“Okay, sounds good.” I spin around, facing where her rushed steps are heading, then the front door opens and closes. Shivering, I hit my cane against the couch and end table as I make my way to the back wall where the thermostat is. I standhere for a long time after flipping open the bottom, trying to visualize where the heat button would be.
“How’s it going?” Janie asks, her voice shifting to a higher octave as she shakes off the outside cold air.
“It was fine until I couldn’t remember where the hell each button was.”
“Oh. Here.” She quickly moves beside me and lifts my hand, leading my finger from the left to right as she tells me what each button is.
“I think I got it,” I say the second time she moves my hand from side to side.
“Good. But if you forget while I’m gone, you know who to call. Be My Eyes guy and then me,” she says in a joking tone.
I stifle a laugh. “You’re ridiculous, and I definitely think I’ll be calling him before you now. Not for the reason you’re thinking in your head either.”
“So you say.” She elbows me in the side. “He’s cute by the way. Gorgeous even.”
“Huh?” I say, pretending not to grasp what she’s saying.
“Rafael. His pig is too.”
That really gets my attention. “Did you say pig? And when did you sneak a peek at my phone?”
“When I stopped to get gas and you were passed out in the car. Used your finger to get past the screen saver too.”
I scrub a hand over my face. “That’s an invasion of privacy.”
“I was curious, and that’s all I looked at, I promise. I also downloaded some apps I recently learned about that I think will be super useful.”
“I guess I can forgive you, then.”
“Good, because when you and Rafael get together, I’m going to want to be first on the list to pet sit.”
I laugh. “You live in a fantasy world, you know that?”
“Hey, better than always being stuck in this one.”
“Yeah.” I bite on my lower lip. “Maybe I need to come visit with you sometime so I can get away too.”
Her hand rests on my arm. “It’s going to get better, I promise. You’re so much better now that you’ve dropped all that dead weight.”
“I’m sure he feels the same about me now that he’s traded me in for a better model.”
“Pfft.” Her hand falls away from me. “Not even close. Your neighbor was nowhere near as cute as you, and he was definitely lacking the rosy-cheek look.” She gives my face a pinch and I slap at her hand.
“He can find his shoes without some app.”
“And so will you. Especially now you only have your own stuff to sort through, and now that there’s no one else here to move it all the time.”
“I guess loneliness has its perks,” I utter.
“You don’t have to be alone. I’ve told you that.”
“You’re right. I have Rafael and his pig at the touch of a button.”
Laughter rushes from her and she pats my back. “Exactly.”
My eyebrows push together. “This Rafael . . . does it say where he lives by chance? His name and the whole pet pig thing sound familiar.”
“I don’t think it said anything about his location.”
