Page 14 of The Man Next Door
Poor Martin. It was obvious he was smitten with Louise, and even though she spent so much time with him they could have been married, she had her sights set on bigger game with bigger muscles. Sweet as he was, Martin didn’t stand a chance.
He’d come over shortly after Bree’s visit to wish Louise bon voyage and had left looking downright discouraged after listening to her talk about the people she’d already met online and all the excursions she’d signed up for.
“Sixteen days of gourmet meals, sun and sand, fabulous shows and beautiful coral reefs. You should have come,” Louise had told him.
Yes, you should have, Zona had thought.
It still surprised her that he hadn’t. Maybe the idea of being on a boat with other men competing for Louise’s attention intimidated him.
“I guess I should have,” he’d said. “But then, why go to Hawaii? We already have plenty of sun here.”
“But we don’t have luaus and Tahitian dancers, and people greeting us with leis. We don’t have sea turtles or the Pearl Harbor Memorial. You would have enjoyed that.”
“I already saw it.” Then he’d added, “I hope you don’t get coronavirus,” probably in a last-ditch attempt to discourage her from going.
Louise did not discourage easily. “I’ll be fine,” she’d saidwith a flick of her hand. “I’ve packed Imodium. This is going to be so much fun.”
That was when Martin had decided it was time to head back home.
Zona wished he was going with her mother. At least then someone would have been around to make sure she didn’t do anything crazy. With the frame of mind she’d been in the last year, that was not outside the realm of possibility, although it seemed to Zona her mother should have learned something watching her daughter’s love train wrecks.
“No weddings at sea,” Zona said sternly as her mother settled her purse over her shoulder, and Louise laughed.
As if Zona was kidding. She wasn’t.
“No weddings at sea,” Louise promised. “But maybe some hanky-panky.”
Zona just shook her head.
“Don’t you worry about me. I’ll be great,” Louise assured her. “And don’t be worrying about money while I’m gone. You’ve got a place to stay, you’ve got a job. You’re doing fine.”
For someone who can’t afford to retire before ninety.
“Meanwhile, be nice to our new neighbor. You never know,” Louise finished. Then she gave her daughter one more kiss and practically skipped off.
A feeling Zona hadn’t had in a long time came back to visit. It was that same feeling she’d experienced when Bree was little and Zona had dropped her off at school on her first day. Worry combined with a wish that she didn’t have to let her mother out of her sight.
She shook her head over her silliness. Louise was a grown woman, and, despite a couple of near romantic misses, she was a smart one. She’d learned from her latest near mistake. She’d be okay.
It was more than Zona could say about herself.
Don’t think like that, she scolded herself as she drove away.You’ll get through this. So what if you’re back at the starting block? You’re still in the race.
She just had to keep pushing forward. And she would, darn it all. She was not going to end up a loser.
On her way home she stopped at her favorite discount grocery store in Azusa and purchased enough produce to take her through the week, then left, pleased with the money she’d saved. She had her Angel Ram finance book to read, plus a bestseller she’d found at the library, and a movie, an Audrey Hepburn–Cary Grant classic. That would be her exciting night. Audrey, Cary, Zona, and a bowl of popcorn. Maybe library movies and home-popped popcorn would be the rest of her life.
But that beat the adventures of the first half of her life, which had been filled with fights and sleepless nights and upset stomachs. The only drama she wanted now was what she found on the small screen.
Which meant no love life, because you couldn’t have love without drama. At least Zona couldn’t. Sigh.
As she turned into her driveway, she noticed her new neighbor was home. His lawn was freshly mowed and he was getting ready to put away his lawn mower. He wore board shorts and was shirtless. The man had perfect pecs and a six-pack. And yes, those biceps were lovely as well. Even though she wasn’t interested she couldn’t help but appreciate a beautifully sculpted body.
She gave him a wave and he smiled and waved back. And she told her eyes they’d looked enough and had other things to do. She opened her trunk and fished out her grocery bag, which she’d foolishly stuffed too full, and managed to tip out half its contents. Out spilled a bag of apples, a head of lettuce, and a red onion that went rolling away.
She frowned. Now some of her apples would be bruised. She set the bag down and bent to grab the apples and lettuce.
And suddenly there was her neighbor, scooping up the onion. “Can’t go wrong with a red onion,” he said with another smile as he handed it over. He had a killer smile.
