The Neighbors

Chapter 8

The girls and I had an outing planned on one of my rare days off. We were going to the zoo with my friend Angie and her two kids, Matthew and Kayla. Matthew was five and Kayla was three, so they were close in age to my older girls. They all got along quite well, and that usually afforded Angie and me some time to catch up on each other's lives.

Obviously, my “romantic” life came up as a topic of discussion, seeing as everyone generally felt sorry for me after having gone through the divorce. I filled Angie in on the Harold situation and she was quite understanding about my conflicting emotions.

“It sounds like he's being a big baby,” she said, making me laugh. It felt good to laugh about it, and to have someone share my assessment of the situation.

“He seemed so smooth and sophisticated when we first met. I thought he was a mature and cultured gentleman. But I guess first impressions don't always tell the whole story, do they?”

“Maybe not,” she agreed. “But is he cute?”

I laughed. “He's not in high school, Angie! But yes, he's quite good-looking. He's pretty tall. He has dark brown hair – he keeps it pretty short, but he has a little bit of curl on top.”

“He sounds kind of dreamy,” she said.

“Oh, and you should hear his accent and his deep voice! He didn't sweep me off my feet romantically, but I was a bit swept away by his British-ness. I mean, it's not every day that a suave, handsome, successful and single British man moves in next door. Oh, and rich. Did I mention that he's rich?” I laughed.

“Lise!” Angie joked. “I never thought you were a gold-digger!”

“I am not a gold-digger!” I argued playfully. “But, you have no idea how much money I'm talking about here. He spent well over $50,000 when we went shopping for furniture!” As soon as I said that, I felt a little ashamed that I was going on about his money.

“Dang!” Angie quipped. “Send him my way!”

“Um, you're married, Angie!” I laughed.

“Oh, yeah.”

We walked along in silence behind the children who were racing from one animal to the next, squealing and yelling and mimicking all the animals' movements. I was thankful for this morning, letting my girls run and frolic with their friends.

After we had passed the lions' cage, I spied the concession stand. “Would you like a snack?” I asked the kids. From my experience, I knew that children never turned down food. They all yelled, happily accepting my offer.

Angie and I went to the window of the small building and ordered several cups of lemonade, a few bags of popcorn, and a bag of peanuts. We found a table with an umbrella since the sun was getting strong.

As the kids munched away, Angie and I sipped our lemonade. Angie quietly asked, “So, do you think you are interested in this guy at all?”

I sighed, thinking for a bit. “I still don't know. I'm not very happy about the way he treated me the other day, though. Do you think I should try to talk to him, or should I just let it go?” I wondered.

“If you think there's any chance for you two, you should definitely talk to him. What have you got to lose? If he's not interested in trying again, then you can just forget him and move on. It can't be any worse than it is now, right?”

I nodded my head at my friend's wise counsel. “It still bothers me that a woman spent the night there, but it shouldn't, right? I mean, I'm not his wife or even his girlfriend. And I don't know for sure that anything happened....”

“Everyone has some indiscretions, right? Maybe he's just lonely. His wife died and he's alone in a foreign country. I think you should talk to him, but give yourself time, too. Or, maybe he's just a player. Wouldn't you be even more pissed if he got you in bed and then dumped you?”

“Well, he wouldn't get me in bed that easily!” I said indignantly. “But thanks. You're right. I should just talk to him, but I can't rush into anything, especially since I'm a mother and I have to consider how a man would fit into my family. I can't see myself dating just for fun. I'd have to know that someone had real potential as a husband and father before getting serious. Maybe that's why things didn't click with Harold since he already has grown sons.”

“Really?” She asked. I had forgotten to include that bit of information.

“Yeah, he's almost 40. One is starting college at the University of St. Thomas, the other one is finishing high school.”

“They live here?”

“They will. They should be arriving any day,” I told her. We spoke no more of Harold after that, and we simply enjoyed the rest of the morning with our kids.

When the girls and I got home from the zoo, I put them all down for a nap and decided to bake something. Angie and I had stopped at a roadside stand and bought fresh blueberries and I knew they would make the best muffins.

As I moved around the kitchen, I could have sworn I heard music coming from Harold's house, but his car wasn't in the driveway. He didn't usually play music so loud, but I kept hearing little bits of something; maybe he left it on by accident before he went to work.

When the muffins were hot out of the oven, I decided upon a neighborly gesture. Making sure the girls were still asleep, I put a half dozen muffins into a basket and wrote a simple note.

Harold,

I hope everything is going well.

Can we talk some time?

Enjoy the muffins!

Lise

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Short chapter! But I hope you liked it! More coming soon!!!