Page 5 of The Good Guy on My Porch

“My new neighbor…?” And then the events of the morning flashed through my mind. Not just Abram and his lying ways, but the banging from next door, the sirens. “Oh, Mary. I didn’t know I had a new neighbor. I didn’t even know you were looking for a new renter, yet.”

“I didn’t have to look,” she said. “Carrie mentioned to Norma Jane that her sister-in-law’s friend was looking for a bigger place and I offered up the other half of the duplex. I was going to mention it to you today at the book club meeting, but I never thought you’d react in such a cruel way to such a kind man.”

I sighed, rubbing my temples, a dull ache starting up in the front of my head. “My boyfriend…Ex-boyfriend, Abram, is the one who called the police. It’s my fault. I heard noises next door and was concerned because I hadn’t heard about a renter. I should have checked it out myself. I’m so sorry.”

Her frown couldn’t get any fiercer and I couldn’t feel any more like a wayward child. “You should be apologizing to that poor boy, Oscar. He did nothing wrong, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he asks to break the lease after this.”

My heart sunk as I put the clues together. Carrie’s sister-in-law’s friend? Aubrey’s friend? The man who’d given me a muffin. The man I’d called Oliver? “You wouldn’t by any chance be talking about the Oscar who owns the salt spa downtown, would you?”

“Of course, I am,” she said, her expression pure disappointment. “Here he is, new to town, and treated like a criminal for moving into his own home.”

I knew better than to point out that Oscar had lived in town for more than a year.

“Not Oscar,” Norma Jane said, tsking. “His salt treatments were the only thing that made me feel better this allergy season. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to be here today.” She gave me a dark look. “Didn’t you recognize him?”

“I didn’t see him,” I said. “It was Abram who talked to him. But Abram isn’t the type to fly off the handle. I’m sure he wouldn’t have called the police unless Oscar gave him good reason to be suspicious.” I might be furious with Abram, but I honestly believed what I’d said about him. He was rational first and foremost.

That statement earned me fierce scowls from all the women in the room. They might be old enough to be my grandmothers, but they were nothing short of scary. “I promise, I will apologize profusely to Oscar tonight,” I said. “Can we discuss the book now?”

The women all glared at me for several long seconds, before Leah, always the peacekeeper, offered an opinion about the romantic suspense we’d read.

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