Page 50 of The Man Next Door
Darling had settled himself right next to Louise. As if he knew they were talking about him, he laid his head on her lap and looked up at her.
“I wish our new neighbor hadn’t been the one to find him. I don’t like to be in his debt,” Louise said.
Debt. Zona tried not to cringe at the word.
“Of all the people to end up with as a neighbor,” Louise finished with a frown.
“He is an awful man. You should put him in your book,” said Gilda before raising her eyebrows with a new thought. “Never mind. He might come after you.”
“I doubt that,” said Zona, acting as the voice of reason.
“You never know,” said Gilda. “When I was growing up, we had a neighbor who fed our other neighbor’s dog ground hamburger with glass in it, all because the dog kept pooping on his lawn. No one could prove it, so he got away with murder.”
Zona shuddered. Gilda was a ghoul. “Our neighbor wouldn’t poison Darling.” He was too straightforward. He’d simply kick the poor dog.
“Men are beasts,” Gilda said, shaking her head.
“He must be rich,” said Louise.
“If he was rich, he’d be living in Bel Air or Beverly Hills,” said Zona.
“Maybe he wants to be near his work,” Gilda hypothesized.
“Not every millionaire flaunts his money,” Louise insisted. “He’s got some and I’m sure that’s why that young woman is with him. Earlier today I saw her hauling in a bunch of shopping bags. That’s the second spending spree she’s been on.”
The sound of a key in the door signaled that Bree was stopping in for a visit. Darling bounded over to her, tail wagging, and jumped on her, and she gave his ears a rub.
“Am I in time for dinner?” she asked.
“Haven’t even started it,” said Zona.
And she had no desire to. But, of course, what you wanted to do and what you had to do rarely matched up.
“Good, ’cause I ordered pizza. It should be here in ten minutes,” Bree said, and went to kiss her grandma.
A pizza repeat sounded fine to Zona. She smiled at Bree. “Bless you. You get the good daughter award.”
“And the good granddaughter award,” added Louise. “But you shouldn’t have splurged.”
“It’s okay. I made good tips today and I had a Groupon. How are you doing, Gram?” Bree asked, perching on the other end of the couch.
“Better,” Louise said. “Although we had some adventures today. Gilda let Darling out and he dug a hole in the backyard and escaped.”
One more thing Zona would be taking care of after ordering that fence barrier.
“Only for a few minutes,” Gilda said in her own defense. “I need to be going.”
“Darling, what is your problem?” Bree said to the dog as Gilda scrammed.
“He probably gets bored,” said Zona.
“Get Gilda to walk him,” Bree suggested.
“She told us right from the start that wasn’t in her job description,” Zona said.
Bree didn’t say anything, but the look on her face showed what she thought about a health care worker who wasn’t willing to double as a dog walker. “I can come over a couple times a week and walk him after work,” she offered.
“No, you have enough to do,” Louise said, letting her off the hook. “Martin’s helping. I just think Darling gets bored.”
