The Man Next Door

by Gina Wilkins

  The guy in the seat next to him dropped his own program, and bumped Teague’s shoulder as he bent to retrieve it. “Sorry.”

  “No problem.”

  “Another choir performance, huh?” the older man asked jovially.

  A little confused by the wording, Teague nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Which one’s yours?”

  “Which what is mine?” Teague asked blankly.

  The other man chuckled and nodded his graying head toward the program in Teague’s hand. “Which kid? Son or daughter?”

  Oh, man. The guy thought Teague had a kid in college. Even a freshman would be eighteen or nineteen, and Teague would have had to have been a real sexual prodigy to have accomplished that.

  While it was true that the auditorium lights had already been dimmed so that maybe the other man wasn’t seeing him all that clearly, Teague was still a bit chagrined. Maybe he should have taken time to shave before he came. Maybe the beard made him look older. Or maybe the job was aging him faster than he’d realized.

  “Neither. I don’t have any kids. I’m here for a friend in the choir,” he said, trying not to sound too abrupt.

  The other guy squinted a bit to study Teague more closely. “Oh, guess you’re younger than I realized. Sorry, I left my glasses at home, which is why I dropped my program. I was trying to find my daughter’s name.”

  Only a little placated, Teague nodded.

  “She’s my youngest of three daughters,” the other man confided, obviously the chatty sort. On his other side, his wife was gossiping with another woman, leaving her husband to entertain himself by talking to a stranger. “Can’t tell you how many concerts and recitals and plays and school programs I’ve sat through during the past twenty-five years.”

  “Sounds like you’ve been a very involved father.”

  “I’ve tried to be. I tell you, son, I’ve done a lot of things in my life, accomplished quite a bit, but there’s nothing I’m prouder of than my girls. You’ll see someday.”

  “Mmm.” Teague was immensely relieved when the house lights went down and music began to play. The piece was heavy on sleigh bells, but it sounded great, as far as Teague was concerned, since it effectively put an end to that awkward conversation.

  Chapter Eleven

  Dani was to leave very early on December 23 for Atlanta. She was flying this time, the ticket a gift from her family so she wouldn’t have to make the long drive again. Teague had planned to visit his stepmother, but work responsibilities cropped up, so he had to postpone the trip. He offered to drive Dani to the airport, but she politely declined, telling him she would just leave her car in airport parking.

  She invited him to have dinner with her the night before she left, telling him it would be their own holiday celebration. She would have invited Hannah, too, but Hannah had already left for her family home.

  Dani went to a lot of trouble for the meal, choosing not to analyze why it seemed so important to do so. She had put out a few decorations for the season—a wreath on her door, a small Christmas tree, a pretty centerpiece on her table. She served a down-home holiday meal of country ham, creamed potatoes with red-eye gravy, green beans and corn. She wasn’t brave enough to try making her grandmother’s homemade biscuits, so she bought brown-and-serve rolls instead. For dessert, she bought a premade pumpkin pie because she knew Teague liked pumpkin.

  “This was really nice,” he told her when he had finished the last bite of his dessert. “You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble when you had so much else to do this week.”

  Pleased by the praise, she shrugged. “I wanted to. I feel bad that you’re going to be working through Christmas and not visiting your stepmother, so I wanted you to have one nice holiday meal.”

  “That was very nice of you. But I did volunteer to work this week, you know. It wouldn’t have been right to keep some guy away from his kids when I don’t have anyone who’ll miss me on Christmas.”

  She bit her lip to keep herself from responding to that. Something told her that she would be thinking of Teague at least a couple of times on Christmas, and she was very much afraid that she would be missing him.

  It really was a good thing they were going to be spending a week apart, she decided, stacking dishes in the dishwasher. She needed a little distance from Teague, to remind herself of why she didn’t want her life to revolve around a man again. Not that Teague ever made any demands on her. He was just always…there. And that could be all too easy to get accustomed to, especially since she knew he could drift out of her life as quickly as he had stumbled in.

  “Oh, by the way,” he said when they’d finished cleaning the kitchen. “I got you a little something for Christmas. It’s in my jacket in the other room.”

  “Oh, you didn’t have to do that,” she said automatically, thanking her stars that there was a wrapped gift with Teague’s name on it under her little tree.

  “I wanted to. It’s no big deal,” he said with a slightly self-conscious shrug. “I don’t have that many people to buy Christmas gifts for.”

  She followed him into the living room and watched as he pulled a small wrapped gift out of his jacket pocket. She plucked his gift out from under her tree as he turned. “I got you something, too,” she admitted.

  “That wasn’t necessary, either,” he said, though he looked pleased that she had gone to the effort. She wondered how many people had actually thought of him with a gift this Christmas. And how much of his solitude was by his own choice.

  She opened her gift to find that he had bought her a gold charm shaped like a music note. It was very delicate, very feminine, a bauble that could be worn on a chain or a bracelet, and something about it surprised her, because it didn’t seem like something Teague would buy.

  “I guess it’s a little obvious, but it reminded me of you,” he said with a slight shrug when she looked up at him. “I’m not very good at buying presents.”

  He’d spent too much, she thought, feeling the weight of the gold in her hand, as delicate as the charm might be. She knew jewelry, and this was no cheapie trinket. But something about the way he had watched her open it, as though he was afraid she wouldn’t like it or wouldn’t accept it, kept her from voicing her reservations. “I think it’s lovely. I’ve got a chain that will be perfect for it. Thank you, Teague.”

  His smile made her glad she’d decided to accept graciously. He seemed relieved, as though he’d had second—maybe third—thoughts about his selection. Yes, the selection was a bit obvious for a music teacher/student, but the fact that he’d made an effort to choose something so tailored to her interests made it special.

  He opened his gift then, and he seemed pleased. “Wow,” he said, running the scarf through his hands. “That feels good. I had a nice muffler, but it’s about worn out. Thanks, Dani.”

  “I’m glad you like it. I thought it would look good with your black jacket.”

  Teague was still studying the classic pattern of the plaid. “You know, my dad had a scarf a lot like this one. This same plaid. It was his favorite pattern.”

  “Black watch? Yes, it’s a classic plaid.”

  “He had a pair of pajamas in the same plaid. Wore them until the buttons came off and he had safety pins holding the shirt together. He was red-green color blind, so he couldn’t see a lot of colors, but he liked the blues in this pattern. My stepmother finally made him throw the pajamas away. She bought him several new sets, but I don’t think he ever liked any of them as well as that one pair.”

  “You and your father were close?” she asked, trying to read his tone.

  He sighed lightly. “Not as close as I would have liked. We would have been, I think, had he lived longer. A little further past my teen rebellion years. But, yeah, we got along pretty well for the most part.”

  “Do you miss him?” she asked, hearing the wistfulness in her own voice.

  Teague looked at her steadily. “Every day.”

  She swallowed and nodded. “I
miss my dad, too. He and I were very close. I was very much Daddy’s girl. It devastated me to lose him. As much as I enjoy spending the holidays with my family, I’m always aware of his absence now. Especially Christmas. He loved Christmas.”

  Teague squeezed her shoulder lightly. “I’m sorry.”

  She shrugged a little beneath his touch. “I’m okay. It’s part of life, I know, to lose people you love.”

  “Yeah, but it’s a sucky part.”

  That made her smile just a little. “Exactly.”

  He leaned down to brush his lips across her forehead. “Thank you, Dani. I’ll enjoy using the scarf.”

  She smiled up at him. “And I’ll enjoy the charm.”

  His lips touched her cheek and the end of her nose. “I hope you will.”

  Turning her head a little, she let their lips meet. Just for a light, friendly kiss in the spirit of their pleasant evening together.

  What started as a light caress spiraled out of her control before she could do anything to stop it. She wasn’t sure how her arms ended up around his neck when she didn’t even remember lifting them. How her fingers managed to entangle themselves so deeply into his hair. His arms were around her, his legs tangled with hers, and there was no doubt that the embrace had become as intense for him as it was for her.

  They kissed until kisses were no longer enough, and then Teague groaned and tried to disentangle himself. “You have to leave early in the morning,” he muttered, his jaw tight with restraint. “You need some sleep.”

  She hesitated only a moment before tugging him back against her. “I’ll nap on the plane.”

  Laughing against her lips, he nudged her toward the bedroom.

  “It’s a shame Teague couldn’t join us for Christmas,” Gillian said late Christmas afternoon. The gifts had all been unwrapped and exclaimed over, massive amounts of food had been consumed and now Dani and her mother and grandmother were sitting in the kitchen, relaxing with cups of hot spiced cider.

  Clay was at his girlfriend’s house, and Rachel and Mark were hosting his family that day at their house, having shared Christmas Eve with Rachel’s family. Dani, who was staying at her mother’s house this time, was left alone to be grilled by the family matriarchs.

  Having made a solemn vow to herself during the plane ride not to get into any arguments with her mother this holiday, or to overreact to maternal advice or reproach, Dani kept her expression bland as she responded, “I told you, Mom. Teague had to work. Besides, he doesn’t expect to spend all holidays with a family he barely knows. He came for Thanksgiving only because he’d been injured and had no one to look out for him.”

  “Having to work on Christmas.” Grandma Lawrence shook her head in disapproval. “Being beaten up at Thanksgiving. Being in danger all the time. That’s a very hard job Teague has, Dani.”

  “Well, I don’t think he’s literally in danger all the time,” Dani demurred. “From what he’s told me, he spends more time on the computer and plowing through paperwork than he does in actual confrontations with bad guys. He has to travel a lot, and he works pretty long hours when he’s in the middle of a difficult case, but it’s not really like on TV with danger around every corner.”

  It was a risky job, of course, and she was always aware of that whenever Teague left for work. She just didn’t want to analyze her feelings about it now, with her mother and grandmother, who always tended to read too much into the things she said.

  “He’s a very nice man,” Gillian murmured, “but I’m not sure he’s such a good match for you, Dani. I don’t know how well you would deal with the constant worry about him. Or with having your plans and holidays messed up at the last minute because of the demands of his job. I’m afraid it would lead to conflict since you…well, you like things to go just so.”

  Her resolutions evaporating, Dani asked coolly, “You mean because I’m so ‘high maintenance’?”

  “I didn’t say high maintenance,” Gillian countered. “I just meant—”

  “Never mind,” Dani cut in with a firm shake of her head. “It doesn’t matter, anyway, because I’m not planning a long-term future with Teague. He and I just hang out occasionally because we enjoy each other’s company, but that’s all there is to it. We each have our own lives, and neither of us is interested in making any changes right now, so just don’t worry about it, okay?”

  “But—”

  “I don’t think Dani wants to talk about Teague anymore right now,” Grandma Lawrence said, studying Dani’s face perceptively. “Let’s talk about something else now. Dani, did we tell you that Caroline Drennan got promoted to vice principal of the elementary school where she’s been teaching? You know she’s always wanted to get into administration, and she’s finally getting her chance.”

  Gratefully, Dani latched onto the new topic. “Good for her. She was a good teacher, but she’ll be a great principal. She gets along so well with everyone, but I’d bet she can be tough when she has to be.”

  A little sulkily, Gillian made a grudging comment, and before long they were all deep into a discussion of local gossip. Dani tried to pretend for the rest of the day that Teague never even entered her thoughts. She hoped she fooled the others, because she certainly had no success in deluding herself that she wasn’t becoming more and more obsessed with him.

  “I’m so bored.” Mike Ferguson let his shaggy head drop dramatically backward onto the headrest of the seat in the battered pickup truck in which he and Teague slouched. “This is the worst Christmas night ever.”

  “It’d be a lot better if you’d quit bitching and just watch for Carlisle,” Teague replied without sympathy. He reached for his insulated mug of cooling coffee and took a swallow, hoping the caffeine would clear his own boredom-dulled brain. Anybody who’d ever believed stakeouts were exciting should sit in on a few, he thought grimly.

  “Carlisle’s not going to show. How stupid would he be to come here tonight?”

  “He’s not a particularly smart guy,” Teague said, shrugging. “Just slippery. Visiting his mother on Christmas is something the jerk would very likely try to pull off.”

  “Seems kind of cold busting him in front of his mama on Christmas.”

  “Colder that he’s deprived a couple mamas of their kids on Christmas.”

  “There is that. If he shows up, we’ll get him. Just hope he doesn’t make us have to run or duck bullets or anything. I’ve eaten so much sugar tonight that I’m feeling kinda sluggish.”

  “Put away the bag of Christmas candy, then. Carlisle’s not likely to hold out his arms and invite us to carry him off to jail.” Which was why they were both wearing bulletproof vests as they sat in the uncomfortable but suitably inconspicuous vehicle, watching the gang leader’s mother’s house.

  Mike popped another chocolate Santa into his mouth in a defiant gesture. “Eating gives me something to do, since you’re in one of your moods.”

  Teague scowled. “I’m not in a mood.”

  “Sure you are. It’s like pulling teeth to get you to talk tonight. I mean, I don’t want to be spending Christmas on a stakeout any more than you do, but at least I’m not sitting here sulking about it.”

  “I’m not sulking. I’m just thinking.”

  “Thinking about her? The princess?”

  His fingers twitching on the steering wheel, Teague tried to speak lightly. “You mean my neighbor? Dani?”

  “Like you didn’t know who I was talking about. You’ve been seeing a lot of her, haven’t you?”

  His scowl deepening, Teague asked, “How did you know that?”

  Mike chuckled. “I didn’t until just now. So, how often have you been seeing her?”

  Not nearly enough, Teague thought glumly. And yet, in some ways, entirely too much. He wondered what his partner would say if he answered that way. Ferguson would probably laugh his butt off at Teague’s uncharacteristic dithering. When it came to Dani, Teague was decidedly conflicted, wanting to be with her even as he worried about getting
too close.

  He couldn’t predict what was going to happen between them, and that bugged his always-in-control soul. They could gradually drift apart, as both of them got involved with their busy careers, but for some reason that didn’t seem likely as long as they were living in such close proximity.

  As far as he knew, Dani hadn’t dated anyone since she’d been hanging out with him, but there was certainly nothing keeping her from seeing someone else. She could decide to get more deeply involved with one of those guys she dated occasionally, in which case Teague would be eased out of the scene. It bothered him how much he hated picturing her with anyone else. He thought it would be extremely painful to watch her go into her apartment with some other man.

  So what was the alternative? Should he try to talk her into taking that next step with him, from being “friends with benefits” to a real couple? He didn’t know if she would even be interested in trying, since she’d made it clear that she wasn’t looking for anything serious right now. At least, not with him. And she was probably right. Every instinct told him that any relationship between them would be volatile, and that the ending wouldn’t be an easy one. It was just the way they were when they were together. Explosive.

  “Dude.” Mike waved a hand in front of Teague’s eyes. “Still with me?”

  “I’m just watching for Carlisle,” Teague snapped, focusing again on the doorway down the street. “Eat your candy.”

  “Man,” Mike muttered, digging into the bag again. “She’s really got you tied in knots. Never thought I’d see the day.”

  Teague winced and sank more deeply into his seat.

  Dani had told Teague she would return very late on the twenty-seventh and she certainly wasn’t expecting to see him that evening. She’d taken a late flight out of Atlanta, wanting to spend as much time as possible with her family. She wasn’t sure when she’d have the chance to get back to see them, now that the holidays were over.

  It was after eleven when she climbed out of her SUV and reached in for her bags. She’d taken two large suitcases, one almost empty on the way there, since she knew she’d be bringing back Christmas gifts. They were both full now, and heavy. Slinging her equally loaded carry-on tote over her shoulder, she tried to balance both her suitcases, since she didn’t want to make an extra trip out to the shadowy parking lot tonight.