Too late.
Jimmy waves me over as soon as he sees me. Without a second thought, I walk through my yard into his.
“Hey,” he says when I approach him. “Grocery shopping?” He points to the bags.
“What gave it away?” I lift the bags up. Why did I walk over here with them? I must look like some sort of weirdo with bags hanging from my arms and alcohol in my hands.
“Ah, there’s the Reese I know.” He takes his pruning shears and sets them down. “Do you want to put your bags down?”
“No, thanks. I won’t keep you long. So what’s going on here?”
“Well, I’m all done inside, if you can believe it. Now I’m perfecting the outside. The yard is pretty good already, so I lucked out there. The front here just needs some attention. My grandfather sure let all this go. I should have come by more often or hired someone to take care of it.”
“Your grandfather was the previous owner?”
“You didn’t know that? Yeah, I inherited the house when he passed away.”
That’s why I never saw a For Sale sign after he died. There was no one to sell the house to. I had never seen Jimmy here prior to that. Of course, I wasn’t really looking for him. I didn’t get into the habit of spying on my neighbors.
“I liked your grandfather. I met him a few times.”
“I miss him, and I’ll miss this house, but I’ve fixed it up real nice for a young family to move in. Maybe onewithouta dog.” He winks at me.
“I love what you’ve done with the front door.” It’s now painted a bright yellow with potted plants on either side of the entryway. It’s very inviting.
“Thanks. My realtor is coming by tomorrow. You might remember her from the paint store?”
“Oh! Sothatwas the woman I saw you with.” I say it so quickly I hope he doesn’t think I was worried about who she was.
“That’s Kelly. She works on most of my deals.”
“I don’t think you’ll have any issues selling this house. The neighborhood is sought after, with decent sized lots, and the curb appeal is amazing.
“Thank you. That means a lot. I take a lot of pride in my work.”
“Any idea where you’re headed next?”
He crosses his arms and smiles. “I have some places I’m eyeing up. I have about a month after this place sells to figure it all out. I do know that Kale will miss you. You haven’t been over here to yell at me about his barking.”
“No, I haven’t. I think I’m used to it now. The little stinker grew on me.” And that he did. I sort of miss him, too.
“I know he misses you already.”
He looks at me and we hold eye contact for a minute. I try not to look down at his bare chest but my eyes naturally gravitate there. “Sunscreen!”
“What?”
“Um, sunscreen. I hope you’ve put some on. The sun is brutal today and you don’t want to get burned.”
He rubs his hands down his arms. “Believe it or not, I’m familiar with the sun and its effects on skin. So yes, I have put on sunscreen.”
“Hopefully it’s a high SPF. That makes a difference, you know.”
He nods and laughs. “Thanks for the mini science lesson. You should be a teacher.”
“No, thank you. I couldn’t deal with all the kids.”
We stand silent for a moment. Where do we go from here?
