Page 7 of Falling for the Enemy

I had to stop that line of thinking. I wouldn’t mind asking her out, just not right now.

“That’s not what I meant.”

Amber deflated and I wished that I could stop putting my foot in my mouth. I didn’t know what was wrong with me sometimes.

“Trust me, you are hot, and I’ve definitely thought about it, but this is completely unrelated.” That probably didn’t help either. I sighed and tried to start again.

“I might be free. What do you want?”

It was all built up so much and if I hadn’t really needed her help, I wouldn't have even asked. It was a big ask, especially for our history together. “My sister dropped off my niece a couple of hours ago and I think she's going to be staying with me for a few days. I really need to get to work, and I was wondering if you would want to watch her for the night, if you are not doing anything? I'll pay you, of course. I just can't leave her alone and I didn't have any warning to give my job. They're not going to be happy if I take off for a few days.”

“Your sister really left you in a bind.”

I agreed that she did. Amber sounded like she understood. She mentioned that she had a brother, but they didn't get along very well anymore. I told her that I was sorry to hear that, and she dismissed it like that's just how it was. I could tell in those few minutes that whatever relationship she had with her brother was strained and upset her. Why I kept caring about the nuances of Amber, why I kept searching for any known information about her to get to know her better, I didn’t know. I was calling for a favor. That was it.

“So, will you do it? I hate to ask, but I can’t think of anyone else that I would trust her with. ”

Amber said that she would and told me to bring her by before I left, so that she could get her down for bed at a decent time. I asked her if she had experience with kids and she said that she had several nieces and nephews.

“My brother and my cousins all have several. I am the odd one out. Everyone expected me to blow up when I got married, but it never happened.”

Another hesitation and tone change, but I didn't have time to get into it. Alice was calling me, she practically acted like she was dying, and by the time I got in there, I realized that she just couldn't find the ranch and could not eat another bite without it. I swore to myself that this time when she stayed, I was going to break her of her ranch habit.

I refilled her mini ranch cup on her plate and told her that she was going to be staying with a neighbor. She had a few questions about who she was, and I told her. Alice didn’t seem fazed by it, though my sister moved around a lot, so it made sense. We talked for a while about school and then around nine thirty, I took her over to Amber’s. I thanked her again for helping me, but she said that it was no big deal. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that she wanted to watch her. Alice did bring a joy to my world that I didn’t feel any other time.

“Thanks again, Amber. I’m going to owe you one.”

Amber nodded and shut the screen door. I wanted to stay, to see where this was all going to go, but I knew that I had to work. That’s what this was all about after all. Soon I would have enough to move to the next part of my plan to go into business for myself and I wouldn’t have to work for anyone anymore. That’s what got me through the long nights at work, that and tonight, thoughts of Amber. Ever since she’d moved in next door, she had been playing on repeat in my head. It didn’t seem healthy. It didn’t feel like it was going to end well, this obsession I had for a woman who wasn’t interested in me, but damn if I could change it.

7

Amber

We watched Frank drive away and I looked back at Alice with a smile. “So, what are we going to do?”

Alice shrugged her little shoulders and said that she was supposed to go to bed.

Since it was late, and she had school in the morning, I had to agree. My other nieces and nephews would have never admitted that they had school or had to go to bed early. Alice was surprisingly level-headed, and she seemed to be more responsible than a lot of people I knew, grown people. I asked her if there was anything that she wanted before she went to bed and she talked about how her uncle always gave her warm milk.

I couldn’t imagine Frank doing that, but I was starting to understand that I really didn’t know Frank at all and he was a bit confusing. As I heated up the milk, I asked Alice if she liked her uncle and she agreed at once. She said that he was so nice and watched her all the time. It was the first time that I had seen her there but granted I had only been in the house a few days.

“Are you and my uncle friends?” Alice asked while she drank her milk.

I didn't know what to tell her, because I didn't believe it was right to lie to kids, but she probably didn't want to know that we weren't friends. How would she feel knowing that, when I was the one taking care of her? I could tell that she thought the world of her uncle and most likely didn't want to hear my opinion of him. I didn’t know if I could get my opinion to something I could say to a child anyway.

Instead, I asked her what her favorite thing to do with Frank was and when she said dress up, I thought I had heard her wrong. Trying to see a guy like Frank dressed up for his niece was hard to fathom. I had to learn more.

“Dress up, huh. What do you guys dress up as?”

She said that they would dress up as princesses. The idea of it was really just too good to be true. I would have probably paid any amount of money if there were pictures involved, but I knew there wasn’t. Frank wouldn't be stupid enough to show proof of him doing something like that.

I let Alice stay up a little longer to finish her milk and then she decided that it was time for her to go to bed. I was surprised at how well-behaved she was, and I also didn't know how to feel about the information I was given about Frank. If a seven-year-old little girl thought he was the bee’s knees, maybe I should give him a second look.

There [SS2] was a loud bang at the door, and I was still half asleep as I made my way to the front to answer it. My mind wasn't even with it, and I forgot about the fact that I had been sleeping in the spare bedroom. I remembered, of course, when I saw Frank at the door and also remembered that I wasn't wearing clothes. I had a thin robe on that was pulled around me. I wanted to disappear, but Frank was there to see his niece and to take her to school. She still had some time. He was there after work.

“Hey, Frank.”

His eyes took me in, and I could see where they stopped. My breasts were probably showing a bit more than I wanted. I didn't know why I was feeling this sort of way about him, probably because I was half asleep and he was all sorts of out of my league. Maybe it was his niece’s words of encouragement about how he was a good guy and how sweet he was. I couldn’t really say for certain what it was, but I was feeling attraction more than anything else as he stood there. Finally, he reminded me about his niece and how he was there to pick her up. Feeling like an idiot, I told him that she was in the bedroom.

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