I even killed all my own spiders, and I wasn’t afraid of the dark.
Yet, there in Diana’s diner, I was blushing like a Barbie doll because I said the word licked in front of a man whose face I couldn’t quit staring at. I’d be lying if I said saying it hadn’t brought up certain explicit images in my mind.
Simply put, I was a bit hard up and it had been awhile. A long while. I needed to get out of there before I really made an ass of myself.
In my reverie, I’d missed what Vaughn and Diana were saying. My thoughts had drowned out their words. I got up and headed for the door.
“I’ll see you Tuesday, Diana. Nice to meet you, Vaughn,” I said as I stepped out into the warm spring night about to cross the street to my old pickup truck.
Before I knew it Vaughn was outside, too, saying, “Hey, you said you worked over there. You think they’d be able to take a look at my Escalade next week? Like I said, the check engine light just came on. Hopefully it isn’t anything major, it’s not that old, but I need to get it checked.”
I turned around and walked backwards, not wanting to stop in the middle of the street, but not wanting to be rude.
“Sure, bring it up on Monday. I’ll see if my dad or Dean can hook it up to the diagnostic thing. Shouldn’t take too long.” I spun back around, jumped up on the curb and opened my truck door. It creaked—which I thought of as an anti-theft feature, even if I never locked it—then I hopped in. I chanced a look back at Vaughn, who was still standing there by the door of the restaurant.
I cranked my grey beast to life and rolled down the window.
He shouted, “Thanks for the sandwich.”
“See you Monday. I hope tomorrow runs a little smoother for ya,” I shouted back as I pulled out and headed for home. He lifted a hand and gave me a little wave as I drove off.
I slowed a little as I rode past the old Robinson house. We lived on the same road, but we were out of town about a mile and a half and they were the first house on the edge of the city limits. I drove past it nothing short of twice each day.
I saw the boxes he’d unloaded to get his house keys on the driveway, stacked neatly against the garage door. The whole bungalow needed a new coat of paint, and maybe even a new porch. As far back as I could remember, it had always been that color and it had never been remodeled, only maintained—if you could call it that. There were dowels missing from the railing on the porch and the screen door on the side was never shut and latched all the way. Sometimes it would swing in the wind if the weather was bad. It needed a new roof, too.
I’d been in it a few times as a child, and I was sure the inside was just as dated and neglected. It was nice that someone was going to fix it up.
I smiled to myself and my boot pushed down on the gas pedal, speeding up on my way out of town.
I didn’t know Vaughn, but anyone who would move to Wynne—from anywhere—and fix up one of its oldest houses, and take over for a dentist who’d been a lifelong resident … well, he had to be pretty ambitious. And sadly, that’s one thing our little town lacked.
Ambition.
I pulled into our shed, where I normally parked, and killed the engine. It was only a little after eight, but I knew if I started on the lures I’d be up all night. And I had to get those invoices straightened out in the morning.
So instead, I grabbed a beer from the old fridge next to my workbench, let the tailgate down on my truck, and sat there in the dark, thinking about the new guy and watching the stars.
I’d had the day from hell. I take that back, I’d had the month from hell.
My ex-girlfriend Rachelle, the woman I’d been with for nearly two years, left me about a month before we were moving to Wynne to start our life together. Or what I thought was going to be our life together.
Turned out the old saying, easy come, easy go, rang true for us.
Therefore, all of the paperwork for the closing of the house had to be re-filed, which caused the closing date to be pushed back and only left me with about a week to work on the house before I was supposed to begin at the office.
I didn’t mind going back to work. I loved what I did.
What I hated was the upheaval of it all. Having my things in boxes. Having a mile-long list of things that needed completing.
Mostly, I hated the new idea of doing it all alone. Of course I was capable, a thirty-one-year-old man who’d accomplished many goals.
What it boiled down to was I was one of those guys who was ready for a partner. I wanted a family, and I wanted a community like the one I’d visited when I was younger.
Besides, I liked the idea of taking a leap of faith with someone. To me, it was an adventure.
I’d always lived in bigger cities, but I never actually knew anyone. Never had a real connection, or a sense of belonging to a community. In Cleveland, Rachelle and I got along fine, but I looked at the move as an opportunity to get closer.
To build something together.