Page 5 of Falling for the Enemy

“Yeah, but you knew her well.” It wasn't really a question, more of an observation. Just that little detail and I knew that Frank and my grandmother had had some sort of relationship. It made sense, of course, my grandmother had never met a stranger in her life. She was always trying to help and listen. I moved away from Frank and started to put stuff away.

He walked in behind me. “So, why are you going to be here for a year?”

I shrugged. “Because for some reason my grandmother made it a stipulation that if I want to sell, I have to stay here by myself for a year. My grandma was always getting in the middle of things, but I don't really know what she was trying to do with this.”

I stopped talking. He probably thought I was crazy for looking into it the way I was, but if he knew my grandmother the way I thought he did, it wouldn't be so hard to explain. She had a way of looking at things and instead of showing me what I needed to learn, she had always been pretty adamant in the fact that some things had to be learned with experience. I wondered even now if she was teaching me from the grave. Even though it made me sad, in another way, it made me feel a little bit better about the situation. At least my grandmother was up above, looking out for me.

She did have a special way of looking at things. I always found it peaceful the way she was so sure that each thing that happened was just a piece of a puzzle. I liked that theory better than everything was just accidental chaos.

I started getting sad. Man, I missed her. She could take a bad situation that really had no good discernible positives, and she could find them. Not only that, she would make me feel like I was crazy for not seeing it as well. I was going to miss that about her. I hadn't been able to come to visit as much as I'd hoped and wanted to during the last couple of years, but we still talked at least once a week up until she died. I was going to miss those conversations that would sometimes lead late into the night. She helped me to see the world through her eyes and the prospect had always been far less scary than anything that I could come up with.

Sadness was running down my cheek and before I could stop it, Frank had wiped it off and then it was like he realized what he had done and moved away to put some distance between us. I wanted to thank him, but the moment was too awkward. I didn't know why I was getting so emotional. It had been weeks, almost a month even. Was it just because I was surrounded by her in her house? Or was it because I was talking to somebody who knew and cared about her like I did? Whatever it was, I had to pull back after a moment because it was painful to think about. I really was going to miss her.

“Well, you never know, you might fall in love with the place. It's a decent little town. What do you do for a living?” Frank inquired, tactfully switching the subject that was quickly going to have me blubbering.

I told him that I used to work for a PR firm, but I wasn’t really sure what to say now. I didn’t have a job for the first time in a very long time. I didn't know what was next, hadn't really thought that far. My life had imploded and now I was given a second chance, but that meant that I had to figure it all out. My first plan of action had been to get a microwave. Anything past that was too far ahead in the future to think about.

Frank left a little while later, telling me that if I needed anything he was just next door. I took it for how it was given and thanked him, but wondered where it was going to lead with him. He wasn't at all what I had expected when I moved here. He was definitely not what I expected after talking to him for a little while. He acted far different than our first few meetings.

I think the jerk Frank was easier to deal with. I could keep my distance from that guy, but the one who showed up tonight, the sensitive one that listened and shared some of his life, that one was so damn tempting. Maybe I should focus on his rudeness and nothing else. It was safer.

6

Frank

I’d been home about ten minutes before I heard a knock on the door. The first thing I thought was that it was Amber. I practically ran to the door and opened it with a smile on my face. I was on a mission to fix the weirdness between us, but it wasn't to be just yet. Instead, Jeremy was at the door, and he had a six pack in his hands. He didn't wait for an invitation, pushing past me and coming in. It was a few hours until time to leave for work and I probably shouldn't have been drinking, but with the day I’d had and the way I was feeling, maybe I needed one.

“So, what's got you looking so ill?” Jeremy wanted to know.

I sighed in response. “New neighbor.”

“Which house? Is she hot?”

“Used to be the old woman’s house. You remember her, don’t you?”

Jeremy agreed. “Yeah, we helped her with a smoker, didn't we?”

I agreed and he said that he was sorry to hear that she was gone. Jeremy didn't know her very well, but he meant it. He was a bit of a sensitive soul, though if anybody accused him of such a thing he would probably hit them. He’d been in the military for ten years and certain things he had no sense of humor about, his male ego was one of them.

Jeremy and I had been friends for a long time. I went to school with him and even though our lives had turned out so differently, he still came by every once in a while, but it usually had a scheme attached to it. I asked him what he was into tonight and he got a grin on his face. “It's a sure deal, man.”

We talked about it for a little bit, and I started to realize that he wasn't going to let it go. That meant that if I wanted to spend any time with him today, I was going to have to go with him to the racetrack. It felt like I needed a distraction and to get out. I was driving myself crazy, thinking about an untouchable woman next door that I couldn't have. It was torturous. Since I hadn’t gotten any sleep for the last couple of nights since she moved in, getting away would probably be my best bet.

Even though I warned Jeremy that I wasn't going to bet anything, he was just happy that I was going. It had been a while since I’d gone with him and there was a reason for that. I really did detest gambling, but what I detested even more was sitting at home thinking about a woman that I couldn't have. That was far worse in my opinion.

Jeremy had always loved to gamble. He’d started with quick bets during tetherball in the playground, to now he was gambling on any sport that he could fine. His ‘sure thing’ was a horse that was giving good odds and was going to take it all home. While he was telling me about it, I tried to keep my composure.

“If it's such a sure deal, why doesn’t anybody else know about it?”

I wasn't being as thrilled as he wanted, and he made a comment about how I never got involved with his deals. I was accused of being negative. I wasn’t though, I was positive he was going to lose his money.

“This can make you a lot of money. I know that you need it, and I am just trying to help you out.”

I did need it, which meant that I didn't need to waste it gambling. That's the part that he didn't understand. To me, gambling was literally throwing money away. I had no misconceptions that I was actually going to win. He thought of it as somebody had to win, but I thought of it as most people had to lose for it to ever work. I didn’t have enough faith in the universe for me to be the one that won.

* * *

We got to the racetrack,and we were just in time for the race that Jeremy was betting his weekly salary on. I wanted to intervene, to say something, because obviously he’d lost his damn mind, but I knew there was no point. I knew that no matter what I said to him, he was going to plow through. He figured that he would get what was owed to him. The world had a very different idea of what that was, but just like through all the years I had watched him do it, I focused on sending good vibes his way and hoping that it turned out how he wanted.

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