The Voyeur Next Door (4 page)

“Nothing,” she grumbled in a manner that suggested I was just too stupid to understand.

Truth be told, I probably wouldn’t have. The woman made no sense and I was pretty sure half the stuff that came out of her mouth were things that didn’t get filtered properly through her brain, like she blurted out the first thing to pop into her head and be damned the consequences. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. While I appreciated and respected honesty, she always seemed to be laughing at me, not with me.

“Is that all you can say?” she suddenly blurted.

I faltered mid stride. “What?”

She sighed heavily. “Thought so.”

Then she walked away, leaving me staring after her with absolutely no idea of what just happened.

“Do you see why I like her?” Earl stepped up next to me.

“No,” I replied honestly. “She’s insane.”

Earl patted me on the arm. “It’s the crazy ones that are the best to have around. Your grandmother drove me insane and I was married to her for fifty years.”

“Crazy also sets your clothes on fire,” I muttered. “And you better get that insane notion out of your head.”

Earl’s white eyebrows migrated together. “What notion?”

“The one where you set me up with her. I know what you’re up to.”

“Set up? What? I don’t understand this new age talk.”

“I can find my own women.”

He blinked those big, brown eyes at me. “Are you building one from scratch?” He put his hand up when I started opening my mouth. “I get it. What happened to Regina—?”

The contents of my stomach soured and I felt it working up my chest to pool at the back of my throat.

“Gramps…”

“I know!” He closed a hand around my arm. “It was horrible, but you can’t go on in life like this. What happened to her wasn’t your fault. It’s time, Gabe.” He gave a meaningful squeeze and let go. “Besides, let me let you in on a little secret.” He leaned in close and lowered his voice. “Your stick doesn’t magically get waxed on its own and eventually, you’ll give yourself blisters.”

With those sage words of wisdom, my grandfather hobbled his way out of the shop, leaving me standing there watching after him, torn between wanting to face palm and laugh.

“Hey, you leaving?” Mac poked his head out of the trench, his face smeared with grease.

I sighed. “Yeah, you okay closing up?”

Mac shrugged. He did that a lot. It was his thing, like breathing, or picking his nose. He was a shrugger and it drove Lloyd insane.

“Yeah, no problem.”

I thanked him and stepped out into what felt like a thousand degrees of raw heat. The rubber soles of my work boots sucked at the hot asphalt the entire way to where Ali and Earl stood, like the ground was made of chewing gum. Sweat collected along the back of my neck and slithered down the length of my spine before soaking into my t-shirt. My jeans chaffed parts of me I did not appreciate and the longer I had to squint at the happy, unruffled couple waiting for me, the more certain I was that they weren’t human.

Ali’s car was a late model Camaro in gun metal gray. Just by looking at it, I knew someone had put a great deal of time, money, and trouble into souping her up. Every inch of it was detailed to perfection. The hubcaps were top of the line titanium with a unique sunburst design and the chrome frame gleamed in the harsh light. Her treatment of her car made me like Ali Eckrich just a little bit more.

“You know, I get car sick,” Earl was telling Ali when I walked up to them. “I prefer the back.”

Not knowing Earl and his slick little antics, Ali shrugged and yanked open the door. She flipped the lever to the passenger’s side seat and sent it slumping forward.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Very,” Earl assured her as he stooped his way into the back.

Ali returned the front seat to its original position and stepped aside to let me in. I didn’t budge. I had never had a woman open a car door for me and I was still determining whether or not I liked it, when she spoke.

“Don’t mean to rush you, but I’m not getting any less hungry.”

“I can get my own door,” I said, not caring how that sounded.

It was impossible to tell with the glasses covering half her face, but I could have sworn her eyebrow lifted.

“Will your penis convert into a vagina if a woman holds the door for you?”

Something about the way she said it, the sound of those words coming out of her mouth when she looked like she belonged in some church choir, sent a zing of electricity coursing through me that I did not appreciate. I had worked too long and too hard to let some loony librarian ruffle my feathers.

“Because I was raised to be a gentleman,” I stated hotly.

Her mouth actually quirked in pacifying amusement. “How’s that working out for you, Jack?”

“My name is Gabe,” I said with barely suppressed aggravation. “Not Jack.”

The witch actually had the nerve to nod coolly and reply, “I know.”

She left me standing there, debating just how badly I was willing to piss off my grandfather, and made her way behind the wheel. The sound of her door slamming shut jolted me into motion.

Fucking Tuesdays.

The woman drove as though there were gun-wielding maniacs chasing us. There were moments where I feared for my life, moments that were unreciprocated by the other two passengers; Earl sounded like he was having the time of his life in the backseat.

“Do you normally drive like this?”

She turned her head to look at me. “Like what?”

“Watch the road!” I practically wet myself when she stomped on the brake, jerked the wheel hard right, and propelled us down a side street. “Jesus Christ!”

“Oh calm down, Jack,” she said, clearly enjoying my terror. “I’ve been driving since I was sixteen and haven’t gotten so much as a parking ticket.”

Yet oddly enough, that in no way reassured me.

“At this speed, you will get us all killed if you—”

“Well, now that you said it, I probably will!” she snapped. “Why would you jinx us like that?”

“Jinx? What—?”

We rounded another corner at speeds that made my stomach crawl into the back of my throat. I wanted to shut my eyes, fuck masculinity, but I couldn’t. My eyes were frozen open, capturing every horrific moment of the last minutes of my life.

But as abruptly as the world was swirling around us, it came to a shrieking halt when she practically
Tokyo Drifted
into an empty parking spot. I leapt out of the car before she could even think about putting it in drive again, or at least, I tried to. My seatbelt grabbed me and thrust me back into the seat three times before I realized I still had it clipped in.

“You okay there, slugger?” Ali snickered.

I wanted to flip her off. No. I wanted to strangle her. What the hell kind of crazy nut job was she?

“There is something severely wrong with you,” I hissed, pitching the strap off and throwing myself out of the car.

It was amazing how a near death experience could make you love the scorching heat when your entire body was drenched in cold sweat. I would have doubled over and retched, except I still had some pride rattling around somewhere inside.

“I haven’t seen driving like that since I was a kid racing my car down Dead Man’s Cliff for a chance to date Candy Jacobs, the prettiest cheerleader in my whole school,” Earl was saying when he hopped out of the backseat. “Ever considered it?”

“Dating Candy Jacobs?” Ali teased. “Maybe for a second. Cheerleaders do funny things to my insides.”

Earl laughed and patted her on the arm. “I meant racing.”

Ali laughed. “No, I don’t drive nearly that crazy.”

It was my turn to snort. “I don’t think there’s a name for your level of crazy,” I muttered.

“Don’t listen to him,” Earl comforted, even though Ali looked unmoved by my statement. “He’s a stick in the mud.”

“Are you sure it’s mud?” Ali replied crisply.

Reaching in, she snatched up her purse out of the backseat and tossed the strap over one shoulder. She closed her door and motioned Earl to start walking. I followed at a much less steady pace.

The restaurant was a steaks and burgers sort of place with a bright green awning straining partially over the sidewalk and shielding the five wrought iron tables and chairs. Large bay windows gleamed black in the late evening glare. It was a place I had seen in passing, but had never had a reason to go in; if it wasn’t delivered into the comfort of my living room, I had no use for it.

“Do you want to sit inside, or out?” Ali asked Earl.

His wizened face twisted. I wasn’t sure if it was in deliberation, or the fact that we were standing in the middle of the sidewalk with the sun beating down on us, but his eyes disappeared into the folds of his wrinkles and he pursed his lips.

“Out,” he decided at last with a definite nod.

I wanted to tell him he was out of his mind. No way was I going to park my butt on twisted bits of metal that had been roasting in the sun most of the day. But the verdict had been given and the pair were moving to an empty corner tucked between a potted plant and the window. I stayed rooted to the sidewalk, not by choice, mind you; the rubber on my shoes had begun to fuse into the concrete.

Peeling free, I shuffled my way forward, careful not to nudge the other diners as I edged around them. The narrow path was not designed for a man my size.

There was one seat available when I finally reached the table. I dropped into it. The cool metal felt amazing against the puddles of sweat collecting between my clothes and skin. Part of me wanted to strip naked and hug the thing to me.

I was seriously dying.

“You have to try the cheeseburger,” Ali was telling Earl when I struggled to pay attention. “I’m pretty sure they’re laced with crack.”

Earl laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever had crack laced burgers before. Will definitely try it.” He sobered and turned shiny brown eyes on me. Reflexively, I stiffened. “So there’s a reason I asked you both here.” He folded his hands neatly on the table and straightened his shoulder. “I think we need to discuss what’s going on between you two.”

I was only partially relieved when Ali looked as confounded as I felt.

“There is nothing going on between us,” I told him.

“I know!” Earl said with more than just a hint of exasperation. “That’s the problem. You two need to start getting along, especially since you’ll be working together.”

Ali shifted uncomfortably. “Earl, I told you—”

“I know what you told me,” Earl interrupted. “But I refuse to accept it. Now, the only thing standing in our way of moving forward is the two of you, so.” He glanced from me to Ali and back. “What are we going to do about it?” His bushy eyebrows lifted when neither of us responded. “Okay, well, why don’t we start with you, Gabriel? Why don’t you tell us your reservations?”

I couldn’t make up my mind if this was an intervention, an interrogation, or a counseling session. Whichever it was, between it and the sun, I was ready to strangle a baby.

“Grandpa, if you want to hire her, hire her. It’s your shop.”

Earl sighed. “One day, it will be yours and you need to know how to do this stuff.”

“What stuff?” I countered, a little too sharply. “I know how to run a business.”

Earl gave me
that
look. It was a mix between pitying, sorrowful, and defeated. I hated it. I didn’t understand it. I was fine. Didn’t I look fine? Hadn’t I done all I could to be fine? I wasn’t going to fall to pieces damn it!

“If you want her to work at the shop,” I started slowly, choosing my words carefully and calmly. “Then I will support that decision. I will even get her name stamped on the office door. Whatever you want. Just leave me out of it.”

There was a reason I didn’t like women at my shop. There was a reason I didn’t like women period. Life was less complicated without them and it took me a long time to get to a place I was finally happy. I was ready to move on and maybe even live again. I wasn’t going to let Earl, or Ali ruin that for me.

“Look, this really isn’t a problem,” Ali interrupted. “I’m not going to force myself into a place I’m not wanted. Besides, Jack’s right—” Who the fuck was Jack? “—I don’t belong there. I don’t know the first thing about automotive work.” She touched Earl’s hand lightly. “But thank you for caring so much.”

Earl started to answer her when the waitress took that moment to appear. Green eyes spotted Ali and widened as big as the grin that blossomed across her face.

“Ali!”

Ali started, visibly surprised before she offered a smile back. “Hey Jen!”

Jen darted a glance over the table at me and Earl, confusion and surprise tangling her thin eyebrows together.

“You brought guests,” she observed, her tone suggesting this wasn’t a common thing. “Does this mean you’ll be eating in?”

“Yeah.” Ali fidgeted slightly. “This is Earl and his grandson. I thought they’d like to try out the burgers.”

Grandson. Not even Jack. It really shouldn’t have bothered me, yet I was irked that she refused to say my name.