Tropesville

Chapter One

Mikaela POV

I woke up with a start and felt a pounding in my head. I put my hand to my temple and I realised the pounding wasn't coming from in my head but was coming from the front door. Whoever was knocking must have been there for quite a while. For the millionth time, I reminded myself I had to get a doorbell. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes and groaning, I rolled out of bed pulling my robe on as the knocking kept going.

"Hold on!" I yelled at the door. "Keep your shirt on, I'm coming."

Opening the door, I had to blink several times, the morning sun was eclipsed by the huge frame of a man in my doorway. I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the brightness and was surprised by who stood there.

"Sy?" I asked the dark figure. "That you?"

"Yeah, it's me," the body said with the smooth drawling baritone of my neighbour.

Taking a step forward the angle of the sun changed and I could see that it was him. "Hey!" I shouted, pleased and surprised. I had thought I'd never see him again after I saw his girlfriend Liza and a bunch of moving guys outside his house about six months ago. I thought they had decided to move while Sy was on deployment, maybe to the bigger house Liza always wanted. "When did you get home?" I put my arms out for a hug and obliging, Sy bent a little and wrapped one of his huge arms around me, giving me a little squeeze.

I let him go, but he held on a moment longer. I didn't mind, he gave great hugs. I always felt warm and safe, it was like hugging a big bear. Eventually, released me and said, "I got back the day before yesterday."

Getting a good look at Sy's face I stifled a gasp. I almost reached out and touched his face, so shocked was I at the new thick, unkept beard he had grown. His curly hair was gone and his hair was cut so short it stood like little spikes all over his head. I'd never seen him like this, and while it was a shame to cover up his handsome face, I couldn't deny that the beard and military hair cut made the bullish Sy look even more brutish. I bit my lip and chastised myself for thinking of him that way. Hoping to cover up my thoughts, I tried to sound casual as I pointed to his face, "This is new."

For a moment it looked like Sy had no idea what I was talking about, so I rubbed my cheeks and chin. Sy chuckled, a smile broke across his face and I saw that you could still make out his dimples underneath the coarse hair. "Yeah, well I normally shave it off before I come home, but I figured I didn't see the point this time."

I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but I shrugged it off and indicated to Sy the porch chair. "Do you want some tea or coffee?" Then with a smirk, I said, "I suppose even for you it's too early for beer."

"Yeah, I reckon it is," Sy said taking a seat and returning my smile. "I'm fine, Darlin'," he added and my heart skipped. I can never not react when he calls me that. The fact he called most women Darlin' didn't matter, it was the way he said it that made me tingle.

Sitting on the porch swing and giving myself a little push to get it going I said, "It's a good thing you came to visit. I've been collecting your mail since you guys moved out. I was close to taking them to the post office and returning them to sender. I would have thought Liza would have come to collect it by now."

Sy looked a little confused. "Why would she get my mail?" It was my turn to be confused until I processed that he had said 'she' not 'Liza'. The sudden comprehension on my face must have been obvious because Sy said bitterly, "Yeah, she broke up with me a few months back. She moved out, I'm still livin' here."

"I'm sorry," I didn't know what else to say. I felt bad for him. It would suck, having your girlfriend break up with you while you were on deployment. I had always thought Liza was a strange match for Sy, she had seemed both clingy and possessive while also not caring what he did. She also didn't seem to have the sense of fun that he did, the sometimes silly and boyish humour he had.