The fridge wasn’t the best Gavin had ever seen, but it wasn’t too bad. He and Eli helped unload it and get it plugged in. Then, looking hot and miserable, since the day was so warm and the truck didn’t have air-conditioning, Savanna took her children and headed to LA. Gavin told her it’d be late by the time she got there, what with traffic. Even on a Sunday, gridlock could be a problem in Southern California. But she wouldn’t postpone the trip. She said the car lots would be open until nine—and would likely stay open later if she was in negotiations on a purchase. She wanted to get that over with so she could return the van.
Gavin watched them drive off while standing in her driveway, drinking a cold beer with Eli. He’d brought drinks for everyone from his place before Savanna and her kids had left.
Once they were out of sight, Eli gestured toward the ramshackle structure behind them. “They’re really going to live here?”
Gavin frowned. “Can you believe it?”
“No. It’s a dump. She can’t even lock the back door.”
“She’ll replace that—and a lot of other things.”
Eli lifted his beer for emphasis. “Renovations take time. Helps if you have money. That can speed up the process a lot. But considering what she chose for a fridge, I’m not getting the impression she’s sitting on a fortune.”
Apparently, Gordon hadn’t left his wife with much extra when he went to jail. She’d told Gavin she’d worked as an administrative assistant for an insurance agent, which meant she couldn’t have been making a lot more than minimum wage. And, according to the articles Gavin had read, Gordon had fixed mining equipment. His job had given him the freedom to roam but couldn’t have paid a great deal. “I can help her with basic fixes,” he said. “That’ll bring the costs down.”
Eli shot him a look. “That’s how you’d like to spend your off-hours—doing more maintenance and repair?”
“I don’t mind,” he said. “It’s what I’m good at.”
“And you don’t think Heather will have a problem with you hanging out at your gorgeous neighbor’s all the time?”
“I have no idea what’s going to happen with Heather...” Every time he saw Savanna, his future plans with Heather went a little out of focus.
Silence fell, but neither one of them moved.
“Savanna likes you, too,” Eli said at length. “You realize that.”
Finished with his beer, Gavin crushed the can. “No, she doesn’t.”
“The chemistry between you is unmistakable. I caught her looking at you so many times while we were moving that refrigerator—and when she’d see that I was watching, she’d blush and glance away.”
Part of Gavin really wanted to hear what Eli had just told him, and yet he tried to shrug it off. After the way she’d been betrayed, it would take forever and a day for her to recover. And now he had his own problems to deal with. “We barely know each other.”
Eli wiped the sweat from his forehead onto his pants. “You both live way the hell out in the boondocks—and it’s just the two of you.”
“So? A lot of people who live in the country have only one or two neighbors.”
“I’m saying it looks like you’re going to have plenty of time together.”
And Gavin was supposed to be falling for someone else, someone who might be the mother of his child. He hadn’t missed Eli’s point; he didn’t want to acknowledge that it could become a problem. He was tempted to believe he’d dreamed up Heather’s visit last night. But then a car turned down the street, coming toward them, and he knew he hadn’t. “Maybe I’m seeing Savanna as an escape from what I have going on in my own life,” he said, and gestured to draw Eli’s attention to the Camaro.
The second Eli glanced up, he lowered his beer. “Shit. That’s Scott, isn’t it?”
“No question.”
“You don’t think this will come to blows...”
“I have no idea. He’s not happy. He glares daggers at me, even follows me sometimes when he sees me in town like he wants to start something.”
Eli straightened. “Jealousy is a dangerous emotion.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
Scott pulled into Gavin’s drive, got out and waited for Gavin to walk over, which he did with Eli at his elbow.
“Can I have a minute?” Scott asked, glancing from Gavin to Eli and back again.
“Sure.” Gavin tossed his crushed can into the small recycle bin he kept by his chair on the front porch.
Although Eli had been planning to leave—he’d said something earlier about wanting to get a few things done around the house before his wife returned—Gavin guessed he wouldn’t go anywhere right now. As protective as Eli was, of his whole family, he’d stay to make sure he wasn’t needed to break up a fight.
“It’s hot out today,” Gavin said to Scott. “Why don’t you come in?”
When they moved toward the door, Eli didn’t follow, so Gavin turned to see what he was planning to do.
“Don’t worry about me.” He tilted his beer in a salute. “I’ll stay here and relax for a few minutes, finish this.”
Close, but not too close...
Gavin wasn’t afraid of Scott, but he wasn’t eager to get in a fight, either. That wouldn’t solve anything.
Knowing Eli’s presence would discourage that sort of thing, Gavin shot his brother a grateful look. “Can I get you a drink?” he asked Scott as they went inside.
Scott shook his head. He seemed upset, which, of course, came as no surprise. Gavin was upset, too—only in a different way. He was angry with himself for going back to Heather the last time.
“Would you like to sit down?” Gavin indicated the couch.
Scott’s chest lifted as he drew a deep breath. “No, I’ll make this brief.”
“If you’re here to tell me about the baby, I know. Heather came by last night.”
His eyes widened. “She did? When?”
Should he not have revealed that? The last thing he wanted was to make Scott angrier. “She was waiting for me when I got back from a gig in Santa Barbara.”
“Had to have been late.”
“It was,” he admitted.
Scott shook his head in apparent disgust. “She must’ve come straight over here from my place.”
“She’s not in a good situation—”
“None of us are!” he broke in.
Gavin attempted to modulate his voice so that he wouldn’t ignite what was already a potentially volatile meeting. Truth be told, he felt sorry for Scott. But what could he do? He hadn’t planned on getting Heather pregnant. “True, but she’s the one who has to carry and deliver the baby. So I think we can agree that she has the worst of it. She was upset and...and looking for some support.”
“From you.”
Remembering what she’d said about hoping to get back with him, Gavin cleared his throat. “You two had just broken up. I’m assuming she didn’t feel comfortable trying to get it from you.”
“We didn’t break up. We had an argument. That’s all. She was with me all night before she said a word about the baby. And then, right when I wanted to make love...wham, she told me she was pregnant with someone else’s child. You’d be pissed, too!”
“She told me she wasn’t sure the baby is mine,” Gavin said, purposely skirting the rest of it.
Scott’s hands curled into fists. “That it’s even a possibility makes me want to tear your head off.”
Gavin lifted his hands. “With the childhood I had, you wouldn’t want to fight me.” Gavin had gone to juvie for fighting. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know how.
“I’m not scared of you! You’ve got to be thirty pounds lighter than me!”
“That’d be my guess, too. But trust me. I’ve done a lot more fighting in my day than you have. Nothing good ever comes of it.”
Scott looked a little less set on violence when he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m doing my best to remain calm, but...I don’t know what to do.”
“Fair enough. Let’s start here, then. The last time I was with Heather was before she started seeing you.”
“For the second time.”
Scott had been trying to get with Heather for a while. “Still, even if it was the third or fourth time, it’s not as if she was cheating on you, if that’s what’s causing you so much pain. You weren’t together at the time. That’s the point I’m trying to make.” Gavin knew that wasn’t really the root of the problem. Scott was upset by the fact that Gavin could get Heather back in a heartbeat if he wanted to, and now that she could be having his baby, he’d have reason.
“It’s not that simple! I’m in love with her. I was planning to marry her. And now she wants you—right when I thought we were finally past all that!”
“I’m sorry,” Gavin said. “I don’t know what else to say. Is that why you’re here? You’re looking for some sort of an apology?”
“I guess I’m hoping to hear you say you won’t take her back.”
When Gavin hesitated, Scott’s eyes narrowed.
“You don’t love her...”
That was true. But Gavin couldn’t make the admission. It could mean giving up easy access to his child. He didn’t trust Scott to allow him to coparent, felt certain Scott’s jealousy would get in the way—and might cause Scott to be unkind to the baby. After what Gavin had been through with his own stepmother, he wasn’t about to give someone as emotionally immature as Scott that much power over an innocent child, especially his. “Why don’t we...try to keep things open for now.”
“Open?” he echoed.
“Until the baby’s born. We’ll see whose child it is and go from there.”
“You expect me to hang in limbo, go on feeling this way for seven months, while you decide whether you really want her?”
“I didn’t say that. A bit of time would give us the chance to calm down before making a decision that could impact the rest of our lives, as well as that of an innocent child. That’s all.”
“To hell with waiting,” he cried. “I say she gets an abortion. She’s my girlfriend now, and I don’t want your filthy bastard growing up in my house.”
For the first time since Scott had arrived, Gavin felt like throwing a punch. After a statement like that, he might’ve done so, returned to the troublemaker he used to be. But Scott had already turned and was stalking toward the door.
Gavin followed him, catching the screen before it slammed. “I would never let you raise my child,” he called after him from the stoop.
Halfway to his car, Scott whirled around. “Yeah, well, we’ll see who winds up with Heather in the end. At least I’m willing to step up and marry her!” he said, and flipped Gavin the bird.
Eli pushed off Gavin’s truck, where he’d been waiting, and watched as Scott peeled out of the drive. “That seems to have gone well,” he said sarcastically.
“He’s a dick. There’s no way I’ll give him any influence over my child.”
“So what will you do?”
“Pray it isn’t mine.”
“And short of that?”
He frowned. “Marry Heather myself. Surely, I’d make a better husband than he would.”
Concern darkened Eli’s face. “Even if you don’t love her?”
Gavin didn’t have an answer for that.
* * *
It was almost midnight when Savanna drove her “new” 2016 Ford Fusion, a $14,500 purchase with forty-seven thousand miles on it, past Gavin’s house. She wanted to show him her car, but she was exhausted, and the kids were asleep in the back. She hesitated to wake them. Hearing Gavin’s voice might get them excited, which could make it hard for them to go back to sleep. So she continued across the temporary bridge and parked, even though she saw a light on at his house.
After she woke Branson, who stumbled sleepily inside, she carried Alia in, which wasn’t easy. Her daughter was getting big—she took after her father—and Savanna was only five-four.
The moment she stepped inside the house, she knew something was different. Better. Her house was warm. If she listened carefully, she could hear the hum of the heater, which meant her HVAC system was working. How, she had no clue, but she felt a huge wave of relief. What with all the additional fees and taxes involved in buying a car, she’d realized that her money wasn’t going to last as long as she’d initially thought.
It wasn’t until she took Alia potty and tucked her in, and checked on Branson to kiss him good-night, that she noticed there were other changes. The broken windows had been boarded up, and her back door was fixed. It now locked! She could see the square piece of plywood that had been used to reinforce the broken part. It wasn’t beautiful, but it made the door functional, which was the most important thing. She felt safer already. Not only that, but there were two boxes of cold cereal sitting on the counter, and when she looked in the refrigerator, she found a gallon of milk.
Gavin. He had to have fixed the heater and done all the rest. Maybe Eli had helped him...
There were no flowers, no Welcome to Your New Home card or treats, like a woman might think to add. His contribution had been entirely practical. But as far as she was concerned, no one had ever done anything nicer.
As she sagged to the floor, she felt tears of gratitude well up. What would she have done without her neighbor? He’d gotten them to a motel when they first arrived and made it possible to drive the moving van across the creek so they could unload the next day. He’d helped her empty the van of furniture and boxes, even put the beds together. Then he’d unloaded the heavy fridge, which she couldn’t have budged on her own. And while she was gone today, he’d done enough around the house to make her feel as if she had a warm, safe place for herself and her children.
Blinking away her tears, she used the counter to help her back to her feet. She told herself she’d have him over for dinner sometime to thank him, but she didn’t want him to have to wait that long to receive the acknowledgment he deserved. So she went into the bathroom to fix up a little, pulled on her best pair of jeans and a V-neck T-shirt and walked over to see if his light was still on.
Sure enough, it was.
She felt oddly nervous as she approached his front porch and knocked. Was it too late to bother him? Should she hold off until tomorrow, after all?
When he didn’t answer immediately, she turned to go. But the door opened before she could travel more than ten steps, and she could tell by the way he was still messing with his shirt that she’d once again caught him half-dressed—only this time he’d hurried to put on something.
“Hey,” he said. “You’re back.”
“Yeah.” She tucked her hair behind her ears as she returned to the stoop. “Sorry to bother you so late. I wanted to thank you for...for fixing the heater and the windows and all the other stuff you did. I can’t tell you what a surprise that was.”
“You’re welcome.”
She loved his smile. “I hope you don’t come to regret that I moved in next to you. Now that I have the basics, I’ll try not to be such a nuisance.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I fix stuff for a living, so it wasn’t hard.”
“I saw the cereal and milk, too. That’ll make tomorrow easier. I meant to pick up a few groceries, but then the kids fell asleep in the car and I forgot.”
“No problem. Did you get an SUV?”
“Those in my price range had too many miles on them. But I got a car.” She gestured toward her house. “Would you like to see it?”
“Sure. Let me grab my flip-flops.”
Since he left the door standing open, Savanna couldn’t help peering into his living room while he was gone. She’d seen it before, when she was there with the kids while he booked her that motel room, but now that she knew him better, she was a little more interested in taking note of the details. His place was clean, manly and decorated in neutral colors. She remembered that. What she hadn’t paid much attention to before was the fabulous art hanging on the walls.
When he returned, she gestured toward a big canvas depicting a forest of redwoods centered above his couch. “That’s a cool painting. Where’d you get it?”
“My brother’s the artist.”
“Eli?”
“No, Eli helps our mother run New Horizons. It’s my other brother Seth.”
“How many siblings do you have?”
He hesitated as if there was a story behind that question. But he must’ve opted not to tell it to her because when he answered, he didn’t elaborate. “Seven brothers.”
“Wow! That’s a lot. Does Seth live here in town?”
“No, he’s in San Francisco.”
“He’s talented!”
“Seriously. I used to buy a lot of his stuff. His work really speaks to me. But it’s getting pricey these days.”
“He doesn’t give you a family discount?” she teased.
“He gives me a free piece here and there—for my birthday or Christmas. But he has some...issues that sometimes come between us. They come between him and everyone actually. He tends to wall himself off.”
“I’m sorry, especially because you’re obviously one of his biggest fans.”
“It didn’t help that he got married several months ago and lost his wife only weeks after.”
“To...”
“Sepsis. She got bit by a stray cat she was trying to help, went into the hospital and never came out.”
“How tragic.”
“Especially for someone like Seth. He doesn’t open his heart very often.”
She studied him. “You seem to do the opposite.”
“As far as I’m concerned, life only gets harder when you insist on going it alone.”
“You’d rather open yourself up to loss?”
“Loss is part of life. There’s no way to avoid it.”
She’d never met anyone like Gavin, she decided. He wasn’t arrogant. Didn’t act as though he was always right or that his opinion mattered more than everyone else’s. He seemed calm, forgiving, patient—and wise beyond his years. So what had he done as a teenager to be sent to a boys ranch? “I hope I can be as brave as you someday.”
Their eyes met—and something spine-tingling passed between them, something Savanna hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Her heart began to race, and she grew a little short on breath by the time she looked away.
“You’re going to be fine,” he said.
That seemed to be true, now that she had him as a neighbor. He’d already made a huge difference in her life. “Thanks for being there for me, even though I’m new and you don’t know me very well.”
“That’s what friends are for. Let’s go see your car.”