“All right, fine, let’s say you are right. Just for argument’s sake. Even if I did like Nora, which I don’t, she’s not exactly lining up to hand out heart-shaped cookies. Pretty sure she thinks I’m here to ruin the whole town.”
“You’re new in town,” she laughs. “Of course everyone here thinks you are here to ruin everything. Deal with it. You chose to live in a small town after all.” She rests her chin on her hand. “Or maybe she just wants you to prove her and the whole town wrong. And if you are ‘so not into her,’” she makes quotation marks in the air, “then why are you still talking about her?”
“Because you won’t let it go,” I argue, but she’s already grinning.
“Sure, sure,” she says, waving her hand dismissively like she’s humoring me. “All I’m saying is maybe she’s not as annoyed by you as you think.”
“Yeah, and maybe you should eat your pancakes and stay out of grown-up business,” I mutter.
Junie picks up a piece of pancake and points at me like a tiny child. “Uncle Jericho likes Nora. Uncle Jericho likes Nora,” she singsongs, making my head hurt.
“All right, that’s it. You are officially grounded from talking about Nora,” I say, shaking my head, but I can’t help the reluctant smile tugging at my lips.
“Whatever you say,” she replies with a smug grin, popping the pancake into her mouth. “But don’t think I don’t see you smiling.”
Junie’s advice stays in my head for a long time. Even during our drive to Boston to drop her off at her father’s place while she’s talking my ear off about her upcoming Halloween dance at her school. While I’m trying to stay focused on her story, my mind goes back to her previous words.
When I come back home, I start noticing little things around Nora’s house that need fixing. Things I chose to ignore at first because I was never going to step foot on her property if I could help it. Like window shutters falling on one side. The gutter on the back of her house being held by literal duct tape. Or the loose step and railing on her front porch.
The more I walk around, the more things I see. And the more they bother me. Why hasn’t she hired someone to fix it? To think of it, I never see her at home during the day, and I look. Moon shows up here and there on their porch or in the windows, but that’s about it. Nora usually leaves early in the morning and comes back late at night. Seems like she works even more than I do when I am on a job site, and I didn’t think that was possible.
I bet I could fix stuff without her even noticing while she’s at work.
On one early morning, I don’t feel like going back to sleep, so I make myself a cup of strong coffee and go to the porch. I fixed the swing, and now it’s safe for even three people to use at once.
Seeing Moon’s ghostly appearance on my porch at five thirty in the morning doesn’t scare me anymore. I kind of expect her to show up at some point because Nora was right—there’s nothing else to do around here but bother neighbors.
“Morning,” I greet her gruffly, even though I’m not mad to see her there.
Her face lights up when she sees me. “Morning, Steve.Whatcha got in there?” With narrowed, suddenly sharp eyes she stares at the mug in my hands.
“Coffee.”
“Can I have some?”
“Sure,” I reply, even though I’m very unsure right now. She seems to perk up too much when focused on the cup in my hands. “I’ll go get you a cup.”
“No!” she almost yells, making me question my decision of offering a cup to her. “Just give me this one.” She rises from the swing and quickly heads toward me. Very quickly. When her hand wraps around the mug and pulls it from mine, I let it go, feeling a little confused and maybe even a little scared. Feels like I’m missing something here.
When she takes the first sip, she lets out a loud sigh and heads back to the swing. Slower this time, more accordingly with her age. The old lady just did a one-eighty.
“Go,” she waves me off. “Get yourself a cup and come entertain this old lady.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I reply with a chuckle and go inside to fix myself another cup.
By the time I return to the porch, Moon looks very sedated and extremely happy.
She pats the spot next to her, saying with an authoritative voice, “Come sit here.”
I obey with a nod, and we sit there for a few minutes in total silence. The air is crisp and filled with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Occasionally we both take a sip from our mugs, and every time Moon brings her cup to her lips, she lets out a happy sigh.
When the light from the woods around our houses becomes brighter, her bony hand lands on my knee.
“Don’t tell Nora you gave me coffee. She’ll kill you.”
I have a sudden urge to rip the coffee mug out of her hands. “What are you talking about?”
“The stupid doctor told her that I can’t have any caffeine,”she starts with a wave of her hand which makes her blanket slide down her shoulders. I quickly grab the edges and pull it back up. She looks so fragile without it, and the last thing I need is her getting sick on my watch.
