18.98: An ONC 2023 Thriller

Chapter 14

THREE YEARS AGO

Unlatching the chain link gate, Liv let herself into the dog park's leash-free zone. Jumping back to avoid a wayward frisbee, a golden retriever with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth came bounding after it. Liv picked up the frisbee and gave the dog a pat on the head.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there," a man around thirty years old sporting a baseball cap and a five o'clock shadow jogged up to her, his face red.

"No big deal," she said with a wide smile that made all the requisite muscles ache. It had been a while since she'd forced her face into that position and attempted to pass it off as natural.

The retriever circled around his human and then around Liv, eyeing his frisbee before letting out a short yelp. Liv tossed it and the dog took off running.

"Where's your pup?" the man asked.

She let her smile fall. "Sorry to say, I don't have one. I came here to watch them play and live vicariously through dog owners like you. Dogs are always so happy. I'm hoping some of their dumb gleefulness will rub off on me."

By now, the dog had returned, frisbee in mouth. "Drop it, Bradley." Bradley complied and the mad spun it towards the opposite side of the field.

"Bradley?"

He grinned. "It was my mother's maiden name."

"Gotta keep the family name alive, huh." Liv hopped on top of a picnic table in need of a fresh coat of paint and motioned for the man to join her there.

They chatted for several minutes about Bradley and a collie that frequented the park who had become Bradley's best friend. Liv told him she was new to town and asked for restaurant recommendations.

After swearing by a diner on second street, the man asked the inevitable. "Why don't you get your own dog, if you think their happiness is contagious."

"Too much commitment."

"Oh yeah?" He took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. "Do you have commitment issues?"

"Maybe. I like to play, have a little fun, then walk away." She shifted her weight so that her thigh brushed against his. "What do you like?"

He raised an eyebrow, cheeks flushed again. "We're not still talking about dogs I hope?"

"That depends." She hopped down from the picnic table and stepped towards the gate. "You don't have a wife or girlfriend, do you?"

He didn't, but she had to ask.

"No."

"Then let's head to your place. Unless..." She turned to look back at him. No smile this time, just what she hoped was an alluring gaze. "Am I reading this wrong?"

Placing his hat back on his head, he fidgeted with Bradley's leash. "I'm sorry, I'm flattered. Obviously, I'm not saying no, but this is a bit abrupt for me. I don't know you, and you don't know me. You haven't even asked what my name is."

She didn't need to ask this, of course, but clearly he expected her to. Some men required coaxing more than others. She held out a hand.

"I'm Liv. What's your name?"

Two hours later, she left Gene asleep in bed and wandered out into the hallway, where the affable Bradley met her with a wagging tail and a high-pitched whine.

"Shh," she said, scratching his ears. "You can stay with me, but only if you're quiet."

The one-story house had a simple layout. Entryway leading into a living room, dinette behind it and kitchen off to one side. To the left, the hallway she was now standing in, with Gene's bedroom on one side and a bathroom and smaller bedroom on the other. She headed there, turning the doorknob cautiously, anticipating a creek. It slid open easily, though, revealing what she'd expected: Gene's study. A desk covered with stacks of paper had been shoved next to a window to maximize the amount of space available in the room for bookshelves. The study looked like a library after an earthquake, books in collapsing piles stacked on the floor or rammed at various angles onto flimsy, overfilled shelves that sagged under their weight.