Girl Next Door Page 3

  It was a blast playing, laughing, and taunting. Other people would rotate in if someone got tired. I'm pretty sure almost everyone played at one point or another. Devon had a game of three on three going on over at the hoop. We all learned that Reese was not one to take lightly. Her volleyball serve was killer! At one point, Lessa spiked the ball on me. It went bouncing off to the neighbor's yard and thumped against her steps. She looked up.

  I called out, “Sorry! Can you toss it back, please?”

  She stood and looked my way. “Me?”

  I smiled at the low contralto tone of her voice, it was almost smoky. I simply said, “Yes.”

  She looked nervous for some reason and went down her steps. Then stood there close to the ball and asked, “Where is it?”

  I looked at her. What, was she blind? Then it hit me like a dump truck going a hundred miles per hour as I saw her sightlessly turning around. I started walking toward her as I laughed at myself for being a total ass and assuming things. I said, “About three feet to your left and two feet forward.”

  She looked upset for a second and then put her hand out and touched tentatively and grabbed the ball and stood. I took it from her hands and said, “Thanks.”

  She spoke softly so the others wouldn't hear, “You think it's funny?”

  Huh? Oh crap, she thought I was laughing at her. I said quickly and quietly, “Oh, no. I was just laughing at myself. I'm just an idiot for thinking you were ignoring me and snubbing me whenever I waved at you. Making an ass out of myself for assuming.”

  She stood up straighter like she was deciding whether or not to believe me. Then I said, “Hi. I'm your new neighbor and ass... Brandye Franklin-Callahan.”

  She actually smiled at that and offered her hand, “Well I'm happy to have a name to go with that awesome giggle of yours. I'm Robin, Robin Hartford.”

  I inhaled sharply in surprise, my eyes snapping to her easel and canvas. “Ummm... THE Robin Hartford?”

  She gave a giggle of her own that made me feel warm and happy to have brought it out, then she said, “ I guess so.”

  I said, “I've heard about your art, I've just never had the privilege to see it before.”

  She smiled. “Well, you can come over anytime to experience it.” Then she paused. “You should get back to your party.”

  I spoke in a normal voice instead of our hushed tones. “Why don't you join us? It's my housewarming party. I slipped an invitation in your screen-door. But I guess you didn't see it.”

  She turned toward her porch then back toward me. Then smiled and retorted, “I guess I didn't.” She looked extremely nervous then said, “O-ok.”

  I tossed the ball back to mom then reached out and took Robin's soft, warm hand and put it in the crook of my arm then started walking toward the party. Damn she was cute. I almost snorted at myself when I added that she had that “girl next door” look. She couldn't be more than a couple years older than me. That was a little surprising, you never think of famous artists as being so young.

  June almost hopped to our side with a huge grin and said, “Well as I live and breathe...”

  This brightened up Robin's face as she almost laughed out, “Well if it isn't the ringleader of June's Eight. I wasn't sure the Academy was going to survive you.”

  The ladies hugged and June said, “How you been Picasso? Small world.”

  After a minute of gossip and warnings from both women that I shouldn't ask too many questions about June's Eight at the New York Academy of Art where they both attended. That I might have to go into protective custody if they shared the epic stories that were associated.

  I introduced Robin around then I had her experience the sensory overload of laying in the grass for the puppies to indoctrinate her properly with their licking and wiggling. I couldn't stop my own giggle at the sound of hers. She had paused at that and said, “I really do love that giggle. Most women don't giggle, they chuckle.” Oh Gawd... I was blushing at that... and smiling, did I not mention the smiling?

  She didn't bat an eyelash when I introduced her to my two mothers.

  We walked to the porch and I absently said, “Two steps up.” Then we sat on the porch swing and I ran off to wrangle Devon into cooking up a burger for her. Then we just sat and chatted about virtually nothing and everything at the same time. After Robin was done eating, Mom brought me a sleepy Daisy and I put her on Robin's lap where she curled in and went promptly to sleep again. Hey, it's hard work being a super cute fuzzball, you'd be tired too!

  Robin just absently stroked Daisy's fur as we talked while the party slowly wound down. I went to excuse myself to start cleaning up, but Lessa had her weird smirk thing going on with her 'hmmmm' head-tilt. “No, you two just kick back and relax, I got this.” Then she started barking orders to Devon and Tay. I had to suppress a laugh as they went to work as if their commanding officer had given them orders. As she wandered off I heard her mumbling something about having to thank Uncle Sam for training them up for her.

  Robin chuckled. “Your sister is something else.”

  I just snickered. “I know right?”

  Chapter 3 – Gifts

  It was starting to get chilly in the late afternoon as the guys finished cleaning up under the watchful gaze of my sister. Most of the guests had left except for Lessa's troop, Leo, and my parents. I noticed Robin shiver a bit and I reached over to rub her arms. “You're freezing. Let's get you home. Unless you want to visit more inside,” I said hopefully, almost in question. I liked how easy it was to talk to her.

  She smiled and said, “That sounds nice. Lead on Clyde.”

  I shook my head. “Hey watch it now Goldilocks, not you too.” She scooped up Daisy from her lap with one arm and stood and put her hand out expectantly. I stood and put her hand in the crook of my arm and led her inside. Tay was still shooting some hoops with Leo, Raven watching her beau. Tay and Leo have gotten comfortable with each other over the past couple years that Devon has been with Less.

  We sat on my budget sofa across from the budget couch that contained my parents, and Lessa and Devon. The two teens were over by the small dining room table between the kitchen and living room, playing with the dogs. I had to wonder how we'd be related after the wedding... since they were Devon's siblings instead of his kids, would they be my brother and sister in laws too? I grinned and shrugged at myself.

  The housewarming gifts were piled on the square coffee table now. I said, “Low coffee table directly in front of you. Chairs to three and nine o'clock, two paces.” This got a questioning look on Robin's face, but she didn't say anything.

  I whispered, “Sorry, I just want you comfortable in here when you visit.”

  She nodded her head with a bemused smile. “Don't apologize.” She seemed to melt comfortably into the couch, rubbing Daisy's ears.

  It was as if we all let out a shared sigh and started to decompress after the energy filled party. Then Lessa said, “So?” She motioned toward the gifts. It felt like my birthday or Christmas. I'm not too embarrassed to admit that I was a little excited.

  I rolled my eyes at little Miss Impatient and reached for the closest gift. The large jar from the Maxwells. It weighed a ton. I unscrewed the lid and peered inside and chuckled. I started taking items out of the jar and announcing what they were for Robin's sake.

  There were screwdrivers, utility knives, and pliers, even a tiny hammer, and a small level. Screws, nails and mollies for hanging things. Little velcro strips. Basically, the tools and tiny nick knacks every house needs for all the little projects and repairs. “What a great idea,” I said as I returned the items to the jar. I meant it, it was a great idea seeing how the only tool I owned was my hammer. I had to make a second trip to the hardware store for some picture nails to hang my pictures with the other day.

  This reminded me. I'll have to write some thank you notes for everyone who showed up today.

  Most of the other gifts followed the same genre. Things that usually get overlooked by first time
homeowner that every house needs.

  I got sidetracked when Mother stood up and walked over to the front window and stared up with an odd expression on her face. I grabbed Robin's hand and gave a little squeeze and whispered, “Be right back.” She nodded as I stood and stepped up beside mother.

  I followed her gaze up to the Aurora Bridge. I put a hand on her arm and she looked over at me with a small smile and covered my hand with her own. She glanced back at Sandra and then back at me and her smile got bigger. She looked back up at the bridge. “That bridge saved my life. It brought me your mom.” That statement made me so happy... it validated my reasons for wanting to live close to it.

  I smiled at her and then grabbed her hand and physically pulled her back to the couch to sit back beside mom, who had a concerned look on her face until mother gave her a smile that can only be described as... loving.

  I sat next to Robin and leaned over a bit to bump shoulders lightly like I did with Less and looked at the last two items. The big box from my grandparents, and Lessa's. I reached for Lessa's and she made the “eeent” sound that we used to train the dogs. I stopped and stuck my tongue out at her and grabbed the box from my grandparents.

  I was having problems with the tape, it was that paper kind that has little nylon threads in it for strength. Then I grinned and grabbed the utility knife from the tool jar. I opened it up and dragged out a gorgeous mailbox. It had a heavy construction black body, clad with burnished copper decorations at the ends. They were flowers and vines in three dimensional relief. There was a copper plaque with “Brandye Franklin-Callahan” engraved on it and my house number, right under the little copper flower that was used to open the mailbox.

  Everyone was commenting on the workmanship. I looked over at Robin and said, “It is about the most gorgeous mailbox I have ever seen, with my name and address engraved on it. I sat it on my lap and grabbed one of her hands gently and put it on the box. She started feeling it and following the twisting vines with her fingers. She smiled a little and then opened the door on it. She felt around and then said with a mechanical sounding voice that made everyone chuckle, “You've got mail.” She pulled out an envelope and handed it to me.

  It was a card from my adoptive grandparents and some paperwork. Grandma, who spoils the heck out of Less and me, wanted to let me know she was proud of me for taking this next big step in becoming the woman I am meant to be. I read the card out loud.

  Of course, grandpa only signed it. He's not real big at showing emotion though we all know he is just a big softie. I looked at the paperwork and my face must have gone pale. Less looked at me in alarm.

  I just shook my head at her then turned to everyone and put the paperwork in an envelope to look over later. It was a notification of a trust account set up for me by my grandparents. There were so many zeros behind the five that I lost count. I had access to one hundred thousand dollars a month.

  That was identical to the trust grandpa Alistair had set up for mom all those years ago. The interest the account would accrue was more than the monthly draw. It was going to just build upon itself. Only Grandpa's death would unlock the limits on the account, a day I truly hoped would never come.

  I had to look at Less, did she get the same when she moved out? No, she would have told me. Then I realized, no, I had bought my own house, a life defining moment. Lessa had simply moved in with Devon. Her wedding day was coming up and I'm positive that event will garner the same for her. This trust made the one our parents set up for us look tiny, and they were rich! Especially with the royalties that mother got from her solo albums she recorded after dad and Leather and Heels screwed her over.

  My mind was already racing with all the things I could do to help out Mom's people on the street and the Callahan Foundation with this boon. It struck me as I thought that, oh hell, I'm becoming Mom. I had zero intentions of using this money for myself. I looked over at my parents, cuddled together on the couch, and marveled again at Sandra Callahan. She's made me a better person.

  I put the mailbox off to the side and announced with a self-satisfied toothy grin, “And now I have the tools to mount this.”

  Devon hopped up with a smile and grabbed the box and headed toward the door. “Yes, but I brought power tools!” He made more caveman sounds as he went out the door with it to the chuckles of us all.

  I reached a hand half way to Lessa's gift and paused, looking at her comically. She tilted her head and squinted an eye at me. I leaned in closer to it. She squinted her other eye. Then I snatched it off the table and she chuckled and sat back.

  I tore the patchwork of leftover birthday and Christmas wrapping paper off of it and froze. No. She'd never let this go... I looked up at Lessa and tilted my head in question. She just smiled and shrugged. Mom was quickly saying, “Hey! None of that secret twin silent communication stuff. What is it?”

  I held it up and said, “It's Lessa's scrapbook of us. It has all the photos of us and events we attended and our letters to each other with all our hopes and dreams. She'd never let me touch it.”

  She shrugged. “I was always making it for you. For a special day like today since, we all know you're never getting married.” That was probably true, relationships can only end one way. With a breakup. Mother and Lessa are just lucky to be the exceptions who make it work with the people they love.

  I started flipping through the pages. I skipped to the end and there were a couple pictures in it from the day I moved in here. She had never stopped working on this scrapbook. This was my sister's obsession, she used in in place of a diary. I hopped up, hugging it to my chest and leaned into her and gave her a big hug and cheek kiss as a tear rolled down my cheek. “Thank you. I love you sis.”

  She whispered, “Love you too little sis.”

  I returned to my seat as the guys came in the front door. That was apparently everyone's cue. They all stood and we said our goodbyes. Hugs for everyone! I retrieved Daisy from Robin's lap and put the sleeping puppy on the pillow in my bedroom.

  I placed Robin's hand in the crook of my arm and we walked out onto the porch to wave goodbye to everyone as they piled into the two remaining vehicles. Leo opted to walk back to the Anchorage Shelter on “Such a fine night.” I turned to watch the dogs pile in with my parents, then I looked back to watch Leo go, but he was nowhere to be seen. How the heck does he do that!?

  Then I turned to Robin and asked, “Coffee and conversation or home?”

  She responded by smiling and just dragging me toward my front door. Some little part of me was relived when she did that. It was suddenly so silent again. But I wasn't alone. I had Daisy in the other room. I smiled at that, and that I could chat with this fascinating artist holding on to my arm.

  Chapter 4 – Robin

  She sat on the small couch again and I wandered over to the kitchen to start a fresh pot of coffee. Robin called out, “I really like your friends and family. They were funny and charming. Though your mom and Leo don't say much.”

  I nodded to myself sadly. “Yeah, they are both self-conscious. Leo doesn't think he should be around what he calls 'normal' people. Whatever the hell that means. Mom doesn’t talk much around people she doesn't know. She doesn't want them to think she is stupid.”

  This got a snort from the smiling blonde. “Doesn’t she run the Callahan Foundation? One of the biggest charitable foundations in the nation?”

  “Yup,” I replied

  Then she shook her head and said, “And she thinks anyone could think she was stupid? That's just silly.”

  I grinned from ear to ear. “I know right!” Ok, I liked this lady before, but she can see through the bullshit of the world. I put a little gold star beside her name in my, 'I like this person,' list. Gold to match those highlights in her hair. “Sugar? Cream?”

  She shook her head. “Black. Why mess with perfection?”

  I chuckled at that and said, “A woman after my own heart.”

  I put her cup on a coaster on the coffee table and sai
d, “On the table in front of you.” I then looked around. Should I sit next to her or in a chair? I wanted to sit next to her but opted for the chair to her left.

  She must have sensed my hesitation and said, “I don't bite Brandye.” I stood back up then plopped comically beside her on the couch.

  Then she asked quietly, “Why do you do that?”

  I looked at her. “Huh?”

  She tilted her head as she reached forward and felt for the coffee cup and took it in both hands, warming them with it. “Pointing things out to me or describing the room layout. I pick up on most of it on my own. You are acting like the therapists and social workers I deal with.”

  I snorted and covered my mouth with a hand in embarrassment then said, “Sorry. I spend a lot of time in the children's wards helping out Mom. We deal with afflictions of all kinds, deafness, blindness, burns, amputations, you name it. Just a habit I got into with a couple of the patients. I'll rein it in.”

  She smiled and snuggled her back into the couch as she sipped her coffee then she said, “No. It's ok, I just wanted to know... why... Oh, nevermind.”

  I stopped her. “No, really, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or like I'm treating you any different than anyone else. It's just one of my many bad habits like signing when a deaf person is in the room. It is the 'Sandra' in me to want everyone to feel comfortable.”

  She thought for a second. “Well, don't change for me. I just wasn't sure if I liked it or not. But I have to say, you are the first person to automatically make allowances for my benefit. I just didn't want it to be like the people who speak louder around me. I'm blind people not deaf.”

  I felt bad, was I making her feel that way? Was I treating her affliction as a handicap? She isn't defined by her impairment. Oh god, this is how I feel when I'm working with the children in the cancer ward. Afraid to say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing. Was even thinking like that a bad thing too? Trying to help, was I making things worse? I pulled out my silver dollar and started fidgeting with it frantically. I just wanted to get to know her.