self-imposed seclusion, I didn’t get out of bed at eight like I usually did.
Instead, I rolled over. I’d watched my small cache of movies, there wasn’t any more homework to do until the professor provided new assignments, and I didn’t want to be followed like a parolee.
So I stayed in bed, dozing until the pounding on my door woke me.
I’d just thrown back my covers when I heard the kitchen door open. Part of me hesitated. What if it was Chuck? I wanted to smack myself for that stupid thought. Chuck wouldn’t knock first. I stood as Racer appeared in my bedroom doorway.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded.
“Funny, I was going to ask the same thing. The house on fire?”
He scowled at me. “Why aren’t you up, yet?”
I stared at him for a moment, completely dumbfounded. “Seriously? Get out.” I pointed toward the door as I turned and pulled back the covers, ready to climb back into bed.
He stepped around me and yanked them from my hand. He continued tugging until he had all of the blankets and the top sheet balled in his arms.
“Meet me in the shed in ten minutes if you want these back for tonight.”
I stared after him, too stunned to speak. He was taking this keep-an-eye-on-her thing too far, and I really didn’t like him. But how I felt didn’t matter at the moment. I wanted my bedding back, so I needed to play nice, for now.
Ten minutes later, dressed in my workout clothes, I stepped inside the shed and looked around.
No Racer. I moved to the treadmill and started it up.
The program I selected had an automatic warm-up and cool-down cycle.
A controller lay on the treadmill console.
I picked it up and hit power. Music blasted from the corner.
Metal. No thanks. I scanned through the channels and found some party rock.
Smiling, I entered it as a preset and cranked it up until it echoed off the tin walls.
The exercise invigorated me. So maybe I’d been a little too lethargic lately. It wouldn’t have gotten to that point if my nanny hadn’t been so annoyingly crabby. After thirty minutes on the treadmill, I look pity on my ears and turned off the radio.
“About time,” Racer said in the quiet. I turned toward the sound of his voice as I stepped off the treadmill. He sat on the weight bench, watching me. My pile of blankets rested on the bench next to him.
“Need something?” I asked, sitting on the floor to stretch again.
“Nope.” He got up and walked out, leaving my blankets behind.
When I carried everything back up to my apartment, my cell was vibrating on the kitchen table. Chuck had called my old phone so many times Dad had insisted I get a new number which only Dad knew. I still checked the number before answering.
“Hey, Dad.” I held the phone with my shoulder and headed toward the bedroom.
“Hey, sweetie. How are things going?”
“Good. Racer has an exercise room he’s letting me use so I don’t go stir-crazy. I just got off the treadmill.” No sense in giving Dad all the details. I tossed the pile of blankets on the floor and started remaking my bed.
“Racer knows some self-defense stuff. Maybe you could—”
“Dad, I’m not asking him. He’s doing enough already.” Way more than enough.