Page 34 of The Good Guy on My Porch

She leapt to her feet and started down the walk before I could answer. I followed her, because what else was I going to do? Sit and watch her walk away from me? She waved to neighbors out on porches as she walked, all smiles. I’d met several of our neighbors since I’d moved in and they all seemed friendly enough. It never felt lonely on our street, that was for sure. Someone was always out, always watching. Like now, as heads turned as I hurried after Dilly. There were no secrets in a small town.

I caught up to Dilly easily, since Buddy didn’t move fast. “What was it like?” she asked. “Living in the city?”

“Crowded. Lots of cement and metal and cars.”

She laughed. “There must have been good things, too. Theater? Great restaurants? A huge dating pool?”

A huge dating pool and I’d never met anyone I liked as much as Dilly. “You know I don’t enjoy theater. And I think the food in Catalpa Creek is as good as anything in the city.”

“So, I’m not missing anything?”

“I didn’t say that. You’d probably love going to see the shows and exploring the museums. Are you thinking about making a trip?”

“Maybe.” There was a wistful tone to the word, like she doubted she would go. “My aunt is in Italy right now. She says the pasta there is out of this world. And the art…” She sighed. “Have you ever been to Italy?”

“I haven’t done much world traveling. Never really had the time or the inclination.” But I had an image of Dilly in Italy, sitting across the table from me with a big bowl of pasta, a smile on her lips and no sadness in her eyes.

“I’ve never really felt like I was missing out on anything.” She shook her head. “I always thought books were enough, you know. I didn’t need to see Italy, I could read Eat, Pray, Love or A Room with a View and that would be enough, but lately…”

“You should do it,” I said. “Take a trip, see the world.”

She glanced over at me and her lips curled up in a small smile. “Sure. The problem would be choosing where to go, there’s so many amazing places to see. Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world?”

“Glacier National Park,” I said, without needing to think about it. “It’s next on my list of places to visit. I want to see all the parks in the country before I’m forty.”

She laughed. “You have the whole world to choose from and you choose parks? What about the Eiffel tower or the great wall of china?”

I shrugged, though I knew if she asked I’d give up all my plans and go where ever she wanted. “I’d rather see trees and mountains and glaciers. We need to see the glaciers before they melt.”

“We?” she said, eyebrows high. “Are you conspiring to drag me on another hike?”

She was teasing, but my heart sank, because the ‘we’ had popped out with no forethought, giving me away to myself, if not to her. I was getting in too deep, and I needed to pull back before I made things unbearably awkward between us. “We should turn around,” I said. “Buddy’s limp seems bad today.”

She frowned. “I know. The vet says there’s nothing we can do for him, except making sure he gets gentle exercise and giving him the pain medication, but I hate seeing him hurting.” She and Buddy turned, and I followed them.

“I would go on another hike with you,” she said. “I’m not going across the country or anything, but I think you might have a point about me missing out on the beauty of Catalpa Creek.”

My heart flipped at the thought of taking her on another hike, but I needed distance. “I’m planning some pretty rigorous hikes the next couple weekends. Not anything you’d be interested in. Maybe we can go again at the end of the month if you’re free.”

“Sure. Sounds great.” But she said it in that way people do when they’re just being polite and know something is never going to happen. I wanted to take back my words, to agree to hike with her whenever she wanted, but I couldn’t keep doing this to myself. I needed to remember she wasn’t mine, would never be mine.

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