Strange Neighbors (7 page)

   "So, you never told Aunt Dottie?"

   Ralph burst out laughing.

   Jason waited until his uncle settled down. "You're wrong about Merry. She wants to take stress off. She did me a big favor by speaking to some noisy tenants for me… or, more accurately, for Aunt Dottie who had already talked to them. I guess the noise continued. Now Dottie wants to use me as the muscle, and I really don't want to be cast in that role." Jason hung his head. "I thought being a landlord would be easy. What was I thinking?"

   Ralph took a long swig of his beer. "I'll talk to Dottie. Meanwhile, be extra careful with Merry. Enjoy her friendship, but leave it at that."

"I'm not sure I can."

   "Well then, test her first. See how she handles stress herself. You know the fight or flight instinct?"

   "What's that got to do with anything?"

   "Your father and I had another brother, remember? Until he revealed his secret and his girl ran off. You know what happened after that. Maybe if he'd known that's how she handled bad news…"

   Jason paused, mulling it over, then said, "I guess a test might be a good idea. I was thinking I might offer to visit the patients at Merry's hospital and sign autographs. The bonus was supposed to be spending more time with her. But seeing her in action might be a good idea too. So far, everything about her is positive, but there has to be a downside. No one's perfect."

   "Exactly."

   "So, you want me to test her?" Jason asked. "How?"

   "Her job sounds stressful and stress can bring out the worst in anybody. Just watch carefully. See how she handles whatever comes her way."

   Jason secretly hoped to see her stay and "fight," not run from stressful situations. At that moment, a knock on his door meant the most imperfect person in the building had returned.

   Ralph jumped up. "Don't tell her I'm here. I'll be in your bathroom. I have to go anyway."

   Jason said, "We can continue this later," and waited until his uncle was hidden before he answered the door. "Aunt Dottie… Two visits in one night? Don't tell me they're still at it."

   "No." She breezed past him, uninvited. "I came to say thank you for speaking to them. And what a good

idea… romancing the new girl."

"Good idea? What do you mean?"

"I mean that she won't sue you if you're her lover."

   "Jeez, Dottie, is that all you can think about? I don't think she's going to sue me—and we're not lovers yet."

   "By the looks of things, you would have been if I hadn't interrupted. Oh, I'm sorry about that, by the way."

   "Apology accepted. Maybe you can leave messages on my voice mail or tape notes to my door from now on."

   She frowned. "Are you saying you don't want me in your apartment?"

   Jason tucked his hands into his pockets and shifted his weight, rocking from his heels to the balls of his feet and back. "Look, it's not that. I appreciate it if I'm away and need this rainforest watered…" He pointed to the massive palms and ficus trees by the windows. "But if I'm home, I should be able to take care of the apartment myself and there are other ways to reach me."

   "In other words, you don't want me in here. I suppose you don't want me straightening up the place, either."

   "Yeah, I was going to talk to you about that too. I can hire a housekeeper. You already have a place to clean. Plus you do the hallways—"

   "Well, it isn't any bother. You should save your money for a rainy day. You can't play baseball forever."

   "I know, Aunt Dottie, I know. I'm already taking steps to insure some income in my retirement."

   "Like what?"

   "Well, there's the investment in this building."

   "You won't see a profit from this place for quite a while. It must have cost a mint. Plus Ralph says the plumbing needs to be updated. What if an injury took

you out of the game permanently?"

   "I know that's always a possibility, but I have other things in the works too."

   "Like?"

   "I have stocks."

   "The stock market is terrible, or haven't you noticed?"

   He fidgeted uncomfortably. "Of course I've noticed. But there are other things I can do to make money."

   "For instance?"

   "Well, my manager told me to keep some notes in a folder in case later I want to write my memoirs."

   "Really?" Her eyes lit up. "Can I see them?"

   "No!" Crap, that was about the worst thing I could have said to an old busybody. He shook his head. "No, it's just a bunch of disjointed notes, not very interesting."

   "Wait a minute… You're going to share it with the world, but not me? Maybe I can help. I was a decent writer in high school. You were no Rhodes Scholar. I'm sure I could make it a lot less, well, grammatically incorrect."

   "I'll have an editor for that. And if it stinks, they'll hire a professional ghost writer, I'm sure."

   "Fine," she said casually. Dottie shivered. "Why is it always so damn cold in here?"

   Chad had just caught the end of this conversation. If only the guy was psychic, he could have a real ghost writer. That would be more fun than just watching live humans get themselves into train wreck after train wreck. Although, I have to admit, that's fun, too. I can't wait until his Aunt sneaks in and looks all over for his notes.

   At last her hand reached for the doorknob, but just before she left, she said, "Oh, and I might have a renter for 3A. Some bio-physic-something-or-other professor." "Good. Thanks, Aunt Dot."

   Chad gasped. 3A! That's my place! Well, we'll just see about that.

   As soon as she closed the door behind her, Jason rushed to his computer and changed his passwords.

"All aboard, folks!"

   Jason assisted his date onto the Boston Duck Tour vehicle and whispered something to the tour guide.

   "I've always wanted to do this." Merry grinned.

   "Why haven't you?"

   "Well, it's not exactly around the corner from Rhode Island, and it seemed like I was always busy whenever my friend Roz and I thought about going."

   Jason took her hand. "C'mon, let's sit in the backfacing seats."

   "Isn't it colder out there?"

   "Don't worry, I'll keep you warm."

   Merry happily followed him to the end of the big yellow duck. They found seats and Jason wrapped one long arm around her back and cuddled her.

   "All ready to go?" their conDUCKtor asked.

   Jason gave a thumbs-up signal.

   Merry raised her eyebrows. "Why are we the only ones on the tour?"

   "Because I bought all the tickets." He gave her a sidesqueeze. "I thought we could talk and get to know each other better without a bunch of eavesdroppers."

   "Oh." Merry knew he could afford it, but did he give her the real reason for wanting the whole thing to themselves, or was he throwing money around just to impress her? Either way works for me. She chuckled. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

   The amphibious bus pulled out of the parking area and onto the street.

   "Well, for starters, why do you look more like a Martinez than a MacKenzie?"

   "Ah, that's easy. I was adopted. My mother wanted a daughter, had two boys, and then talked my father into adopting me from a local Catholic organization. I know I have Portuguese ancestors, but I don't know any other details about my birth parents."

   "That makes sense. Any curiosity on your part about finding your birth parents?"

   "None at all. I've wondered about them, but as far as I'm concerned, my dad and late mom are my parents."

   "Matt is younger, so they decided to have more?"

   "My teenage brother was a last minute surprise. He has ADHD and the little wack-job drives me crazy half the time, but I saw to it he did his chores, finished his homework, and went to school unless he had a fever of one hundred and one. He finally graduated from high school this past June—with honors!"

   Despite the way she spoke about him, she hoped Jason could tell that she was extremely fond of Matt. "He's the reason I didn't become spoiled. That honor always goes to the youngest."

   His jaw dropped. "So you helped raise him?"

   She shrugged. "I just did what any good sister would do."

   "Man, that's a lot to ask of a kid. How old were you two when your mom passed away?"

   "Matt was eight and I was sixteen. I stepped into the role of caretaker—but couldn't replace my mother. While my family recovered emotionally, and it came time to go to college, I commuted. I continued to live at home while working and finally decided it was time to leave the nest before I was old and gray and wondered what had happened to my life."

   "Wow. Even giving up nine years of it to raise Matt was a lot."

   "I know. I didn't mind, really. It was important. But if I stayed any longer it would've just become harder and harder to leave as time went on. Especially for my father."

   "I'm glad you decided to move—and even happier that you moved into my building."

   The way he looked at her sent shivers down her spine. He seemed to be feeling a combination of pride, admiration, and something else. His eyes had taken on a soft glow.

   "By the way," he said, "I'm thinking of going furniture shopping. Would you like to come along and help me pick out colors that go together? I'm not very good at that."

   "Are you sure? You seem like a stylish dresser. So far I haven't seen any striped pants with plaid shirts and polka-dotted sweater vests."

   He laughed. "I wear solids so I don't have to worry about prints clashing, and my uniform isn't much of a challenge."

   "When were you thinking of going?"

   "Tomorrow?"

   "That's the day I was planning to go out to lunch and

shopping with my friend, Roz."

   "Oh, well, maybe some other time. It was mostly an excuse to spend more time with you, anyway."

   Merry's cheeks heated. "You sure are a charmer."

   "Nah."

   "Ah ha! I knew you were too good to be true."

   "What do you mean?"

   "I've been waiting for some kind of imperfection to show up. Liar, liar, pants on fire."

   He raised his eyebrows. Either that was so immature it bothered him or… oh, maybe they were on fire, figuratively speaking. She glanced at his crotch. Yup, a nice big bulge right at the intersection of said pants.

   The giant "duck" rolled into the water of the Charles River. As its tires left the boat ramp, the vehicle floated. The breeze picked up and chilled him, so Jason zipped up his jacket. He'd caught Merry stealing a glimpse at the tent in his pants before he covered it, though. Not that he wasn't proud of his assets, but it was damn cold. Better hide it before there's any shrinkage.

   "Want to go inside?" he asked.

   "Sure, but when we sit down, can it be my turn to ask the questions?"

   He smiled. "Turnabout is fair play—as they say."

   The tour guide had apparently been told to take the night off from commentary. He smiled as the couple reseated themselves and remained quiet. Then he turned his back and let them have their privacy again.

   Jason took the opportunity to cup Merry's cheek and give her a tender kiss. She melted into him and wrapped both arms around his back. They fit as if they were made for each other. Her lips were so soft and kissing her

warmed him like no jacket could.

   Jason knew he was falling fast and hard, but for some reason putting on the brakes felt like the wrong thing to do. When they finally pulled apart, she sighed and said, "You're very good at that."

   "So are you."

   "I doubt I've had nearly as much practice as you've had. You must inspire me."

   He smiled, then kissed her on her forehead. Better move on to another subject. "So what else did you want to know about me?"

   "Oh, I don't know. What's important to you— besides baseball?"

   "Yeah, that's pretty much a given. I like other sports, too. I played football back in high school. I like to swim. When I finally had to concentrate on one thing, it wasn't hard to decide. Baseball is where my heart has always been."

   "Swimming, huh? I love to swim too. I grew up near the beach and my parents felt we all needed to learn to swim as early as possible, for safety if nothing else. Where did you swim in land-locked Minnesota?"

   "I guess you don't know our state's nickname. Land of Ten Thousand Lakes?"

   "Oh, yeah. That sounds familiar now."

   "My family had a place on Lake Superior. You'd be surprised how much it resembles the ocean. Complete with lighthouses, fishing boats, and seagulls."

   "I'd love to go there someday. But then, I'd love to go anywhere. I've never been out of New England, except for a couple of trips to New York."

   "Seriously?" Jason caught himself, but it was probably too late. He didn't mean to point out how unworldly

she was.

"I guess you've traveled all over the country."

   He laughed. "Yeah, I've seen quite a bit of this big mud ball we live on."

   "More than the United States?"

   "Yeah, besides Canada and Mexico, I've been to Europe, Russia, and Japan."

   "Japan? You're kidding! When did you go there?"

   "In college. Baseball is a huge sport in Japan, and I was curious about the place."

   "So you just up and went there?"