Page 2 of Clashing
There were many late-night phone calls after he left. It was odd to come home and not find him sitting on his porch with a cigarette, ready to hear any and all problems we had. He listened to my angsty emotions through grade school, even when he moved away to the very bar I now called home too.
We reached the bottom of the stairs, and Dan gestured to a hallway beside the staircase. “Take the car around to the little alley behind the bar. At the end, there’s dumpsters and a couple parking places. Yours is the one I’m not in. There’s a door I’ll open for you. You got a lot of other bags?”
“Two more, but I got it.” I pecked him on the cheek. “Don’t worry.”
It didn’t take long to find the alleyway and move my truck. As instructed, I parked next to Dan’s truck—the newer version of mine. He bought it the day he gave me his old one, although he had a van too.
Sure enough, Dan waited by the door when I pulled in. He insisted on taking the bags despite hissing at the pain in his knee. I set my hands on my hips and huffed at him.
He chuckled. “I know, I know.” He hefted a duffle over his shoulder. “Let me, would you? I know you’re capable. It helps me feel less like an old man.”
Old man.Pretty sure he was born an old man.
Upstairs, he deposited my bags and held out a key ring with four keys on it. “This is for the front door.” He clasped the chain by one key, then switched to the next. “This is for the back door. This one’s for your place. This last one will get you into my house.” He handed the keys over, and I practically bounced.
New start, here I come.A new start where the only man I allowed in my life was the one in front of me.
“Why don’t you settle in, then I’ll get you something to eat in the bar, all right?” Dan asked.
I nodded, unable to stop my wide smile. “Thanks.”
The moment the door shut with him on the other side, I jumped and squealed. This was everything I needed. Isolated, but not too much. A new town. A new place far away from the drama I left behind.
I’d inherited my mother’s horrible taste in men. Many of her exes had been abusive, and so were mine. I only recently told Dan about it because I worried he’d drive there with his rifle to handle it for me. The one time I’d been afraid of Dan was when I came home with a black eye at fifteen, courtesy of my first boyfriend. Dan overheard me tell Mom the jerk had threatened to do worse. That night, Dan sat on our porch, cigarette and rifle in hand. What happened, I never knew, but the guy didn’t bother me more, and by the next day, he’d switched schools.
I never heard from him again.
That incident was one of many reasons living near Dan gave me security. The tone of his voice when I finally told him what happened with this last ex, Todd, was ingrained in my memory. Calling to tell him I’d been in the hospital with a concussion and broken ribs was the worst phone call I ever had to make.
Exhausted from the drive, I didn’t have enough energy to unpack everything. Essentials came out first, including toiletries and pajamas. Bless Dan, he’d tried to clean, but a lot of corners were dusty.A problem for future me.
A shower beckoned, but my grumbling stomach demanded I put it off. I fished out my makeup bag and worked on the dark circles around my eyes, which rivaled the brown of my irises. Tossing my loose brunette curls in a bun, I made my way to the bar.
The later hour attracted more of a crowd, but I still had plenty of space next to the cash register, conveniently located near the staircase.
Dan already had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a pickle spear waiting. The added side of fries wasn’t the traditional dinner he’d served me as a kid, but I never said no to fries.
Like five years hadn’t passed, Dan and I fell into our nightly ritual of dinner and chitchat. I knew I missed it, but I had no idea how much until he was complaining about his hatred for doing the bar’s taxes. I could’ve stayed with him all night if not for the long drive.
“Goodnight, Louise,” I said, pecking him on the cheek. He put up with constantThelma & Louisereruns when I was a kid and eventually agreed to be my Louise.
“Goodnight, Thelma.” He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. “Give me a holler if you need anything, honey.”
“I’ll be okay. Thanks.”
Okay.I was okay enough.
For the first time in weeks, I fell asleep without clutching my pepper spray. If Todd found me, I had Dan living right next door in his dad’s old place.
Even though I barely saw him the following two days, Dan didn’t mind. But he’d been lonely without us, and I wanted to keep him company. On the other hand, I was determined to get my shit together in my new home. At least I managed lunch with him each day.
Before I moved, I’d arranged an art show in the next town over and sent all my prints and drawings to Dan ahead of time, so I wouldn’t have to travel with them. Of course, Dan already had them neatly set up in my new dining room when I arrived.
On Friday, I rushed around my apartment, packing. I’d opted to stay in a hotel rather than drive back and forth. Thankfully, the art show spanned from Saturday afternoon to Sunday evening, so my inability to leave on time wouldn’t impede a punctual arrival tomorrow. It’d work out, but the hour was later than I intended, and that also meant the crowd at the bar started forming by the time I had to take my stuff down.
Lovely.
Deciding it was better to get my largest package over with first, I carefully maneuvered the tall but narrow box into the hall. It held forty-by-sixty prints, and with packaging, the box was taller than me. Not that it said much. Standing a couple inches below five and a half feet sucked. I couldn’t reach a damn thing.
