Chapter 24
THE FOLLOWING EVENING FOUND ZONA AND Alec out on the sidewalk in front of his house, working again with Darling.
“You have to be firm,” he said when Darling decided he preferred to bound over to her instead of staying.
He demonstrated again, making the dog sit.
Then he held out his hand like a stop sign and said, “Stay.” He waited a moment before giving Darling a treat.
He repeated the process again and took a step back and then reinforced the command once more.
“He likes you better,” Zona said.
“No, he just knows who the big dog is. You’ve got to be firm.”
“Firm,” Zona said. “You hear that, Darling? I’m the big dog.”
“Not the big pushover,” Alec joked.
It was a civilized, neighborly interaction. An observer would have thought the two of them had been pals forever, both smiling at each other. It looked for sure like they could be lifetime pals.
Then Zona caught sight of the familiar red PT Cruiser coming down the street.
Alec saw it, too, and his eyes narrowed and his smile compressed into a thin, angry line. The car slowed, he shook his head, and it sped up and hurried on down the street.
It had barely turned the corner before Bree pulled up. Zona could feel her daughter’s disapproving frown before she even saw it.
“I guess it’s time to go in,” Zona said.
He nodded, gave Darling a rub behind the ears, and then turned toward his own house.
Bree was barely out of her car before she started her third degree. “What’s going on, Mom?”
“Our neighbor is helping me train Darling. He needs it.”
Bree narrowed her eyes and Zona suddenly felt like a teenager lying to her mother. She turned toward the house. “Come on, Darling.”
“Just dog training?” Bree persisted, following them both in.
“Just dog training,” Zona said. “And the price is right. It’s free,” she added, figuring that ended the conversation.
Louise was in the living room, streaming a Hallmark movie.
“How come you’re not watching your crime show?” Bree asked and bent to kiss her cheek before plopping on the couch next to her.
“I’m taking a break,” Louise said. “Your mother’s orders,” she added, and frowned at Zona. “How was the dog training?”
“Darling is making great strides,” Zona reported.
“So is our neighbor,” said Louise. “Hamburgers, hiking, dog training.”
“You are hanging out with him,” Bree accused. “Mom, what are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that it’s nice to know our neighbor isn’t a murderer,” Zona said, shooting a meaningful look at Louise.
“Murderer?” Bree repeated.
“Ask your Gram about that,” Zona said.
“Never mind. It was a slight misunderstanding.”
“What kind of misunderstanding?” Bree wanted to know.
“Darling dug up a bone on his property and Gram thought he’d chopped up his girlfriend and buried her in the flowerbed. Called the cops and everything,” Zona tattled. There, two could play the tattletale game.
“OMG. Truth?” Bree looked positively gleeful.
“It was an honest mistake, and I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Louise said stiffly.
“So I’m mending fences, that’s all,” said Zona. “There’s nothing going on.”
“Yet,” said Bree. “You’re gonna fall for him, I know it. I swear, I’m the only one in this family with a working brain.”
“Our brains work fine, and that’s enough of that, young lady,” Louise scolded.
“Sorry,” Bree muttered.
“And never mind us,” said Zona. “What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing,” Bree said with a shrug. “My life sucks. At least my savings is growing.”
Zona had planned on inviting her daughter over for Sunday dinner and presenting her with a check for her first semester of school. Louise had one for her also. But there was no time like the present.
“We have something for you. What do you think, Mom? Should we give it to her now?”
“No time like the present,” said Louise.
Excited to see her girl’s reaction, Zona hurried upstairs to where the two checks and the card were lying on her dresser. She and Louise had both signed it the day before when Zona brought it home. She stuffed the checks in the card and returned.
“Here,” she said, handing it over.
Bree looked at her, puzzled. “It’s not my birthday.”
“Happy birthday early,” Zona said.
Bree opened the card, took out the checks, looked at them both, and then began to cry. Zona sat down next to her on the couch and Bree threw her arms around her and continued to sob.
“This will get you started. We’ve got your first year covered,” Zona promised.
Bree kissed her, then hugged her grandma. “Thanks, you guys. I . . .” She bit her lip and studied her knees, swiped tears from her cheeks.
“Our girl at a loss for words, there’s a switch,” Louise joked.
“I don’t deserve you being this nice to me.”
“Of course you do,” said Zona.
“Oh, my gosh, I can finally start!” Bree squealed and hugged them both again.
“I promised way back I’d make it up to you for what Gary did and I meant it,” Zona told her.
Bree’s eyes narrowed to slits. “I hate him.”
That made two of them. “He’s history. We’re moving on,” Zona said.
Bree’s expression regained its intensity. “Mom, don’t move on with that man. Don’t move on with any man. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“I don’t want to see me hurt, either. And I don’t want you to have to deal with the fallout. Don’t worry,” said Zona. She was going to keep things purely platonic with Alec. She had to, for both her sake and her daughter’s.
The appearance of the red PT Cruiser had been a sign. She needed to step away.
It would be hard to step away. Alec’s contact info had found its way into her phone. And, worse, he was in her mind and knocking on the door of her heart.
You still don’t really know the man, she reminded herself. Which made right then and there the perfect time to pull back. She ignored the text that came in from him when she was at work the next day. Ignore the problem and it will go away.
Another came in a couple hours later. You ghosting me?
Yes.
But it wasn’t that easy to ghost someone who lived right next door. She and Louise had finished dinner when he knocked on the front door.
“Okay, what’s up?” he asked as she stepped out onto the porch, shutting the door behind her.
“We can’t keep hanging out.”
He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “Yeah? Why?”
As if on cue, the red PT Cruiser crawled past. Zona nodded at it.
Alec swore under his breath, turned, and started across the lawn. The car sped away.
“That’s why,” she said when he returned.
“I’m getting a restraining order,” he said.
“Good luck making it stick.”
His jaw took on a stubborn set. “I’ll make it stick.”
“Look, I like you.” There was an understatement.
“I like you, too,” he said. “I like being with you. I want to spend more time with you.”
“Let’s settle for being neighbors.”
“Good neighbors.”
“Good neighbors,” she agreed. Here came Martin, up the street to visit her mom.
“Like Martin and your mom,” he said.
She half laughed. “They’re inseparable.”
“Like Martin and your mom,” he repeated. Then, before her frown could turn into words, he continued, “Let’s not let the losers in our lives stop us from having a good time together.”
“I don’t want to have a good time.” Okay, that sounded stupid.
He took a step closer. She could feel his body heat. Or maybe she just felt her own body warming up. “What do you want, Zona? Tell me.”
“I want to be happy. And I want to feel safe. I don’t want any more relationship trauma in my life. Can you promise me that?”
“I don’t have a crystal ball. I can’t guarantee things would work out between us, but I can guarantee I’m not like your exes.
I’m not out to hurt you. I’m into you and I like being with you.
A lot. I want the same things you do. I’m tired of chaos and drama.
I’m tired of being pissed all the time. I want to enjoy life, and I want some peace.
You do, too, so let’s see where this goes. ”
He was so persuasive. She wanted to believe him.
“Hang in there a little longer with me,” he urged. “If things get scary, then I’ll back off and we’ll wave at each other from opposite sides of the property line.”
She let out a tired breath. It would be so nice to enjoy a relationship with no drama, no hurt. But she was beginning to think her daughter was right. Maybe there was no such thing.
“I think we may have started something good. Let’s not let the people around us ruin our lives,” he said. “I’m sick of that happening.”
So was she. Darn it all, didn’t she have the right to some happiness, some calm waters? Could she and Alec make that happen?
He nodded in the direction of his truck. “Let’s go get a drink.”
The porch they were standing on suddenly felt like a high dive over a shallow swimming pool. To jump or not to jump?
She jumped. “Let’s go. But as friends. Just hanging out.”
“Just hanging out,” he agreed.
“Tell Mom I’m going out for a while,” she said to Martin, letting him in the house, then she walked with Alec to his truck and got in. She’d jumped. She hoped the water would be good.
It sure felt like it as they sat down at a table at Kalaveras, a colorful Mexican eatery in Covina. The painted skull on the outside of the building was simply for atmosphere, not a subtle warning, she assured herself. It was only drinks.
And conversation. And a shared laugh over something funny he showed her on social media. And more conversation, talking about their respective pasts and how they were leaving them behind. And his hand brushing over hers and making her thirsty for more than another frozen mango margarita.
She wanted laughter. She wanted hot kisses and a honeymoon style ever after. She wanted that happy ending she used to enjoy reading about when she believed in the books she’d read once upon a time. She wanted to live out a fantasy and leave reality behind.
But she would settle for a nice, easy friendship, something manageable like what her mom and Martin had. Something platonic would be safe and good medicine for her heart.
If only her body didn’t crave more.