Chapter Four
Cole
HIPAA privacy laws prevented me from mentioning anything to Ben about my encounter at the office the other day with Allie, but that didn’t stop me from thinking about it. Now, I found myself glancing over toward her house every once in a while, wondering what she was up to, if her car was parked in the driveway. I normally wasn’t the one to make the calls back to patients (Kathy or Danielle handled that), but when the results of Allie’s urine culture had come back in, I called her up to tell her she had a UTI and I’d need to write her a script for an antibiotic.
One of the playground moms had dropped off a loaf of orange poppy seed bread that we hadn’t cut into yet. I grabbed the plastic-wrapped loaf.
“Come on, bud,” I said to Declan.
“Where are we going?” he asked as he jumped up, abandoning his pile of Duplo LEGOs.
“We’re going to go next door.”
“To see Miss Allie?”
“We’re going to give her this as a welcome present.”
He tilted his head and frowned at the loaf. “Didn’t Harper’s mom give that to us?”
“She did, but she’ll probably be by next week with something else.”
“Are you allowed to give away presents like that?”
“Sure,” I said. “It’s called re-gifting.”
We walked next door and found Allie in the side yard by the shed, engaged in a serious battle of wills with a rather decrepit-looking lawn mower. She had on a pair of cut-offs and a black tank top, and her dark brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, little wisps plastered to her sweaty forehead. She didn’t see us approach, and she gave the lawn mower a little kick.
“Fucker,” she said.
Declan’s eyes widened, and he clapped his hand over his mouth. His movement must have caught Allie’s eye because she looked up, a horrified expression crossing her face when she saw that it was us.
“Oh my God,” she said. “I didn’t realize that you guys were there. I totally didn’t just say that.”
“Say what?” I asked, even though it was clear that we had both heard her.
“Dad tells me to say mothertrucker,” Declan said.
I nudged him. “Hey now. We’ve actually both been working on not using language that we shouldn’t, right?” I nodded toward the lawn mower. “You need any help with that?”
She gave me a sheepish look. “Well... I had these grand visions of getting up and mowing the lawn and then maybe pruning some of those bushes, but... I seem to have run into a bit of a road block.”
“Mind if I take a look?”
“Go ahead,” she said, brushing the wisps of hair back from her forehead.
“Oh, we brought you this,” I said, handing her the orange poppy seed bread. “It’s a belated housewarming gift.”
Declan looked up at me as Allie took it. “I thought you said it was a re-gift.”
I ignored him and went over to the lawn mower, though I could see that Allie was trying to hide her smile. “It’s got fuel in it?” I asked.
“I do know enough to do that,” she said.
I looked down at the front of the lawn mower. “It’s probably the spark plug,” I said. I disconnected the spark plug wire and examined it. “The wire hood looks okay. Let me just run back to the house and get a wrench. Come on, Declan.”
“He can hang out here with me,” Allie said. “If he wants. It’s the least I can do if you’re going to be able to get this lawn mower started for me.”
“I wanna stay with Miss Allie!” Declan said.
“Should we go have a slice of this bread?” she asked.
“Okay.” He grinned. “Harper’s mom said it was orange poppy seed bread when she dropped it off.”
I went back over to my house and into the garage and found my spark plug wrench. I was willing to bet it was old and she’d probably need to replace it, but maybe I could get it started by adjusting the gap.
I found myself actually hoping that it would need to be replaced, because then maybe we could all take a trip into town to go to the hardware store, but after I closed the gap a little and reconnected it, it started just fine.
“My hero,” Allie said, a dry note in her voice. She smiled. “Thank you. I really mean that.”
“If you need help with anything else, just ask,” I said. “You know where we live.”
Most Sundays, my parents made the drive west for a visit and to take Declan out for the afternoon. Sometimes I’d go with them, but more often than not, I’d either hang out with Ben or have some time alone, which I had never realized was such a commodity until I became a father.
Declan sat on the front steps, eagerly waiting my parents’ arrival. When their sleek black Range Rover pulled in, he let out a joyous yelp, but waited until the car came to a complete stop before he went caterwauling over to them.
My father, a retired physician, and my mother, who had stayed at home with the kids, stepped out of the vehicle, my mom holding her arms open for Declan to jump into. As she stood up, wrapping her arms around her grandson, I could tell that she was trying to hold back tears. It was early June, normally a time when people in New England rejoice, the brief respite between the unrelenting cold of winter and the brutal heat of summer, but for the Beckers, forever tainted since my little sister Marissa died four years ago, on June 17th. She’d just come back home, and it was supposed to be a happy time. Everyone had been looking forward to it.
We were not a family who was used to having bad things happen.
Sure, life wasn’t perfect growing up, but it was pretty damn close. A large house on a hill, with a spectacular view of the Atlantic, a neighborhood full of friends, vacations to Vail, Paris, Milan, Tokyo. Marissa had liked Tokyo best. I liked them all—the novelty of going somewhere new. I was vaguely aware how much better off we were than most of my peers, but my parents never acted like it made us better than anyone else, so my sister and I didn’t, either. We went to public school. We didn’t have a housekeeper or personal chef or anything. My mother didn’t carry designer handbags or wear $900 shoes. My father was a popular family physician, who sometimes still made house calls. His one vice was luxury cars, which he’d always had, though he never made a big deal about it.
I visited with my parents for a little while, and then Declan said he was hungry, so they were going to take him out for lunch and then to a playground, giving me a couple hours to myself to do what I pleased.
I put my kit on, found my sunglasses and helmet, and then said bye to my parents and Declan. There would be no 80-mile ride today, but I’d go out for a couple hours, push myself as hard as I could, and come back feeling exhausted and happy.
Later that afternoon, Declan and I both seemed equally exhausted but happy from our earlier activities. He went up for a nap, and I relaxed on the deck with a tall glass of lemonade.
“So how are you doing?” my mother asked. “Declan really seems like he’s thriving.”
“Things are going all right,” I said.
“How is work?”
“It’s good.”
She smiled, though I could tell it was partially forced, and that there was an overarching sadness to her every move. “I met a nice young lady when I was at the bookstore the other day,” she said. “Her name was Melanie. Would you like her phone number?”
“I think I’m all set,” I said.
My parents were eager for me to find someone to be with, that perfect match made in heaven which I knew did not actually exist. They were still hoping for some sort of storybook relationship, but after everything that had happened, I had zero interest in that at all. I would be perfectly happy with casually seeing someone, or a couple someones, when and if I ever had the time to do that sort of thing again.
“I really don’t need you guys to try and set me up on any dates or anything like that,” I said.
“I think it’s just a matter of you meeting the right person,” my mother said. “I know she must be out there somewhere.”
“But I’m not looking for her. And I don’t happen to believe that.”
The problem with my parents was that they met in high school, fell in love, and got married right after they graduated. And all these years later, they were still together. It gave them a warped view of things, at least where love was concerned. It had been so easy for them they assumed it should be just as easy for anyone else, or, if not just as easy, then only a little bit harder. I just didn’t think like that, though. Marissa did, and a lot of good that had done her.
That night, Declan was ready to go to bed before the sun had even set completely, so his room was awash in a deep orange glow as I tucked him in.
“You have a good day?” I asked.
He nodded sleepily. “I like getting to see Gram and Grampi.”
“I know, bud. They really like getting to hang out with you, too.”
“I told them about Miss Allie.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. How she lives next to us and she’s my teacher. No one else in school has a teacher who lives next to them, you know.”
“That is pretty special.”
His eyelids drooped closed, so I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Sleep tight,” I said. “I’ll check on you a little later.”
I quietly walked out of the room, pulling the door shut behind me. I went down to the kitchen to clean up from dinner; chances were good that Ben would be stopping by, probably with several cans of high test beer.
I was out in the backyard when I heard him come in through the side door. I hurried back inside to tell him to be quiet so he wouldn’t wake up Declan.
“Shit, sorry,” he said. I could tell he’d already had a few beers, probably after he’d finished up at the shop.
We sat out on the deck, and he cracked one of the beers open for me.
“You know, it’s going to be a really long summer if I have to keep coming over here and seeing that neighbor of yours, especially if she starts laying out in a bikini or something,” Ben said.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you when you went over there and propositioned her.”
He sighed. “She doesn’t seem like she’s interested in any guy.”
I snorted. “Just because she turned you down doesn’t mean she’s not interested in anyone.”
“Oh yeah? You think you can get with her?”
I thought back to the day I did her pap smear, the way her thighs had trembled slightly when I touched her, the way her nipples had hardened when I pressed my fingers against her.
“Yeah,” I said. “I do.”
He grinned. “Cocky Cole. A friendly gentleman’s bet, then?”
“Gentleman’s bet? With you?”
“I know, I know, I ain’t no gentleman. Just a regular old bet, then.”
“What on earth could you possibly have to bet that I would want?”
Ben scrunched his face up. “You have a point,” he said. “I might not have anything you want, except maybe... free time.”
I had to give him that. “True. You sure as hell have a lot more free time than I have.”
“So if you win, then I’ll watch Declan for you. I’ll watch him once a week, you can pick when, so long as I’m not working.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Should I even trust you with him?”
“Eh, you know, I’ll make sure he doesn’t play with matches or run out into traffic. That about covers it, right?”
We both laughed. The thing was, I did trust Ben, probably more so than anyone else. In some ways, he was like a big kid himself, and Declan adored him. They’d both have a ball if this bet thing worked in my favor. Which it would, I knew.
“I’m going to need proof, though,” Ben continued. “You know, it can’t just be your word.”
“My word’s not good enough?”
“it is, my man, but you know... a bet like this, some sort of proof is needed. And, I’m giving you a deadline. You have until the end of the summer. Until Labor Day.”
I smirked. “I don’t need the end of the summer.”
“Well, consider me generous, and I’m giving it to you, anyway.”
“And who said chivalry was dead? And hold up—what is it you get if I don’t win? Which isn’t going to happen, by the way, but I’m curious what it is that you’re looking to get out of this whole thing.”
“Ah...is someone conceding already?”
“No. But if you’re making a bet, it’d be foolish not to know what’s on the line—even if you’re sure that you’re going to win.”
He raised his eyebrows. “That doesn’t make sense,” he said. “If I knew that I was going to win a bet—if I was as certain about it as you seem to be—then I wouldn’t need to know. Because it would be completely irrelevant, since there would be no doubt in my mind that I was going to lose in the first place. So I think it’s fair to say there’s at least a tiny part of you that isn’t 100 percent sure you can win this bet. Which is fine; it shows you’re mortal. And the thing is—after talking to her, I am pretty sure there’s no way in hell you’re going to win this bet. You’re a handsome fucker and all, but I just got a vibe from that chick that makes me think it’s all hands off.”
“I think you missed your calling as a psychologist,” I said. “A relationship expert. You could get one of your own talk shows, like that Dr. Phil guy and whatever his name is that came after him. Audiences of swooning women. They’d eat that shit up.”
“A bullshit artist is more like it,” Ben said, grinning. “If I win, you’re going to treat me to tickets to a postseason game of my choice.”
“The Sox?” I asked.
Ben shrugged. “Maybe. Though maybe not. Maybe the Celtics. Maybe the Pats. Maybe the B’s. Maybe all of them!”
“I’m not agreeing to buy postgame tickets for all four teams. I doubt all four would even make it into the postseason the same year. One team. It can be your choice, but it’s not going to be all four.”
Ben scrunched his eyebrows up as though giving it serious thought, as though he might actually refuse. Then, he grinned and held his hand out. “Deal,” he said.
We shook on it.
I’m generally not the sort of guy who would wager a bet like that. I was never the sort to kiss and tell, and unlike some guys I went to high school and college with, I didn’t keep a tally of all my bedroom conquests. I myself wasn’t even entirely sure why I had agreed to such a thing, other than I did enjoy a good bet, and Ben had always brought out the competitive streak in me. When we were younger and used to race BMX together, I never really cared if others beat me, but it sure as shit mattered if Ben did. We had a very brotherly sort of rivalry between us, and it continued long after I gave up BMX.
The other thing was there was something intriguing about Allie.
I couldn’t say what, exactly; I had never been interested in a patient before. I’d seen my fair share of attractive women, but it had always been from a professional standpoint. I could appreciate a long, lean body, shapely breasts, tight, toned thighs—all of which she was in possession of—but it was a detached sort of appreciation, the way you might marvel at particularly nice sunset, or a magnificent ocean view. It was there, you noted its beauty, and you moved on.