Page 14 of The Good Guy on My Porch

“It’s going to stop by the time we get up the mountain.” He turned away but stopped. “Wear your bathing suit.”

I stared after him, thoroughly confused, but he’d walked through his own door and shut it before I could formulate the question I needed to ask.

I should just go back to bed and pretend him showing up at my door was a bad dream, he was way…And I was definitely…I just had a really bad feeling…And that was what decided me, because I would never be my mother. Long ago, I’d decided that every time I got a bad feeling I would run in the direction it was warning me away from. I know, I know I’m supposed to listen to my instincts, I’m not a complete idiot. I don’t walk alone through dark alleys, but when I know a bad feeling is irrational, I run head-long at it. Cowering is not an option. Fear is not an option.

I showered and dressed, pulling on a bikini under my shorts and t-shirt. I didn’t have hiking boots, only one pair of old ratty sneakers, but they’d have to do. Kindle in hand, I ate my cereal, and was totally caught up in a story of a woman who had to fight her way through a forest of trolls to save her sister when Oscar knocked at my door. I closed my book with a sigh, leaving the heroine hanging from the side of a cliff, her fingers slipping, slipping.

I opened the door to find Oscar on my porch again, dry, in shorts, a t-shirt, and hiking boots, a pack on his back. I should have acted like a normal person and followed him out, but if he was going to be my friend, it was as good a time as any for him to learn how not normal I was. “Can you just give me five minutes.”

“Sure” he said. “Do you need to borrow a pack for your stuff?”

“Stuff?”

“Snacks, water, that stuff.” He spoke like I should know what he was talking about.

“I just ate breakfast. I need five minutes to find out if Taera is going to make it off the cliff.”

Finally, he looked as confused as I felt. “Who?”

“The heroine in the book I’m reading.”

His confusion vanished. “Oh, sure. Mind if I raid your pantry while you read? You’re going to need food and water for this hike.”

I stared at him. “How long is this going to take? I’m not a super-fit athlete like you.”

His gaze dropped down my body and I shivered, liking too much the way his full attention felt on me. He cleared his throat. “I promise you’ll be able to handle it.”

“Then I hereby grant you full access to my cupboards and pantry, but I haven’t been shopping in a while.”

I sat at the table and opened my Kindle while he rummaged around my kitchen. It took me only seconds to slip right back into the world of the book. Taera lost her grip on the cliff ledge but was saved right before she hit the ground by her trusty Pegasus, who had a cool mental connection with her.

I closed my Kindle and looked up to see Oscar sitting across from me. I’d forgotten he was in my kitchen. “Okay,” I said. “I’m ready to go.”

He frowned. “How are you not entirely composed of natural colors and sugar?”

“Maybe I’m just tired. But nothing you’re saying this morning is making any sense.”

“Your food. You don’t have any real food in this house.”

“I haven’t been shopping in a while,” I said. “But I’m pretty sure I’ve got some pop tarts somewhere.”

He dropped his head and sighed. “I’ve got some food at my place. I’ll throw a couple bottled waters and some granola bars in a bag for you. I’ll meet you out front in five minutes.”

Five more minutes to read, five more minutes to put off this torture session he called a hike? Sounded good to me.

While he went inside, I took a seat on the top porch step, but I didn’t open my book. It had stopped raining and there was a misty haze in the air, like steam rising from the ground. In the mountains the sun radiated off the mist, making the view crystalline and gorgeous. Maybe there was some value in getting up so early.

A door creaked open and I turned to see Sandra step onto her front porch. “Mornin’, Dilly,” she said. “What you getting up to today?”

“Nothing much. How about you?”

“I’m off to work. Terry’s having a party this weekend, asked me to invite you.”

Terry lived three houses down. He was a transplant to Catalpa Creek, but had made the rounds of our neighborhood and gotten to know everyone like he’d lived here forever. Our neighborhood was mostly rentals and attracted younger residents. A group always up for a party. “Maybe I’ll stop by,” I said.

“Invite your new neighbor, too,” she said with a wink. “He’s adorable.”

“Okay,” Oscar said, popping back out of his place and closing the door gently behind him, oblivious to Sandra leaning on her porch railing and watching us. “Let’s go.”

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