Annie leans against the railing, sighing with satisfaction. Her hair, up in a ponytail, is the color of cinnamon but has lightened in the sun. Dede comes up behind her and kisses her long bronzed neck. She runs her hands along the outline of Annie’s figure. Annie leans back into Dede’s arms, gently humming as Dede cups her breasts, caresses the skin on her flat belly. “That tickles,” says Annie as she turns to face Dede. They kiss deeply and lie down together on the blanket they’ve spread out, their legs intertwined.
And then they hear a noise. The hollow clink of metal tapping metal, and footsteps, and then a man whistling. Staying low, they inch toward the side of the veranda and peek through the wooden supports.
A man approaches the side of the house with a long ladder held at his side. He is shirtless and looks pretty damn good that way, a V-shaped physique, rippled abs. His curly dark hair falls from a Yankees cap, turned backward.
“Hot tool-belt guy,” Annie whispers. “If I liked boys …”
The hot tool-belt guy drops the ladder against the side of the house and quickly climbs up. The women don’t move, holding their breath, as he reaches their level on the third floor.
“Just behave yourselves, ladies,” he says without looking in their direction. “Deal?”
Busted! Neither woman says anything. Neither woman moves.
“Deal?” he repeats.
Dede stands up, leans on the railing. “We have to behave? That’s no fun.”
Annie stands up, too. “So what’s your story, guy?”
The man gestures upward with his chin. “Me, I’m just patching up the flat roof. Not having as much fun as you, looks like.”
“That’s not fair,” Annie says, which sounds close to an invitation. She gets an elbow from Dede. “So what’s your name?”
“Noah,” he says.
“Are you going to turn us in, Noah?” Dede asks.
He considers them a moment. “Well, that wouldn’t be very nice, would it?”
“It sure wouldn’t.”
“Just don’t make a mess while you’re here,” he says. “I’ll have to clean it up.”
He starts to climb. Both girls can’t help but enjoy the view. Straight or gay, this guy is hard not to admire.
“And one more thing,” he says as he reaches the flat roof. “Don’t go in the basement.”
“Why’s that, Noah?”
“Didn’t you hear? This house is haunted.” The man hauls himself up on the roof and disappears.
31
ANNIE’S BEATER VW Bug pulls up to the gate of 7 Ocean Drive. The sun has fallen now at nine o’clock, so all is clear. When they use their car, which isn’t very often, they prefer to enter and exit under the cover of darkness.
Dede gets out to push open the massive gate, using all her weight to do so. Once it’s open, she turns back, squinting into the car’s headlights.
Beyond the beams, across the street, she sees someone, standing flat-footed, looking at her. She does a double take, shields her eyes with a hand—which doesn’t really help—and moves away from the blinding beams to get a better look. It seems as if … the figure moves along with her, and then disappears—maybe into the shrubbery?—leaving Dede with spots in her vision from the car lights.
Dede rushes back to the car and gets in.
“What’s the matter?” Annie asks.
“I thought I … saw someone. Across the street. Staring at us. Watching us.”
Annie strains to look behind her. “I didn’t see anyone when we drove up.”
“I know. Me either.”
“What did he look like?”
Dede lets out a shudder. “Couldn’t really see. A man, looked like. Kind of—you’re gonna laugh—like a scarecrow, sort of? Like, his hair was all stringy and sticking out. He had a hat on, too, I think.”
“A scarecrow?” Annie looks at Dede with mock horror. “You don’t think … the Tin Man might be out there, too?”
“Stop.”
“Not the Cowardly Lion!” Annie brings a hand to her mouth.
“Just drive the car.”
Annie pats Dede’s leg. “You’re paranoid, girl. We’re not supposed to be here, so you think everyone’s looking to bust us. I mean, someone walking down Ocean Drive in the summer isn’t exactly unusual.” She puts the car into gear and drives through the gate. Dede closes the gate behind them, taking another look across the street and seeing nothing.
“That’s the thing, though,” she says when she reenters the car. “He wasn’t walking. He was just watching us. I mean, I think. With the headlights, I couldn’t really see. It could just be my eyes playing tricks.”
Annie pulls the Beetle onto the grass next to the massive detached garage, hidden from sight. She lets out a sigh. “Good to be home,” she says. “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like—”
“Would you shut up?”
As they walk toward the back entrance, they see the ladder the hot tool-belt guy used yesterday, broken down and lying in the grass. “Noah was cute,” Annie says.
“Was he? Was he cute?” Dede throws another elbow.
“Now, now, dearest, I only have eyes for you.”