Walking Dick

by Candi Heart

  We walked slowly, unhurried, taking the longest possible route home.

  Matt bent his head and listened to my every word, wearing that thoughtful frown and nodding where appropriate as I talked through the dozen different scenarios that popped up in my head. I thought of many random ways to come up with the money, some of them utterly absurd, as well as a hundred different things I’d do once that was done.

  Once the momentum started rolling, Matt helped me break down the bigger tasks into smaller pieces. With each discreet nudge in the right direction, he helped me manage it down into bite-sized bits. “Just take one step at a time,” he advised. “What changes can you make right now, to move you in the right direction?”

  It wasn’t until we got back to our block and I bid him farewell that I realized how intentional it had all been. He was wise beyond his years, and it was now clear that his initial speed-talking was purposefully designed to allow me a little strategic distance in order to gain perspective. His later silence and gentle prodding helped me reframe my situation in an entirely different light. Matt gave me hope and energy, and that allowed me to create a real plan for the future of my business and my life.

  I almost walked back out the door to thank him. I almost whipped out my phone to call him on the spot. As I gazed out the windows of my front room, though, watching as he walked away with a little grin, I realized a simple truth, as endearing as it was important: Matt doesn’t want me to thank him. He wants me to plan, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

  Chapter 23

  THE NEXT DAY, I STARTED looking for a place—not over the phone, underprepared and over-caffeinated on a weekend, but in person. I wanted to meet each owner face to face, and the last thing I needed was to be scolded again for interrupting someone else’s day.

  I took my time, strolling slowly along the main thoroughfare of the neighborhood, doing my very best to allow Matt’s words to echo in my mind: “Don’t settle. Find what you want, then move Earth to make it happen.”

  It was good advice, and I intended to listen.

  The first two places weren’t a good fit. The third one wasn’t exactly a strike, but it definitely wasn’t a charm either. It shared a wall with a sushi store, and no matter how much the owner tried to reassure me, I was thoroughly convinced that the entire place would smell like dead fish. The fourth place, though, had potential.

  “I love it,” I declared, rotating in a slow circle to take it all in. “I absolutely love it.”

  Mrs. Waverly, the old woman who was renting it out, clapped her wrinkled, liver-spotted hands in delight. “Oh, Alana, I’m so glad. I’ve been hoping it would go to someone I actually like, not just someone I happen to know.”

  We shared a laugh before I glanced at the posting and got down to business.

  “Be that as it may, you know my situation,” I said seriously, as I’d insisted on being quite upfront, right from the moment I stepped inside. “I can’t take possession until I raise a down-payment, and that could be up to two months from now.”

  “Yes, I understand.” She nodded thoughtfully. “Even so, I’d rather wait an extra two months than force you to walk away. I say we give it a shot.”

  Really? Did those words really just come out of her mouth?

  “That’s...” I hesitated, unwilling to spoil my chances but not keen on taking advantage of her. “That’s... incredibly nice of you?” I said, inflecting my voice like a question.

  The crow’s feet around her eyes deepened, and she gave me a motherly smile. “Well, dear, I used to babysit you. That has to count for something.”

  And the neighborhood wins again!

  A beaming grin spread across my face, stretching from ear to ear. “I think it does. If I don’t treat the place well, you can put me in time-out!”

  Without a moment’s hesitation, I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone. Matt’s number was near the top, so I called it quickly, bouncing in place as it rang.

  He answered almost immediately. “Hello?”

  “Matt, it’s me, Alana,” I was quick to add, not wanting to appear overly familiar. “Look, I’m at a storefront downtown, and I absolutely love it! I already explained my whole situation to the woman who is leasing it, and she is willing to wait. If I can raise the down-payment in two months, it’s going to be mine!”

  “That’s incredible!” he exclaimed, and I could almost see his smile through the phone. “Aly, I’m so happy for you!”

  Aly? He certainly isn’t worried about appearing overly familiar. Gosh, I hope Steph isn’t there.

  “Listen,” I said, dropping my voice to a more serious tone and turning my face into the phone, “this is really all because of you. I was literally ready to throw in the towel yesterday, but you got me talking about it, making plans, and—”

  “Nonsense,” he said firmly, cutting me off. “This is all you, Alana, and I refuse to take an ounce of credit. You built your business from the ground up. You’ve sustained it for years, and you are singlehandedly managing its expansion. This is all you, and you should be incredibly proud. I am.”

  There was a slight pause as my face blushed a million shades of red. “Thanks, Matt.”

  Another, slightly more awkward pause ensued before he cleared his throat briskly and requested, “Text me the address. I want to see it.”

  My face erupted in a grin as I started dialing in the numbers. “See ya soon.”

  “Count on it.”

  I am. Oh, boy, how I am!

  ABOUT FIVE MINUTES later, Matt’s fancy sports car was pulling up outside the store. Mrs. Waverly and I watched with wide eyes as he got out, shook back his hair, and hung his sunglasses on the V-neck of his shirt. Behind him, a new mother accidentally bumped her stroller into a nearby telephone pole, and the mailman across the street froze in blatant disbelief.

  As usual, Matt remained oblivious to the attention he was getting.

  “That’s your boyfriend?” Mrs. Waverly asked in disbelief. “Well done, Alana!”

  The blush came back, heating my cheeks to a dangerous color. Part of me wanted to just go along with what she said, to enjoy the ruse, if only for a few minutes and imagine what it would feel like to call Matt mine. Another part, though, was worried that the old woman’s heart might not be able to handle it if he walked inside.

  “Not my boyfriend,” I answered painfully. “He’s just a friend, my neighbor, actually. He is the one who talked me into looking for a new place for my business.”

  Her eyes grew as wide as saucers as he swept into the building. “Still... well done,” she said with a wink.

  Leaving the old woman and her blushing incriminations behind, I hurried across the hardwood floor to meet Matt. The place had been totally gutted, and the click-clacking of my boots echoed with each step. “So?” I held out my hands, gesturing around excitedly. “What do you think?!”

  “It’s amazing,” he murmured, turning in a slow circle just as I had done. His smile was quick before he wandered into the back room to get a better look.

  I followed in his shadow, rapidly regurgitating every bit of information Mrs. Waverly had thrown my way. For the next five minutes, I hardly pulled in a breath: “...which is why they originally thought of fluctuating the rent seasonally. I mean, who knew if that roof was gonna leak again? After that, Henry came out to fix it, so there really was no need—”

  “Hey...” Matt turned around with a grin, pressing a finger to my lips to stop my endless stream of chatter.

  I flushed with embarrassment, but he didn’t want me to stop talking, not by a long shot.

  “Enough about the previous tenants,” he said quietly. “Tell me about the things you see for this place. I want to hear about you.”

  Okay, does Pfizer make some kind of anti-blushing drug? If they don’t, they freaking should! I thought, ready to go into pharmaceuticals with my brilliant idea if the dog-walking thing didn’t work out.

  “Well...” Donning a rather shy smile, I too
k his hand and pulled him along gently behind me as I led him from room to room. “I was thinking we could put the drop-off and registration counter in here. I know the side entrance makes sense, but this is the biggest space. Then we could put the feed room back here. The playroom will be right over there, because it connects to the yard out back. We can use this place for storage and supplies, even the occasional kennel if anyone needs to spend the night.”

  We made a wide circle around the entire building, and then returned to the front door.

  I ended my tour speech, dropped his hand, and stood there nervously, shifting restlessly from side to side as I awaited his verdict. “Well? Is it a good plan?”

  “I think it’s a great plan.” He glanced down at our hands, hanging innocently by our sides, before looking up with a sudden smile. “And more importantly, I think it’s going to work.”

  A beaming smile illuminated my face as I gazed around. “You know, I do too.”

  We stood there for a second, drinking it all in, before he broke the pensive quiet with a declaration. “That’s it! A celebration is in order, especially since it’s your birthday. You don’t already have plans, do you?”

  “Actually, I was going to meet a few girlfriends for drinks. And how do you know it’s my birthday?”

  “I ran into Nate at the bakery, saw the cake.”

  “Yeah, he brought that over earlier and sang ‘Happy Birthday.’”

  The next thing I knew, Matt was dragging me outside with the same hand I’d grabbed before.

  A breathless giggle burst out of me, and I gave Mrs. Waverly a farewell salute.

  He pulled out his keys and held open the passenger door of his car.

  “And just how are we going to celebrate?” I asked.

  “I’m taking you out to dinner,” he replied without missing a beat. Then, in a move that would have rivaled any smoothness even James Bond could muster, he slid across the hood of the car before hopping into his own seat. “To one of my favorite places in Manhattan.”

  I settled into my seat, fully delighted by the prospect, but then his words suddenly clicked. “Wait. Manhattan?” I asked, looking over at him in dismay. “Matt, I’m not dressed to go to a fancy place. I’m wearing jeans, for goodness sake.”

  He revved the engine, grinned at me, then glanced briefly in the mirror behind him. “Trust me. You look perfect.”

  “Perfect and casual?” I complained. “If we could just swing by my house—”

  “No, just perfect.” He met my eyes for a moment before flashing me a wink. “Buckle up, birthday girl. It’s gonna be a wild ride.”

  With that, we rocketed off into the New York sunset, leaving the neighborhood behind.

  Chapter 24

  “THIS?” I SAID, LOOKING around in amusement. “This is your favorite restaurant?” I questioned.

  I wasn’t sure the place fit the definition. For one thing, there were no walls. The entire thing was outside, situated on the rolling hills of a quaint little park. Space heaters sat beside a dozen picnic blankets, as unnecessary as they were, and every now and then, I saw a courageous squirrel dart about, seeing what he could pilfer and carry off into the night. There was something utterly delightful about it, something homey. If only these darn butterflies would stop dancing the lambada in my stomach, it’d be perfect! I thought, hoping I wouldn’t be too nervously nauseous to eat.

  Matt grinned and kicked off his shoes. “There are waiters. That makes it qualify as a restaurant, right?”

  “Well...” I said, looking around.

  As if on cue, a young man appeared from out of nowhere and offered us another bottle of champagne. We had already made it through the first, and Matt had said yes to the second without a moment’s pause. The waiter uncorked the bottle and politely disappeared, leaving the two of us to hold up our glasses in an intimate toast.

  “To you,” Matt said softly, “chasing after your dreams.”

  I clinked my flute against his. “To the death of Preaker. Just kidding.”

  The two of us laughed and drank the bubbly in silence, staring out over the lamp-lit field.

  “I have a present for you,” he said, then handed me a small box wrapped in gold paper, with a neatly tied, matching gold bow on top.

  I smiled. “You didn’t have to.”

  “Of course I did. Birthdays only come once a year,” he teased.

  When I opened the box, my jaw dropped at the sight of the pendant, just a single pearl on a silver chain. “It’s gorgeous!” I said. “You really shouldn’t have, but thank you so much!”

  “You are a special, talented, and smart woman,” Matt said. “You deserve it.”

  “I think I’m actually kind of like this pearl.”

  “Really? How so?”

  “Well, all natural pearls have flaws and imperfections.”

  He peered deeply into my eyes. “Nevertheless, this pearl looks absolutely perfect to me.”

  At that point, I could not stop the tears from welling. He didn’t care about my flaws, and he accepted me for who I was. In fact, he thought I was perfect, and that made the night perfect too.

  “I really chose it because the jeweler told me it stands for new beginnings,” he said.

  “New beginnings?”

  “Um, for your business,” he clarified. “You’re branching out, taking it out of your home and into a real place. I just know this is the beginning of something amazing.”

  I grinned widely. “I think so, too. Can you help me put it on?”

  “Sure.”

  He unhooked the clasp and moved behind me. When I lifted my hair so he could gently latch it, I felt an electric charge between us. It only exacerbated when he touched my neck, growing into a shiver that shot down my spine.

  “It looks gorgeous on you,” he said, then sat back down.

  I gently tapped his champagne glass. “Cheers.”

  “To new beginnings.”

  We both grinned widely.

  There was something between us, some amazing spark, some fantastic connection. I kept telling myself it was only a friendly meal, a birthday and business celebration and nothing more, just a kind neighbor doing something nice for me. Even if I couldn’t have him on a romantic level, Matt was a great friend to have.

  The meal itself was spectacular, unforgettably delicious, pan-tossed fettuccini with a creamy glaze. It certainly didn’t fit into my diet plan, but I couldn’t bring myself to care about that, any more than I’d been able to bring myself to care about devouring pretzels from the bakery or that triple-layer, sinful chocolate cake Nate gave me.

  It was my birthday, the champagne was flowing freely, and I had a pretty pearl necklace on. The conversation was wonderful and nonstop, and the stars seemed to twinkle more brightly than they ever had before. Then, before I even thought it possible, the bell on a distant cathedral chimed ten times.

  “It’s getting late,” I murmured, nestling back on the blanket.

  The warmth of the heaters was suddenly nice, and the orange neon from them painted the landscape in a soft glow.

  “It’s actually way later than I thought. Where’d the day go?” I said with a chuckle.

  Matt glanced over silently, his eyes flickering in the gentle light. “Do you want to head back?”

  I met his eyes for only a moment before shaking my head.

  His lips twitched up in a grin, and together, we stretched out on the blanket, gazing up at the black velvet sky peppered with celestial diamonds.

  It was a breathtaking view, the undisputed highlight of a breathtaking week. There had been so many ups and downs that it was hard to keep track. The only thing I was sure of was that against all odds, things had turned out okay somehow. I knew that because I was there, with him, and everything about it was perfect.

  Far before I was ready for the dream to end, our waiter’s face floated cheerfully into view. “Will you and your girlfriend be ordering dessert tonight?”

  Girlfriend? That’s the seco
nd time today!

  Just like that, our beautiful night came to a screeching halt.

  Matt’s entire body stiffened at the word, and I hurried to straighten up on the grass.

  “No, uh... We don’t want any...” I trailed off in panic. “I mean, I’m not...”

  There was a nervous shifting on the blanket beside me as Matt tugged absentmindedly at the collar of his shirt, as if the garment had somehow come to life and tried to strangle him. “Can we just get the check?”

  The perfect night instantly became a strained nightmare, and the silence on the drive home was anything but comfortable, the air charged with the invisible tension. That tension seemed to follow us like a gray cloud of guilt as Matt walked me silently to my door.

  “Thanks again for dinner,” I murmured, keeping my eyes fixed on the ground.

  He was doing the same thing, also trying to dodge the stormy cloud. “Don’t mention it... and congratulations again.”

  I nodded hastily, biting my lip as I tried and failed to come up with anything viable to say. “Well, uh... goodnight then.”

  “Goodnight,” he said, then leaned in and kissed me swiftly on the cheek, just as he had done every time we’d parted ways since that first day. This time, though, he lingered.

  My breath caught in my chest as I slowly turned my head. I found myself face to face with him, mere inches away. His eyes were so dilated and dark that I almost couldn’t detect any of the hazel flecks in them. They fixed on my lips as his head bent instinctively closer. I stretched up on my toes, desperate to be close. Then, as if without thinking, he slipped his hands behind my neck, and both of his thumbs stroked my cheeks in gentle circles. We bowed our heads and sighed lightly, as if silently praying our thanks for that moment while simultaneously confessing that we shouldn’t.

  “Steph moved across the country for me,” he said.

  It was only a few words, but it was enough, enough to dismiss any idea of the two of us but also enough to validate it. We had to admit that those feelings were there, that they were real and that he felt them too.