The Neighbor #3 (The Neighbor #3) (5 page)

I went to my room to change. I was awash in
the effects of the wine and void of my inhibitions, which meant I checked my
common sense at the door. The sun was shining so I skipped the jeans for a pair
of short-shorts. I thought back to my kayak adventure at the lake with Ryder. I
had worn a similar outfit. I dug around in my drawer for a white tank top from
junior high. It was the perfect fit—two sizes too small.

****

In the garden, I found Sayler already hard at
work. It was difficult not to look over the fence into Ryder’s yard but I used
restraint. Sayler was sitting among the dying vines and the rotting tomatoes.

“Grab a five gallon bucket from the shed,” she
directed me. “We need a place to put these
tomatoes,
otherwise the seeds will make a forest of seedlings next year. It sounds great,
but it’s a mess, and most of the plants won’t produce fruit,” Sayler said. She
always enjoyed
my
mother’s garden and had developed
quite a green thumb.

“It’s hot for this time of year. I think you could
use some cooling off.”

I sprayed Sayler with the hose. She threw a
decomposing tomato at my head and it turned into an all-out war. The zucchini
came into play, all we needed was some pasta, and we would have made a great
meal. We were both soaking wet. If Ryder noticed, he would have seen my white
wet shirt. I was subconsciously recreating our afternoon in the rain.

Sayler giggled.
“Truce.
We are a mess, Jenna. Do you feel better?”

“I feel great.”

We didn’t get a lot of work done but we
accomplished what we set out to do. I had forgotten about Ryder for a few
minutes until we heard his voice from across the fence.

“Come on
son
,
let’s go inside and grab some lunch,” Ryder said to the little boy.

A simple three-letter word sent me into a
tailspin and immediately sobered me up. I had thought my fit was bad before. As
I had emptied the golf clubs all over my dorm room, I did to my mother’s
kitchen drawers as I stomped inside and Sayler followed. Cutlery went flying
and a whisk hit Sayler in the face. The silver, which was never used, lay on
the floor. I wadded up cheap paper towels as I had in the high school bathroom
and threw them to the ceiling.

“Well, I see you are reverting back into a
child. You have given new meaning to the tantrum.” Sayler concealed her
laughter. She thought my antics were funny but she refused to give into my
juvenile behavior.

I was wet and embarrassed, standing in my
mother’s kitchen, which I had destroyed.

“I look pathetic huh?” I said.

“Yeah.
Well, now we know for sure that
Rydy
-Pooh
has been hiding a family. That is his kid and we probably saw his wife or
baby-mama earlier. The truth hurts, especially when we can’t do anything about
it.”

“I hate it when you’re right Sayler. It’s not
often. I wish it was never because this one hurts.”

We started to pick up my mother’s kitchen,
which was a mess. The yard was not much better as it had been our battlefield
for the tomato war.

“Sayler, I just didn’t think this would happen
to me. I had my eyes wide open,” I said.

“Not wide enough. He took advantage of you. He
played you like a cello.”

“What if it was his sister? I know she has a
daughter and maybe she has a son too. That would make perfect sense,” I said. I
was grasping at straws.

“Who calls their nephew son and why would he
keep a date with his sister secretive?” Sayler answered.

“I guess I owe it to Ryder to tell him I know
the truth.”

Sayler looked at me sternly. “No, Jenna. You
owe it to yourself to tell him to go to fucking hell.”

“Thanks for being here when I needed you. I
know Ryder’s schedule. He meets three other guys for golf every Sunday
afternoon. I will be at the country club when he finishes his round and he’s in
for a big surprise,” I said.

“Is it safe to leave you alone? I am afraid of
which room you will tear apart after I leave.”

“I will be fine. I will have my mother cook me
up something for dinner.”

“Are you high? Your mom doesn’t cook.”

“I know, but she is going through some sort of
rejuvenation, renaissance, or she is just crazy. She even has her eyes on
Claude the neighbor. In general, she hasn’t changed much.”

“Right.
Do you think we will get that way as we age?”

“God, I hope not.” I laughed and gave Sayler a
hug goodbye.

It took a couple hours to clean up. It was
therapeutic in a way. I didn’t linger in front of the kitchen window, but I
stole the occasional glance. I could see the lights were still on, which
indicated that Ryder and the boy were still home.

I tried waiting up for my mother. I thought
she must have taken the scenic route with Claude. I was actually waiting up for
my mother, which was weird. Before I fell off to sleep, I checked my phone. I
had a text from Ryder.

Miss U
nxt
W/E?

Yeah right. I put my phone face down with the
ringer and vibrator off and went to sleep.

Chapter
Six

I woke up early on Sunday. I was still pissed
at my mother for not telling me about Ryder sooner. My relationship with her
could not compare to what was going on with him. I decided to accept her the
way she was and make nice.

I was going to the country club, so I dressed
accordingly. I wore a pair of khakis and a pink, sleeveless polo. I lay in bed
for fifteen minutes with cucumbers on my eyes to reduce any evidence that I had
been crying. The 3-4 tumblers of cheap wine I’d had did not help me look
refreshed.

I found my mother at the kitchen table.

“Good morning, Mom. You were out late last
night,” I commented.

“Keeping tabs on me?”

“Just returning the favor, Mom.
Hope you know everything about Claude
Simmons. You never know. The man could be an ax murderer, or worse: he could be
hiding a wife and kids,” I joked.

My mother ignored the comment and returned to
her crossword puzzle.

“I am going to run errands, stop at the
country club on Pelican Island, and return to school. Have a great week. I’ll
let you know my plans for next weekend.” I grabbed my things and headed out the
door.

****

I had no errands to run, so I ended up driving
around before hitting the country. I was nervous about seeming like some crazy
stalker type woman. I had a life to lead and I had to fix the Ryder bullshit
before moving on. Moving on was not what I wanted, but it was the only choice
given the circumstances. I thought dating my professor was scandalous. Hooking
up with a married man took it to another level.

I parked my car next to Ryder’s Lexus. Of course,
I peaked in the vehicle. Crumpled on the seat were a number of fast food
wrappers. I told him a good diet was common sense, especially for a person with
cancer, but he obviously wasn’t listening. The usual golf tees and spare golf
gloves were scattered on the floor. Standing out like a sore thumb were two
baseball mitts.
One for Ryder and, presumably, one for the
kid.

A leather case sat on the front seat.
Embroidered on the thing were the initials SHC. A tingle coursed up my spine.
The woman must have been the mysterious Samantha or Sammy. Shit. I slammed my
hand on Ryder’s car. It could not be more obvious. He mentioned Sammy on
several occasions and other people in the club had mentioned her. I imagined
the S was for Samantha and the C stood for Curran. Ryder could not have been
more obvious. Everyone else knew about Sammy, making me look like a fool.

Armed with this knowledge, Ryder had no option
but to tell me the truth. I walked into the lounge, as I knew Ryder would enjoy
a ceremonial draft after his round. He always sat by the large window so I
would choose the bar. I did not want to embarrass him in front of his friends.
I didn’t know why I gave a shit about his reputation.

“Riko, I will have a glass of chardonnay,” I
stated as I took my seat.

Riko looked at me and smiled.

“Whoops, I forgot. I’m not twenty-one. I guess
that matters in your line of work. Make it a sweet tea.”

“You got it, Jenna. I pay the mortgage with
this gig so I have to make sure they don’t fire my ass for serving minors,” Riko
said as he delivered my tea. “Should I throw it on Ryder’s account?”

“No Rikko—ah, on second thought, sure why
not.” I glanced at my watch and I had some time before Ryder was finished. “I
will look at a bar menu too.”
 

I decided to order a shrimp salad. I wasn’t
hungry, but since Ryder was kind enough to foot the bill, I would indulge.

“Hey Riko, have you seen Ryder’s Sammy
lately.”

“I have not. I wish Ryder would bring Sammy
in. Gives a bit of fresh air to this place, if you know what I mean. Sammy has
helped Ryder get through the past year. He is a lucky man.”

I smiled and nodded my head. I wanted to crawl
beneath my bar stool and cry.

****

Ryder walked into the lounge. It had been days
since I had seen him close up. I gulped hard. He looked fantastic. He was
wearing washed out navy shorts and a white polo shirt. The light color
emphasized his tan skin. His eyes were bright and happy. He must have had a
good round, and whatever he did over the weekend had agreed with him. He was
alone and Riko set him up with a beer. As Riko served him, he whispered in
Ryder’s ear. Ryder looked in my direction. He shot me a huge smile as he hopped
out of his seat.

Ryder came to the bar and threw his arms
around me. I flushed and my hands began to sweat. He felt so powerful. He felt
better than ever. For a moment, I forgot the last forty-eight hours.

“Jenna. This is the best surprise ever. I
thought about you constantly. We left things kind of badly and you never
returned my calls or texts,” Ryder said.

He did not speak like a guilty man and his
eyes were not lying. Boy was he good.

“I stopped in to grab a bite to eat before I
cruise back to school.”

“I wasn’t aware that you had spent the weekend
in town.”

How could he have not noticed Sayler and me
squealing? We were right next-door. Ryder was insulting my intelligence.

“I was at my mother’s house all weekend,
Ryder,” I spoke slowly as if to say
Duh –
I saw everything.

“Oh.” Ryder was silent. He knew I had seen him
with Samantha and his son.
 

“Cat got your tongue?”

Ryder still had his hand on my shoulder. He
grew uncomfortable and put his hands in his pockets.

“Cat—no, more like a mountain lion. You have
eyes and you were right next door. I was hardly hiding.”

“Yeah, Ryder, I saw you and Sammy and your
son. I’m so confused. You owe it to me—come clean. I was fucking tortured
watching you and your family frolicking. You must’ve seen and heard Sayler and
me while we were hurling tomatoes at one another.”

Ryder started to chuckle, which was annoying.
Soon he broke into obnoxious laughter, which really pissed me off. I was
prepared to smack the smile off his face.

“Jenna, I understand the confusion but you are
far off base.”

“Don’t fucking patronize me…Professor Curran.”

I pulled my hand back. I was about to slap him
across the face. Ryder caught my arm on its way towards his cheek. He used my
arm to drag me away from the restaurant into the kitchen. The cook looked up
and then went back to chopping, as if it was something he was used to seeing.

“Jenna, I can handle cancer and all that
brings with it but I can’t handle being slapped in public. Okay, you can slap
me now.” Ryder closed his eyes in preparation for my open-handed slap.

“I can’t do it Ryder. I haven’t slapped a
person since kindergarten—and he really deserved it. Are you ready to tell me
the truth—the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

“Yes, your honor. Will you go outside with me
where we can have some privacy at least?”

I extended my hand and Ryder pulled me along.

****

We chose a spot on the sand facing the ocean
with the golf course behind us. On any other occasion, it would have been a
magnificent spot. The waves were crashing far from shore and their sound was
all we could hear. The dunes provided a blind from any golfers on the course. We
were completely alone – good spot to have wild sex but the thought of sand up
my ass made me uncomfortable. Ryder and I sat on the sand facing one another.
He cupped my hands and looked at me directly with his stunning green eyes.

“Jenna, I was keeping a secret from you, but
it is not what you expect. What you are thinking is far from the truth. The
mythical Sammy is actually my nine-year-old son from a marriage that I started
and finished years ago. You saw a trio, in some respects a family, doing the
best they possibly could. The woman you saw is my ex-wife, Sally
Housley
. We are friends. I will tell you more about her
later. She is not a secret, but it’s a long, boring story for another time,”
Ryder said and then paused. I sensed he was waiting for my reaction.