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LATER THAT WEEK, ENRIQUE was on hold with a parts distributor when the delivery driver showed up. Since Andy was pushing a deadline on a warranty job, he figured he’d leave him alone. Without speaking, she scanned the packages and handed him the gadget to sign. Guilt pricked again. She must still think he was angry with her. It would be easy enough to clear it up, but what after that? He needed the wall he’d erected between them because she had some sort of tractor beam that seemed capable of overpowering his good sense. He passed the scanner back.
“Is Andy around?” She wiped sweat from her temple and rubbed her wrist on her shorts.
“He’s tied up.” Enrique put his call on speaker so he wouldn’t have to keep holding the phone. “What’s up?”
She eyed him warily. “You could save some money on shipping. If you’re interested.”
Who wouldn’t want to save money? Of course, that wasn’t the real question. The real question was why he acted in a way that made her wary around him. The answer: he needed to maintain his distance. Everything about her drew him in. Like a moth to a flame. Being burned once was enough. The deflector shield had to stay up. But this wasn’t personal. It was business. “Of course I’m interested.”
Her shoulders lowered a notch. “I noticed you’re using the overnight option for a lot of your packages when they would get there the next day even if you used regular ground.” She glanced at her watch. “I have to go. Check our website. There’s an address look-up feature. Everything in zone one will get there in one day unless there’s a big weather event.” She moved her dolly toward the door. “Anything this afternoon?”
He scanned the clipboard on his desk. “No.”
As was his habit, Enrique gazed after her. She jogged to her truck and lugged the dolly inside. A moment later, she returned, jerked the front door open, leaned her head in. “Is the owner of the blue Honda in here?” There was a sharp edge to her words.
“No.” He stood. “Are you blocked in?”
“I do not have time for this today.” She hurried away.
Enrique would have helped, but the hold music stopped and someone came on the line. “Mr. Avalos, I’m sorry for the wait.” While the woman gave him the information he’d waited for, he watched the driver stalk in front of her truck again. She yanked a blue car door open and leaned inside. Enrique could hardly believe it when she pushed the car into the street, one hand on the wheel, the other on the door frame, her legs churning slowly. When it was out of the way, she leaned in again, slammed the door and took off. Seconds later, a man sprinted out of Smile & Relax to where the car sat. He yelled after her and lifted a hand in a single finger salute. Enrique laughed and added fiery to the list of things he liked about her.
Liked? No. Admired. Respected. He did not like her.
He glanced at the Name My Cat jar and saw a new piece of paper inside. Each day he catalogued the entries, surprised at how he’d been drawn in. They were very creative. Everyone wanted to meet the cat, even hard-crusted bikers emblazoned with tattoos.
Enrique pulled the note from the jar: Handsome. The same handwriting as Son of Grumpy. How had she slipped it in? As if he’d been paged, the cat meandered into the room. “C’mere cat.” The cat gave a diffident look. “Okay, how about Handsome? Come here, Handsome.” The cat came close and purred, wending around Enrique’s ankles. “You gotta be kidding me.” Another laugh wrung from his chest. It felt good. Really good. “So you’re a sucker for flattery?”
“Meow.”
“Me, too,” he admitted, hating the chink in his armor. Needing a distraction, he went to check the cat’s food bowl. When he returned to his desk, he logged onto the delivery company site and found out he’d save hundreds a month if he followed her advice.
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That evening, Skylar and Munchkin, a nine-month-old black and white harlequin Great Dane, entered Railyard Dog Park. “Okay, Munchkin. It’s manners we’re after. I want you to learn to make friends.” He was a giant scaredy-dog who needed some serious socialization. For that reason, she kept him on his lead. A black lab puppy bounded up, happily wagging her tail. Munchkin growled a warning. “This is a friend, Munchkin.” Skylar scratched him behind the ears and he quieted. “Good boy.” She slipped him a treat and his hackles settled. Then he began sniffing the pup. After several more meet-and-greets, Munchkin had calmed and even seemed to enjoy meeting other dogs.
The owner of the black lab walked over, a smile on his chiseled face. “Are you filming a reality show?”
Skylar lifted a brow. Gave a half-smile. “Do you see any cameras?”
He chuckled. “Well, you clearly know what you’re doing. Do you know about house training?”
“In theory.”
“Theory?” He shot her a confused look.
“I’m not a dog owner. I just do this for ... fun.” Partly true.
“Seriously?” His gaze traveled the length of her. When he saw he’d been caught, he cleared his throat and brought his eyes to her face.
“You have to be committed for it to work.”
He nodded. “I’m there.”
“Get a cheap package of hot dogs and cut them into tiny bits.”
“I’ve been told table food is bad for dogs.”
“And I’ve been told carpet cleaning is expensive and doesn’t always get rid of the odor. Then there’s the temptation to murder your dog.”
He shrugged. “Fair enough. Continue.”
She explained the process. “I’ve had two friends tell me it worked. But you have to be focused. An accident will really set you back.”
“Gotcha.” He pulled out a cell phone and she guessed he was going to ask her for her number.
“Good luck.” She waved. “Let’s go, Munchkin.”
“Munchkin?” He called, with a laugh.
Skylar pretended not to hear. “What is this? Happy hour at the dog park?” she muttered.
After she’d dropped Munchkin at home, she headed to her apartment where she showered and dried her hair as she did every work night. It felt wonderful to slough off the layers of sweat. She slipped into one of the over sized T-shirts she’d pilfered from Joe and stared out the garden-level window. The sun dipped behind the mountains, turning the sky pink, then orange, and finally a dusky purple until the mountains were only a silhouette of dark peaks and valleys. Skylar crawled into bed.
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May, senior year of high school
A car honked outside. “Skylar, I told Joe to come to the door,” Georgie said with an edge.
The doorbell rang as soon as she’d spoken. Skylar laughed. “He’s just yanking your chain.” She let him in.
“Hey, Mrs. Biondi.” Joe didn’t bother hiding his grin. Skylar was emboldened by his nonchalance around Georgie. He was never disrespectful, he just didn’t let her get to him the way Skylar did. But that was changing. With Joe’s encouragement, she’d learned to let Georgie’s words roll off her more easily.
“Very funny, Joe. You do that again and I won’t let her go.” Georgie had one hand on her hip, chin lifted, lips a tight line.
“Sorry.” Joe tugged Skylar by the hand. “Ready?”
“Yep.” They went out and she climbed into Joe’s car. He closed her door and she waved at her mom who stood like a marble statue in the front window. Georgie only shook her head before walking away. Earlier that day, she’d spent twenty minutes trying to convince Skylar that “this thing with Joe” was a bad idea. A heartbreak waiting to happen. Athletes were notoriously unfaithful. Worse than cops, which was the bar by which Georgie measured every male failing. They constantly traveled. Hosted wild parties. And don’t get her started on the countless women they bedded. What about STD’s? Georgie insisted that signing autographs and letting sycophants fawn over them corrupted even the good ones. Skylar wasn’t sure how her mom knew all that since she’d never known any athletes besides Joe and a few of his high school teammates. But she’d been smart enough not to argue the point.
“Where are we going?” Skylar asked, when Joe got in the car.
“Ice cream. Then ...” he gave her a look. Hopeful, mischievous.
Skylar gave him a teasing smile. “Ice cream sounds good.” But as soon as they rounded the corner, Joe pulled to the curb and they spent several minutes getting reacquainted at close range. His baseball team was in the throes of the state championship and they’d hardly seen each other outside their tutoring sessions. Skylar still wasn’t over how it felt to be kissed by him. Together, they were like a bed of hot coals, each kiss like air from a bellows. “I hope you’re not on a budget, Joey. I’m gonna need more than one scoop to cool me down.” Skylar ran her fingers down the lines of his face, feeling his stubble.
“Sorry. I should have shaved. I was in a hurry. Coach kept us long and I didn’t want to be late picking you up, so I only had time to shower.”
“I like it.” She traced the line of his mouth with the pad of her index finger. His full lips were soft, a deeper hue from their kisses, as she imagined hers were.
Suddenly, his face fell and his eyes shone with sadness. “I don’t know how I’m gonna live without you, Sky.”
“I know.” Skylar released him and straightened in her seat. “Let’s go before you make me cry.” She switched on the radio.
They went to their favorite ice cream shop and ate at a table outside. “You could come with me.” Joe held Skylar’s hand in both of his.
He’d been working up to this, dropping hints about how things might be if they lived in the same place. “Joey, I can barely afford in-state tuition with my scholarships and grants, plus a part-time job.” She stared at the table. How would their relationship survive with a thousand miles between them? But if she went with him, she might miss the opportunity to attend college. Her mother was proof of how difficult it was to do it later in life. She’d never failed to let Skylar know how hard it was to raise a child while going to school and juggling two low-paying jobs. Without an education, you’re a dependent. You either put up with bad behavior or you live in poverty like us. Every man knows this. And life had been a challenge after her parents divorced. Skylar knew her dad did his part financially, but there never seemed to be enough money for anything beyond food and rent. As soon as she was old enough, Skylar babysat to earn money for clothes.
Joe lifted her chin. “I know what your mom has been saying to you. I can tell by the way she talks to me. How she looks at me. You know I’m not like that, Sky.”
She chewed her lip. “I do. But we’re so young. We might not feel the same way after—”
He shook his head, put his fist on his chest. “I will. I love you. And it’s not just a feeling. It’s a decision. I want you, Skylar. Forever.”
His eyes were earnest. And Skylar knew he meant every word. But he was only human. There would be no shortage of beautiful coeds who’d chase after a good-looking baseball player with hopes of a career in the majors. He might tire of her with all her stupid hang-ups, her strong opinions.
“Stop it,” he said.
“What?”
“Cutting me down in your head. Trying to figure out how to avoid getting hurt.” He dropped her hand. “If you don’t want to come, that’s fine. We can try the long distance thing. But if you question how I feel about you, whether I’ll see other girls just because I know how to throw a ball and swing a bat, then let’s end things right now. I’m not your dad.” Joe’s eyes darkened.
Skylar blinked. “I’m sorry, Joey. I trust you. I’m just ... I don’t know how to get past all that crap.”
“Well, you better figure it out, Sky, because baseball is the only game I play.” He stood and moved behind her to help her up. Apparently they were leaving.
The ride home was shrouded in a heavy cloak of silence. And Joe kept his hands to himself. When he parked in front of her house, she quickly opened her door. He touched her arm. “Wait. I’m sorry. That came off really bad. Skylar, I just want us to be who we are. I know we’re young, but what we have is real. We can’t let other people screw it up.”
Her eyes filled. How many times had her father spoken harshly and never apologized? She’d fantasized about finding a man who was different. And here was Joe doing exactly what she wanted without her ever having mentioned it. But her father’s boorish behavior and her mother’s seething resentment and bitter forecasts clouded her mind. Was it possible to be different? To have something different than what you saw all your life?
Joe’s eyes searched hers. “I love you. You’re the only girl I want.” His fingers moved softly at the nape of her neck. “I have to know you feel the same way about me.”
“I need to think.” Skylar practically ran to the front door.