Page 29 of Hale Yes
My stomach clenches with affection and sadness. We gather the food containers and place them back in the bag before walking out to Pop’s old truck parked at the curb.
“This was nice. I’m glad you came,” I tell him, and he turns to face me, his eyes filling with tears.
“I’m glad I came too. I left you a gift card on top of your purse. A little extra spending money for your trip.”
I hate that he did that because I know money’s tight for him. At the same time, I’m incredibly touched. To hide the wobble of my lips, I step forward and do something I haven’t done in over twenty years.
I wrap my arms around my father’s neck.
He hesitates for only a split second before banding his thick arms around my waist. It’s tentative at first, as if he’s testing me out, but the embrace gradually grows tighter, and I feel his chest hitch against mine.
This should feel bizarre, hugging Pop after so long, but it doesn’t. It feels like memories and goodness. Along with a slice of rancor toward my mother for purposely depriving a child—her own child—of this comfort.
My dad’s wheezing breath is soft against my shoulder, and I feel warm droplets dampen my shirt. “I’m going to miss you, Nicci.”
Resting my nose against his neck, I inhale his cologne and the slight tang of sweat, but I don’t allow myself to cry.
“I’ll miss you too, Pop.”
And surprisingly, I mean it.
Two weeks later, at about six in the evening, I pull into the driveway of my new home. The concrete drive is located in the back of the townhouse and leads to a ground-level two-car garage. I’m slightly disturbed to see the garage doors are blocked by a person… until I recognize her from the virtual tour. It’s the property manager, Bonnie Clyde.
And yes, her name is actually Bonnie Clyde.
She’s blonde, about my age, and dressed in a sunshine-yellow blazer and pencil skirt with a black silky top beneath. Her black heels and huge black hoop earrings lend to her resemblance to a bumblebee. Even the way she flits toward the driver’s side of my vehicle is remarkably insect-like.
“Nic-o-lette,” she coos as soon as I open the door to my Audi. “So nice to meet you in person.” Bonnie grabs my hand and pumps it enthusiastically before I can even push myself to a standing position. “I’m Bonnie.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I tell her, finally extricating my hand long enough to get out of the car.
“And your accent! Oh my god, it’s so cute! I just love you.”
I crack up because, to my ears, she’s the one with the accent, a distinctive Texas drawl that seems to elongate around each vowel. Then she holds up a set of keys and jingles them at me with a huge smile on her face.
“Oh. Is there a problem with the unit or something?” I ask. “I thought you were leaving the keys in the lockbox.” She’d sent me the code to unlock the box near the front door since I told her I would probably be arriving after hours.
“No, hon. Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to drop off a little something to welcome you to the neighborhood.” She holds up one finger. “Gimme a sec. Be back in a jiffy.”
Then she dashes over to a midnight-blue Mercedes sedan that’s idling in one of the parking spaces, her feet tapping a too-quick cadence given the height of her heels. I would have busted my ass if I’d tried to move that quickly in stilettos. She returns a minute later with a hot-pink plate piled with cookies.
“I didn’t know if you were allergic to nuts, so I went with chocolate chip. I do make a dang good praline cookie though, if you’re okay with pecans.” Her bright blue eyes blink inquisitively at me.
“I love pecans,” I tell her, taking the plate and keys from her. “Thank you, Bonnie. This is very kind of you, and to be honest, I’m starving, so this is a nice treat.”
She swats me on the butt, and I barely manage to restrain a squeak of surprise. “Well then, get your cute little tail inside and enjoy your new home, missy. I live two doors down thataway, so holler if you need me.” Bonnie points to the right to indicate the direction of her house. “Old Mrs. Watts lives between us. She’s pretty quiet and sticks to herself, but I check on her a couple times a week.”
“And on the other side of me?”
“Oh girl, you have a darling couple that lives there, just absolutelydarling. Their names are Stefan and Lukas. Couple characters, those two.” She bobbles her perfect eyebrows and jerks a thumb toward the townhome that’s a replica of mine on the left except it’s white where mine is blue. “They’re out of town right now, but I think they’re coming back on Monday. They’re super friendly, so they’ll probably drop by to say hello.”
“Great. I look forward to meeting them.” I’ve been here for less than five minutes, and I already feel the sense of community here.
“I put ya a cute keychain on there to welcome you to Texas, and you have my number if you need anything. Twenty-four-seven,” Bonnie tells me as she walks backward toward her vehicle.
Glancing down at the keys, I see a sparkly red-and-blue Texas-shaped keychain with a white star in the center. I laugh at the text:I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could.There’s also an attached fob that I assume opens the garage doors.
Bonnie departs with a wave, and I drive into the right side of the garage before grabbing my new keys and the cookies. I studied the floor plan before signing the lease, so I know there’s a guest bedroom and bath on this level.
