Page 34 of The Man Next Door
Still, even someone nice was bound to yell if pushed hard enough. What had pushed Alec James?
“People often hide who they really are under a veneer of politeness,” said Louise.
Zona had seen two sides of Alec James. Was the nice side just a veneer?
Okay, that was enough analyzing the neighbor. She had things to do.
“Never mind him,” she said. “Let’s get you ready for the day. Then I’ll take Darling for a walk. After that I’ll get your shower chair assembled so it will be ready for when we need it,” she said, pointing at the large Amazon box.
“There goes your day,” Louise said, shaking her head. She scooted forward, leaning on her crutches, bracing to stand, and Zona moved to help her up. “I’m making so much work for you,” she said sadly.
“I made enough work for you when I was growing up,” pointed out Zona.
Louise had lost a baby when Zona was a toddler and had turned into a helicopter parent. Zona in turn had eventually bolted for freedom every chance she got, just like Darling, sneaking out to unsanctioned teen parties, trying weed, sneaking into bars, keeping Louise running for the hair salon to hide a growing crop of gray hairs.
And now here she was, a needy adult, back home after her latest slide sideways. Nothing her mother could require would ever be too much.
“I loved every minute of it,” Louise assured her as they made their way to the bedroom. “And I love having you here with me. I just wish it was under happier circumstances. For both of us.”
“I guess even if circumstances can’t be happy, we can. Right?”
Louise smiled at her. “Yes, we can.”
Zona smiled, too. She wasn’t even remotely happy about what had landed her in her current situation, putting her back at the proverbial square one, and she felt sorry that her mother had missed out on her big adventure. But she was happy that they had each other and enjoyed a good relationship. They had food in the pantry, a lovely house to live in, and good friends. It was more than many people had.
After she helped Louise get dressed and gave her a smoothie and a pain pill, she got herself showered and dressed and then took Darling out for a walk.
Alec James’s truck was gone, but the red PT Cruiser was still parked in the driveway, and she could hear the music of Nigerian rapper Olamide, one of Bree’s favorites, drifting out from inside the house. Which meant it was cranked up high. The pretty redhead in there was already in party mode. Obviously, nothing horrible had happened next door.
Zona found herself wondering if the woman worked. She was pretty enough to be a model. Maybe she was. Or maybe she was in between jobs. Or maybe Alec James had said, “You don’t need to work, baby. I’ll take care of you.”
Thinking of the raised voices she’d heard, Zona thought of the controlling husbands in the true crime shows her mother watched. Maybe he was like them. Maybe he had his woman convinced she needed him and would be nothing without him. There were men like that out there. Thank God Zona had at least avoided that kind of loser.
Still, he didn’t seem like the type. She shared her theory when she got back home and she and Louise were in the living room, drinking coffee, Zona in a chair, Louise on the couch, with Darling lying on the floor next to her. Yep, sure done analyzing the neighbor.
“With all the yelling you heard, it’s certainly possible,” said Louise. “If he hurt her, he probably apologized later, promised it would never happen again. He’ll come home with flowers or jewelry.”
“Yuck,” said Zona. “Of course, we’re just speculating here,” she added, reeling in her imagination.
“But still, whatever’s going on over there doesn’t sound good.” Louise shook her head. “I’d hoped he might be someone you could get interested in.”
“I’ve come to the conclusion there’s no one for me,” Zona said. There was a sad thought. But this was the hand she’d been dealt, and she’d have to play it.
No, no, no! No gambling metaphors.
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Louise insisted. “You’ll find someone wonderful eventually. But it won’t be this man. He could have the woman with him brainwashed. The Svengali effect.”
“Who the heck is that?”
Louise looked at Zona in surprise. “How is it you’ve never heard of Svengali?”
“You never read me any bedtime stories about him?” Zona cracked.
“He was a fictional controlling monster. There are plenty of men out there like that. Men who are charming and seem normal, but they overpower and manipulate. Sounds like our neighbor, doesn’t it? It just goes to show, you can’t trust a man with two first names.”
“Oh, that’s the problem,” Zona teased. “So, I guess our new neighbor isn’t going to turn out to be my perfect man after all?”
Louise gave a one-shouldered shrug. “It looks like I was wrong. And it’s a good thing you never took him any cookies.”
