FIRST EXCERPT:
Carole hadn’t sent a thing to keep him busy, damn woman, and I’d only used the TV for movies. Wait a sec—Jessie left a Star Wars movie at my place, the first one, so I should have it here.

“No Scooby, kiddo,” I said while looking in the boxes, “but you’re gonna like this one. It’s the real thing, not a single goofy character one mile near it.”

“ ’Kay.” He sat on the old, flowery couch and gazed at me, expectant.

“How do you want your fish?” I asked while putting the movie on, realizing I had no idea what Bobby liked.

“Dead.”

I gave a small smile. “But how do you like it prepared? Pan fried?”

“No. Like Mom does it.” He lifted his little arms and mimed putting something in a pan. “Like this.”

“You’re not much help, kiddo. I’ll cook it pan fried.”

“ ’Kay,” Bobby whispered, gaze down.

After leaving him with the movie, I got ready to cook. The stove burners were a little rusty but worked. I prepared pan-fried fish, along with steamed vegetables and wild rice. Maybe I didn’t have many accomplishments in my life, but, damn, I could cook. It had been either that or be resigned to eating frozen dinners.

When other kids watched cartoons, I watched cooking shows. At ten, I prepared chicken cordon-bleu. Even Aunt Marie was impressed. Carole just grimaced. It’s overcooked, she’d said.

The aroma of spices and well-cooked fish filled the space, and any knot in my body vanished.

My cell rang, and I picked it up, frowning at the caller ID. “Hey,” I answered flatly.

“Honey!” Carole’s voice came clear. “Darling, you have no idea what a marvelous flight we had.” She laughed, evidently delighted. “First class. The only way to fly. Don’t you ever dare fly coach again, Beverly.”

“Sure. Will do that next time I fly overseas in, I don’t know, my next life, I guess.”

“Oh, don’t be such a bore! Don’t you want me to spill the tea, girlfriend?”

She giggled. Giggled.

“Are you drunk, Mother?”

She sobered up. Nothing like reminding Carole of the maternity role she’d never wanted.

“Sweetheart, you are such a bore.”

I put her on speaker and placed one of my unopened boxes on the counter while Carole talked nonstop about her marvelous, fantastic flight and the wonderful five-star hotel in Madrid.

My Lladró figurine lay wrapped in newspaper. Carefully, I unwrapped it and placed it on the counter. Crap, one of the fruits had broken off.

“Bobby and I are okay,” I managed to say when she took a small pause. “The house’s too old, though. I don’t know if this is a good place for me.”

The wind moaned, and the noisy branch thumped above.

“You haven’t asked me a thing about Madrid,” Carole complained. “Make sure to check the pictures I posted because they are a-ma-zing. I already have more than one-hundred likes!”

“Thank heavens for the social media gods.”

“Don’t give me that snarky tone of yours. You need more good energy in your life, girlfriend. You need a man.”

“Ugh, please.”

“You do. And not that silly cowboy—”

“Gary’s a friend. One of my best friends, actually. Since you’re my girlfriend, then you certainly remember I’ve known him since the seventh grade.”

 

SECOND EXCERPT:
“The kid will never learn that way,” a baritone voice called from the shore, barely a few feet away. Jeff stood there, the toolkit hanging from his hips and a white bag in his hand.

I yelled back, “Don’t tell me you can do better.”

“I can.” And without further ado, he removed his tools, dropping them aside with the bag. Then he removed his boat shoes.

He wouldn’t go into the water, now, would he?

His shirt followed, then he entered the water with confidence. Once near, he took Bobby from my arms before I could protest. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he didn’t pay me any attention.

“Come, kid, let me show you.”

“I don’t want to,” Bobby whined.

“Relax. I won’t let go.”

Jeff kept his hand below Bobby’s back while the kid floated face up, the opposite of what I’d been doing. As promised, he didn’t let go. “See? It’s easy.”

I didn’t know what surprised me the most—Bobby floating or watching Jeff cooing to him. Gently and patiently. Where was the gruff man?

All he did was teach him to float, but Bobby lost his fear in Jeff’s hands.

“This place’s perfect for swimming,” I said, jerking my chin at the breakwater.

“Yep.”

“Did the locals make the wall?”

He nodded curtly.

Getting words out of Jeff’s mouth was like pulling teeth. This was a guy with his own manmade wall. Awesome. No need to worry about him. Waves splashed gently against us, their salty tang already at the back of my throat.

Bobby giggled. “I like this.” He swallowed water and coughed.

“Easy, kid. Hold your breath. That’s it.” Jeff secured my brother once again, a hand on his back. Without taking his gaze off Bobby’s floating form, he said, “Twenty-five years ago, the town approved reinforcing the natural breakwater and built this place as a children’s pool. Everybody I know learned to swim here.”

 

THIRD EXCERPT:
“Granny!” Howard shouted, waving at someone behind me.

“Mrs. C. is Howie’s grandmother,” Olivia said. “She loves him dearly.”

I almost gave her two thumbs up; instead, I forced a wasted smile since she was already greeting Mrs C., while Howard remained by my side.

People surrounded Mrs. C., excusing me from having to greet her. Not that I had anything against the old lady, but I didn’t want her to “introduce” Howard in that “subtle” way of hers.

“How are you liking the house?” Howard’s gaze turned curious, as if analyzing whether I’d really stay.

“It’s okay. Mrs. C told me that you’ll pick up the signed lease.”

“You betcha. I’ll pass by tomorrow, if that’s okay with you?”

“Sure, thanks.”

“Hey, hey!” Howard exclaimed, looking behind my shoulder. “Jeff, you bastard, come ’ere!”

“Fine here,” a man exclaimed behind me in a deep tone.

The red-capped guy.

“C’mon, don’t make me beg, Jeff.”

My cue to slip to another area of the garden and eat in peace.

“This little woman is Granny’s new tenant,” Howie said, stopping my retreat. “Can you believe it?”

Damn. Now I was trapped between the nice guy and the jerk.

The man called Jeff, now standing near us despite his reluctance, glared at me. What was his problem?

“Jeff’s taking a break,” Howard said to me, then winked conspiratorially. “We don’t know from what, but he’s taking a break.”

“Fuck you, Howie,” Jeff said in a flat tone, then swigged his beer.

“Hey, hey, there’s a lady here.”

“I’m getting a beer,” I said, trying to find a way out.

Howard intercepted my new escape attempt like a zealous prison guard. Or sadistic, I wasn’t sure which. “No, no, it’ll be my pleasure to bring you one. Don’t you dare move. Karthnik! Put me down for fourteen, will ya?”

 

FOURTH EXCERPT:
I sighed at her pathetic attempts to set us up. “Sure.”

“How’s your little brother?”

I rose to my feet to peek into the dining room, led by the sound of Bobby’s giggles. He jumped about the empty dining room, and every time he did so, the floorboards creaked.

“I’m talking to the ghost-troll,” Bobby exclaimed. “This plank says, ‘Hi!’ ” He jumped with both feet, the creaking around increasing. “Hi, ghost-troll!” he yelled.

“He’s okay. He thinks there’s a real ghost here.” I chuckled. Silence on the other side. “Hello?”

“You should not worry, Beverly. There are truly no ghosts in the house.”

There was something odd in the way she’d said ghosts as though she believed one lived in the house and didn’t want me to find out.

Whatever. With this cheap rent, I could split the place with an imaginary being.

“And remember, dear, you can do those minor repairs I told you about if you want to stay cozy; but that’s up to you.”

“Why haven’t you?” I asked, curious.

“My old bones can’t handle much hassle, and I don’t care for strangers putting their hands on my house unless they live in there and take care of the house as it should be. I’m sure you will.”

Right-o. Now I’m stuck with a lunatic as a landlady.

She exclaimed her delight again and, after saying goodbye, hung up.

Now, I knew what to do. Stay here longer, no matter what adversity came knocking at the door. But I needed a plan.

“Hey, Dumpty, I’ll stay here after all. What do you say about that, huh?”

The fridge hummed louder and rattled as if trying to object. I grabbed an apple and bounced it on my palm as I thought about what to fix to sail through my time here in one piece. Everything rattled, popped, and knocked like tormented souls in repentance.

Water kept leaking from the kitchen faucet. I took my brand-new monkey wrench and checked the darned faucet. Yep, might need to change the valve seats. In the meantime, I closed the shutoff valve and left the tool beneath the sink. Bobby’s yells boomed around the house.

I leaned on the wall next to the stairs and watched him dash all over the place and thought about yesterday’s meeting with Randy. Five days in town and we already had a dinner invitation, thanks to my brother. Exactly what I’d feared. Give Bobby a crayon or a fish, and you’d win him over in a snap.

Poor kid was in such need of affection.

 

FIFTH EXCERPT:
Knocks on the door startled me. I threw the dampened rag into the sink and walked toward the red door. This had to be the plumber.

I swung open the squeaking door. The drunk guy. Jeff. “Are you the plumber I’m expecting?”

He nodded. The brooding man had his long hair tied back, exposing intense blue eyes that matched the checkered white and blue shirt he wore unbuttoned over a plain, gray T-shirt. His overgrown beard was clean though it shouted, Trim me. Now.

“Are you going to let me in or just stand there?” His voice was deep and sharp as his gaze.

I raised an eyebrow, then stepped aside as the grandfather clock chimed four times. He glanced at the clock and stopped next to one of the pillars in the foyer.

“What’s the problem?” he asked.

“I have two leaks. The first is in the kitchen.”

He followed me there, where I pointed at the dripping faucet.

Fists on hips, he mumbled, “You could have handled this yourself, buddy.”

“I couldn’t, that’s why I called for help,” I said, annoyed.

He looked askance at me. “I was talking about Howard.”

Okay, smarty, show me how good you are. Let’s see if you know something I don’t.

Not seeming to care about me standing so close, he took a wrench from his tool belt. Crouched, he checked the shutoff valve and disarmed the faucet. After tightening, hitting, and investigating carefully, his frustration grew along with my satisfaction.

“Not so easy after all, huh?” I asked.

His scowl gave him an even more sullen look. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to tease him. After all, he was a stranger, and not a very nice one. It might be better to leave him alone, but I had to know how he’d fix it.