Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Zeke

“You’re pissy as hell today.”

I roll out from under a Honda to see my best friend, Wolfe, scowling down at me.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Exactly. The only time you shut up is when you’re pissed off about something. What’s wrong with you?”

I push back under the car and ignore him, but he grabs my foot and pulls me out again.

“What the fuck? I have work to do here, man.”

“You’ve been this way for three days, and it’s driving me fucking nuts. What’s up?”

I blow out a breath and stand, wiping my hands on the rag that always hangs from my back pocket.

“Neighbor,” is all I say.

“You two really need to stop sparring with each other. It’s kind of childish, Zeke.”

If only that were the reason I was sleep-deprived and, therefore… pissy.

But that’s not it at all.

Cherry’s been in my condo every day for the past three days for showers, to wash her dishes, do her laundry. She’s always there, because even if she’s gone by the time I get home, I can still smell her in my space.

She’s invaded every waking thought, and every single one of those centers around getting her naked and fucking her blind.

Not to mention, she hasn’t nagged me once since the other night, and my masochistic ass kind of misses it.

I’ve lost my damn mind.

“You’re quiet again.”

“I just haven’t been sleeping well,” I lie easily. “It’s not a big deal.”

Wolfe narrows his eyes at me. We both know he knows I’m full of shit.

We’ve worked together for more than a decade. I was his chief mechanic when he raced cars professionally, and when he was forced to retire, we went into business together in his hometown of Huckleberry Bay. He’s like a brother to me.

“You’re full of it.”

I can only laugh and shake my head. “Yeah, well, I don’t have another story to tell you. It’s lunchtime. Hungry?”

“Of course, I’m hungry.”

“I’ll go get some food for us. Walk off the mood. What do you want?”

“Burgers from Gordy’s. I want a double.”

“I’ll be back.”

I take off my coveralls, hang them on the hook inside the back door, and then walk out into the fall air.

It’s breezy today, which is usual for this coastal town, but it’s not raining. The yellow and red leaves are starting to fall, and the long walk to Gordy’s is pleasant.

“Hey, Zeke!”

I glance over and wave at Dotty, the bookstore’s owner, as she sets her sign out on the sidewalk.

“Hey, Dot! Have a great day.”

She grins and goes back to what she was doing. In the past year, I’ve grown to know pretty much all the shop and restaurant owners in town, along with most of the people who work in those businesses. And they know me.

I’m a military brat, so my family never stayed in one place for long when I was growing up. And then, when I joined the racing circuit, I continued to travel.

This is the first time in my life that I feel as if I’m setting down roots, and I have to admit, I like it.

Huckleberry Bay feels like home.

Sunny, the long-time waitress at Gordy’s, greets me with a big smile when I walk into the place. “Hey there, handsome. Want a table or a seat at the counter?”

“Neither. I’m going to take it to go for Wolfe and me.”

“You betcha. You want your usuals?”

“He wants a double,” I reply with a nod. “Otherwise, yeah, the usual.”

I live in a place where the waitress knows what my usual is. It always surprises me. Every time.

“You got it. Go park your fine ass over at the counter, and I’ll bring it out to you when it’s ready.”

The older woman winks at me, and then, smacking her gum, heads off to put my order in.

Just as I take a seat to wait, I see Sarah, my good friend’s wife, carrying food to a table of customers. When she sees me, she grins and heads my way.

“What are you up to?” she asks.

“Grabbing lunch to go. I thought Tanner told me you don’t work here anymore.”

Sarah smiles and pushes a strand of blond hair off her cheek. “I fill in when they’re short-handed. Today was one of those days, so here I am. I don’t mind it, actually. Gets me out of my studio.”

Sarah’s a talented artist, and her paintings have taken off in popularity, selling for a pretty penny in Tanner’s gallery.

“I’m gonna have to go see what your husband has in stock at the gallery. I think it’s time to hang some art on my walls since I’ve been here for over a year now.”

“You don’t have anything on your walls?” She looks almost pained at the idea.

“I hate to break it to you, but it’s not really a priority for most guys.”

“Let me come over, take a look at the space, and I’ll paint something for you.”

I blink at her, surprised. “Sarah, you don’t have to paint me something custom. I’m happy to buy a piece you’ve already done.”

“You’re basically family, Zeke. Trust me, this will be better.”

I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve this awesome group of friends, but I’m grateful for it.

“You’re welcome to come over after work if you want.”

“Oh, this is so exciting.” She grins, almost bouncing on her toes. “Yes, I want. I need a new challenging project. I’ll text you when I’m off here.”

“Great. Thanks, Sarah.”

“No, thank you. This is great.”

The bell in the kitchen rings, and she pats me on the shoulder.

“That’s my order. I’ll see you later.”

No sooner does she walk away than Sunny hurries over to me carrying a big bag of food.

“That looks like more than two burgers and fries.”

She grins. “I had them add a few things. You boys need the calories.”

Sunny is a mother hen. “Thanks, ma’am. Put it on our tab?”

“Already done. Have a good day.”

“You, too.”

On my way back to the garage, I notice that the air has cooled, and some clouds are rolling in from the ocean. Looks like we might get a storm.

* * * *

“Jesus Christ, I’m not going to eat for a month,” Wolfe groans as we stow our tools away, getting ready to lock up for the day. “Why did she send so much food?”

“We didn’t have to eat it all,” I remind him, also feeling stuffed to the brim.

“Yeah, well, we did. And I’m supposed to take Luna out to dinner tonight.”

“You’ll be a cheap date.” I grin at him as we take our coveralls off and hang them up. “Have fun with your wife. Sarah’s coming over to look at my condo so she can paint me something for it.”

He raises an eyebrow. “That’s pretty awesome.”

“I know. She offered when I saw her earlier, and I didn’t want to pass it up, you know?”

“Hell no, don’t pass that up. Tell her hi for me.”

“Will do. See you tomorrow.”

I wave and move to my car, fire up the engine, and head home. When I reach the complex, I’m sure to park perfectly in the lines so I don’t irritate Cherry. It’s been nice not having her constantly irritated with me over the past few days.

On my way up the stairs, I meet the woman herself, carrying a huge tote full of smaller boxes, obviously meant for the post office.

The bundle is so big she can’t see me, so I walk back down the stairs to get out of her way and wait.

“Why do I always think that I have to carry everything at once?” she mutters to herself. “It’s too damn heavy.”

“I don’t want to startle you,” I begin, but she lets out a little squeal anyway and almost drops the tote. “Shit, that’s what I was trying to avoid.”

I hurry up and take the tote from her, frowning at just how heavy it really is.

“Good God, what do you have in here? Rocks?”

“Candles,” she says, catching her breath. “They’re orders that I’m filling.”

“You have a candle business?” I ask as I follow her to her car, still carrying the tote. “I thought you were a preschool teacher.”

“I am,” she says as she opens the back of her SUV and gestures for me to set the container inside. “I do both.”

“That’s a lot of work.”

She grins and pushes a button, but the hatch doesn’t close. “Damn it, this thing is acting up again.”

With a sigh, she pulls it down manually and closes it.

“I’ll take a look at it for you.”

“It’s okay, it’s just a pain. I can close it myself.”

“If you have the button, it should work,” I insist. “I’ll check it out tomorrow.”

“You don’t have—”

“Are you this stubborn with everyone, or just me?” I interrupt.

Her mouth opens, then closes again, and that line between her eyebrows deepens with her scowl.

“I’m already imposing on you enough. I don’t need you to fix my car.”

“Cars are my thing.” I shrug and watch as she walks to the driver’s side door, feeling disappointed that she’s leaving.

I’d like to talk with her some more.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to bring over some laundry this evening.”

“I don’t mind. I told you, come over whenever.” And I mean it. I’ve started to enjoy her. I want to know more about her, like this whole candle business that I just found out about. When we’re not fighting, Cherry’s beautiful and smart, not to mention funny as hell. And I love that she has the patience to work with preschoolers. I never would have thought I’d say this, but I want her around.

“Yeah, but don’t you have to do your own laundry sometimes?”

“I’ll catch up with it this weekend.” I open her door for her. “Do you need help with that at the post office?”

“I’ve got it, thanks.”

And with that, she shuts the door and takes off.

“See you,” I mutter and sigh as I turn back to the stairs. “Do I smell bad? That woman can’t get away from me fast enough. Not good for the ego.”

When I’m inside my condo, I text Sarah to let her know that she can come by anytime, and she quickly replies that she’s on her way since she just left work.

So, I hurry up and wash my hands, and by the time I’m finished changing my clothes, the doorbell rings.

“Hey, Sarah,” I say as I open the door.

“You have excellent timing,” she says with a smile. “I had literally just sat in the car after work.”

“I’m glad it was convenient for you. Come on in.”

I step back, and Sarah walks inside, then whistles. “I know I have my own water view, but it never gets old, does it?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Do you want a seascape?” she asks, pacing around my living room, taking everything in. “Like, on this wall here, above the sofa? I could do a nice big seascape, and then it’ll feel like you’re surrounded by the ocean. But if you want something different, I totally get it. I can do a meadow, a forest, you name it.”

“Hmm.” We stand together in the middle of the room, shoulder to shoulder, pondering it. “It really would look cool if there was an ocean scene up there to mirror what’s going on outside.”

“Right? I couldn’t agree more.” Sarah walks over to the windows, taking in my view. “So, I can make the painting look exactly like this,”—she points outside—“or I can switch it up.”

“Let’s switch it up.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” She smiles up at me. “Can I paint a dog into the scene? Maybe with a ball?”

“Honey, you can do whatever you want with it, and I’ll proudly display it. What do I owe you?”

She nibbles her bottom lip. “Tanner would roll his eyes at me right now because he’s an art dealer, but honestly, I don’t want you to pay me for it.”

“Absolutely, not. Your husband is right, you don’t work for free.”

“But sometimes, I do. It can’t all be work. There has to be some art that I do just for fun, because it feels good. Otherwise, I’ll burn out on it. So, since you’re giving me so much artistic rein, I won’t charge you for it.”

“I don’t feel right about that,” I reply, shaking my head. “I want to pay you.”

“Let’s work out a trade,” she suggests. “I don’t know what that is yet, but we’ll figure it out.”

“Deal.”

We shake hands on it, and then the front door opens, and Cherry walks in carrying a basket of laundry.

She stops short when she sees us at the window, and her eyes drop to where I’m still holding Sarah’s hand.

“I, uh, I’m sorry if I interrupted something.”

Jesus, does she think that I’d romance a married woman ?

“Sarah’s going to paint me something for the wall,” I reply, but the suspicion doesn’t leave Cherry’s eyes.

“He’s letting me paint pretty much whatever I want,” Sarah adds with a grin. “For over the sofa.”

Sarah’s phone rings in her pocket, and she immediately pulls it out and answers.

“Hey, sweetheart. Yeah, I’m almost done here at Zeke’s. This painting is going to rock. Sure, I can do that. Okay, see you soon. Love you, too.”

As she talks, I don’t take my eyes off Cherry, who’s still frowning, and decide here and now to have a talk with her when Sarah leaves.

“I’d better go, I have to stop by the store to get some butter for whatever Tanner’s making for dinner. If butter’s involved, I want it,” Sarah says and takes a minute to look between Cherry and me, a knowing smile on her pretty face. “Thanks again for letting me do this. I promise, it’s gonna rock. But, if you hate it, we don’t have to hang it.”

“I won’t hate it,” I assure her as I walk her to the door, past Cherry, who’s stepped aside. “It’s going to be awesome. Have a good night.”

“You, too. Bye, Cherry.”

“See you,” Cherry says as I close the door behind Sarah. Then, I turn to Cherry with a scowl.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”