Next to Me

by Allie Everhart

  "Don't start," I say, breaking from his lips. "I need to get to work."

  "Your boss says it's break time."

  "I just got here. It's not time for a break." I kiss him, because I can't help myself when his lips are this close to mine. "Now let me work. And stop spying on me. I've seen you sneaking in the living room."

  "I've got eye candy too, you know. And I've gotta go check it out every now and then."

  I smile as I walk back to the living room. I've never had a guy flirt with me the way Nash does. Usually, a guy will flirt the first time you meet him and then once you admit you like him, the flirting ends. But Nash keeps it going, which just heightens my attraction to him.

  An hour later, I'm going through yet another box and finally find something that isn't a newspaper, magazine, or junk mail. I've gone through dozens of boxes and that's all I've found. The old man was obsessed with collecting paper.

  But the box I just opened has an envelope with photos in it. They're photos of the Grand Canyon, but they're old and yellowed and some of them are cracked. I'm not sure if Nash would want these.

  "Nash, do you—" I stop when I see a photo that isn't of the canyon. It's of a girl, maybe 15 or 16. She's standing in someone's back yard, next to a tree. It's an old photo, but in better shape than the others, with just a little yellowing and no cracks. As I look closer, I see that the girl's face looks similar to Nash's. This must be a relative. Maybe it's his mom. I quickly fumble through the rest of the photos and find one of her when she's older, maybe 20.

  "Nash," I call out.

  "What do you need?"

  "Can you come in here a minute?"

  He walks into the living room. "You find something?" He points to the box.

  "Yeah. I um...found some photos. I think you'll want to keep these."

  "Photos of what?"

  "I'm not sure who it is, but maybe you'll recognize her." I hand him the photos.

  He looks at them, studying them.

  "Who is she? Do you know?"

  He flips the photo over. There's writing on the back, a girl's name and a date.

  "It's my mom," he says. His eyes move to the photo of her when she's older.

  "You have other photos of her, right?"

  He shakes his head. "No. I've never seen her."

  He's never seen her? His dad didn't have any pictures? You'd think he'd have at least one or two, or maybe he does and he didn't want Nash to see them.

  He's still staring at the photo, not saying anything.

  "Nash, are you all right?"

  He snaps out of his daze and holds up the photos. "If you find any more of these, set them aside."

  "I will. I wasn't going to throw them out. But do you want the others? The canyon photos?"

  "No. You can toss those." He takes the photos of his mom and walks out of the room.

  Wow. That's the first time he's seen his mom? That's a huge deal. I wonder how he's feeling right now. That's gotta be strange to see your mom after not knowing what she looked like for the past twenty-five years. He goes back to work and I don't see him again until I find him in the kitchen later to tell him I'm going back to my house to heat up our spaghetti.

  It's a nice evening, so we eat out on Nash's deck. He's quiet for most of dinner. He's never quiet. He's always talking, joking around. But now he's serious and distant.

  "I think I'll head home," I say, getting up from the table.

  "Yeah. Okay. Thanks for your help today."

  "Sure. I'll see you tomorrow." I go to leave but then stop and return to the table, sitting down next to him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

  I didn't ask him earlier because I thought he didn't want me to, but that's because if it were me, I wouldn't want to be asked. But maybe he wants to talk. Maybe he needs to.

  He sighs, tapping his empty pop can on the table. "I knew when I came here that I'd find something of hers. Photos. Stuff from her childhood. I just wasn't prepared to see it. And now that I have, I'm not sure how I feel."

  "I'm sorry, Nash."

  He smiles a little. "You don't need to be. I'm fine. I just need some time to think."

  "About what?"

  "About whether I should show them to my dad. Every time I bring her up, we get in a fight because he refuses to talk about her." He glances back at the house. "Maybe I'll wait and see what else we find in those boxes before I talk to him." He nudges my foot with his. "You should go. I need to do some sanding tonight so it's going to get loud and messy."

  "You could come over and watch TV later."

  "Thanks, but when my mind is racing I can't sit around. I have to be moving. Keep busy." He reaches over and holds my hand and smiles. "You're a good neighbor."

  I smile back. "Thanks."

  "And a good employee." His face turns serious. "And a good friend. I'm really glad I met you, Callie."

  I nod, feeling horrible that I haven't opened up to him the way he's opened up to me. He's told me about his ex cheating on him, his issues with his dad, the real reason he's renovating this house, and the fact that he's keeping it, which he hasn't told anyone else. And I've told him almost nothing.

  I'm not a friend. I'm just the girl who lives next door. And I'll never be more than that.

  Chapter Twenty

  Nash

  It's been almost three weeks since Callie found those photos of my birth mom. She hasn't found any more, but she still has a lot of boxes to go through. Instead of sorting through them, she's been helping me with the kitchen. I didn't ask her to. She volunteered. She kept sneaking in there, watching what I was doing and asking if she could help, so I let her, and now she wants to take part in the rest of the renovation. She's like me, in that she likes seeing something that seems like it can't be saved, come back to life.

  With Callie's help, the kitchen is coming together faster than I'd planned. The cabinets are all in place, along with the new dishwasher, stove, and fridge. This week I'll be installing the floor tile, then I'll put up the baseboards and fix up the walls so they're ready to paint. After the kitchen is done, I'll start on the living room, ripping up the carpet to make room for the wood floors. But before I do that, I need Callie to finish going through the boxes that are still stacked in the living room, so she's going to get back to that tomorrow.

  I think Callie purposely took a break from sorting through my grandfather's things because she was afraid of what she might find and how it would affect me. After those photos showed up, I wasn't myself. I had to let it sink in that the woman in the photo was my mom. For years, I had this image of what she might look like, but the woman in the photo didn't look the same, and I started imagining what this woman was like. What she did after she left me. Where life took her.

  For the past few weeks, I've shared those thoughts with Callie. She's the only one I've talked to about this. I'm not ready to talk to my dad, and this isn't something I'd talk to my brothers about. They think Barb, my stepmom, is the only woman I should consider my mom. And for the most part, I do. My stepmom raised me since I was a baby and is the only mom I've ever known. Growing up, I never thought of her as a stepmom. She was always just my mom, just like she was to my brothers. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to know more about my birth mother. I've explained all this to Callie and she understands why I'm doing this. I just wish my family would.

  Callie and I have continued to have dinner together every night and she spends most of her free time over here. We're growing closer as friends, but she still doesn't want to be more than that, and maybe that's for the best. Right now, I'm focused on the house and these never-ending questions about my birth mom, so now probably isn't the best time to be starting a relationship with Callie.

  Even though we're not officially dating, we still kiss and touch and do things couples do, except for having sex. We haven't gone there yet, and whenever we get close to doing it, Callie stops us. She's not ready to take that next step. So for now, we're taking things slow, getting to know each other.


  The problem is, only one of us is getting to know the other. Callie knows almost everything about me and I still know very little about her. She's told me about college and a few of her classes, and she mentioned she has a friend who lives in New York, but that's about it.

  "Can I help you?" the woman behind the counter asks. It's Monday afternoon and I'm at city hall to check on my permit for some electrical wiring I need to do in the living room. I submitted the paperwork weeks ago and still don't have the permit. Given Katie's threats to get her father to deny my permit request, I'm worried they won't give it me so I showed up here in person to see if I could talk to someone who could fix this. There's no way I'm letting Katie get in the way of my renovations.

  "I requested a permit for electrical work a few weeks ago and never heard back." I hand the woman a copy of the form.

  "If you haven't received it by now, it's probably been denied." She sets the form down and picks up her bottle of pop and takes a drink.

  I sigh, annoyed with her lack of concern over this. "Could you check to see if it's been denied? I need to know."

  She sets her pop down. "Sir, I have other people ahead of you wanting me to check on their permits. I'll get back to you next week." She turns toward her computer screen and starts typing.

  "Next week? How could it possibly take that long to check on a permit? I'm sure you could look it up on your computer right now and tell me whether it's been approved."

  She ignores me and continues to type on her computer.

  "Are you done?" I hear someone behind me ask.

  I turn and see a man waiting in line. "Yeah. Good luck getting any help."

  On my way out of the building, I get stuck behind two men in suits who are walking at a snail's pace as they talk.

  "I'll see you at the meeting," the one man says.

  "Yes. Have a good evening, Jonathan." The other man turns and goes into one of the offices.

  The man who remains in the hall notices me behind him. "Pardon me." He steps aside, and when I see his face I know who he is. His daughter looks just like him. Forget waiting a week for an answer about my permit. I'm going to ask the man who I'm sure is the one who denied it.

  "Jonathan Kryer?" I ask, stepping in front of him.

  "Yes. That's right. Do I know you?"

  "No, but I know your daughter. I have an issue I need to speak with you about."

  "I see." He clears his throat and straightens his posture. I assume he's going to tell me how great and wonderful she is, but instead he says, "What did she do now?"

  "Excuse me?" I'm so surprised by his response that I didn't know how to answer.

  He motions me to follow him and we go into a vacant office with just a desk and two chairs and nothing on the walls. He closes the door, then turns to me. "What is this concerning?"

  "A permit for some electrical work I'm doing. I'm renovating a house on the other side of town and applied for a permit weeks ago but haven't received it. I applied for it right after your daughter came to my house and threatened to have my permit request denied if I didn't do what she said."

  He crosses his arms over his chest. "And what exactly did she want from you?"

  Shit. This is the last thing a father wants to hear. I try to be vague. "I'd rather not say."

  He lets out a heavy sigh. He knows what she was asking for and seems disgusted by it. "Katie doesn't have the authority to deny your request. She doesn't work here."

  "She said that she would have you deny the request, given your position on city council. I know you don't deal with residential permits but—"

  "I didn't deny your request. And even if my daughter told me to do so, I would never use my position to do something like that. I don't even know who you are." He goes around the desk and sits down on the chair and turns the computer on. "What's your name?"

  "Nash Wheeler."

  He types his password into the computer, then turns to me as he waits for the various programs to load. "I have to apologize for my daughter. She tends to stir up trouble wherever she goes. She gets that from her mother. My ex-wife."

  "So she never asked you about the permit?"

  He shakes his head. "No. I rarely even see her other than when she's at the country club. And when she's there, I'm usually so busy I don't have time to talk." He looks back at the computer and types something in, then scrolls through the screen. "It looks like you forgot to sign the paperwork. That's why your permit request didn't get processed. If you fill out a new form and send it directly to me, I'll get it processed right away. You'll have the permit in a day or two."

  "That's great. Thank you. I really appreciate your help on this."

  He shuts the computer off and comes back around the desk. "I've told Katie to stop using my position on the council to her advantage, but unfortunately, she doesn't listen to me. And it doesn't help matters that her mother encourages Katie to be this way. If Katie threatens you again, let me know."

  His comment reminds me of Lou and how he goes out of his way to accommodate Katie's unreasonable demands.

  "I'm not sure if you're aware of this," I say, "but some of the local businesses are afraid you'll shut them down if they anger your daughter."

  He sighs. "That would never happen. She has no influence on me whatsoever when it comes to that. Is there a particular business she's targeted?"

  "The one I'm referring to is a bakery owned by a friend of mine." I'm not sure if I should speak for Lou but this man needs to know what his daughter is doing. "Katie made him stay past closing to fill an order and also had him redo a large order at his own expense because she changed her mind at the last minute."

  "Are you referring to Lou's?"

  I nod. "Yeah."

  He shakes his head. "If you speak with him, tell him to stop listening to her. And tell him I'll reimburse him for that order. Lou's has been in this town forever. That bakery is one of the main reasons people still go to that part of town. Maybe I should talk to him myself and straighten this out."

  "That'd be great. I think it'd be better coming from you. But could you not mention me? I'm not sure he'd appreciate me telling you this."

  "Certainly." He opens the door. "Thank you for bringing my attention to this. And as I said, I'll get you that permit as soon as I receive your paperwork."

  "Thanks again." I shake his hand, then walk out of the office and down the hall to the exit.

  When I get home, Callie comes out of her house and walks over to mine. It's a little after three, which is when she normally comes over here to work.

  "Where have you been?" she asks, meeting me at the door.

  "City hall." I unlock the door and hold it open for her. "I had to check on a permit."

  Callie whips around to face me. "Did Katie do something? Did they deny your permit?"

  "No. I should get it in a couple days." I smile and sling my arm around her shoulder and lead her to the kitchen.

  "What are you doing? I have to get to work."

  "Forget work. I gotta tell you what happened, and then we're going to celebrate."

  We grab a drink and go out on the deck and I replay the scene at city hall.

  "You really think she'll leave Lou alone?" Callie asks.

  "I'm sure she'll still be her usual demanding self but he doesn't have to listen to her. Her threats are meaningless now."

  "Did you call Lou and tell him?"

  "No. I'm trying to stay out of it. Jonathan said he'd talk to him. I told him not to mention me."

  She reaches over for my hand and smiles. "You're a good guy, Nash Wheeler."

  We remain outside for another hour, then order some food and have dinner. We can work later. Tonight, I just want to relax. This has been a good day, and I want to keep it going by spending the rest of it relaxing with Callie.

  At seven the next morning, I drive into town to get supplies at the hardware store, then stop at Lou's to get donuts and coffee. I'm not going to mention what happened at city hall but I h
ope Jonathan doesn't wait too long to talk to Lou. Princess Katie's control over Lou, and the rest of the town, needs to end, and soon.

  "Hey, Lou," I say as I walk in the coffee shop.

  "Morning, Nash." Lou waves at me from behind the counter. "What can I get you?"

  "A dozen donuts and a large coffee." I take a seat at the counter.

  He sets up a donut box. "Which kind do you want?" He points to the case.

  "Just give me a mix of different kinds. And throw in a few of whatever Callie likes."

  He smiles as he picks out the donuts. "Sounds like you two are spending a lot of time together."

  "Yeah. She's over at my place every night for dinner and she's been a ton of help with the house. I might even finish early."

  "You two still just friends?" He sets the box of donuts in front of me and closes the lid.

  "For now we are. She's not ready to commit to being anything more than that."

  "I didn't think she would be, but at least you're making progress with her." He takes a mug from under the counter. "You staying or going?"

  "I need it to go."

  He nods and puts the mug back. He gets a paper cup and fills it from the coffee pot that's behind him.

  "What did you mean by that?" I ask.

  He sets the coffee cup next to the box of donuts and points to the cup. "Cream and sugar?"

  "I drink it black." I pull out my wallet and hand him a ten. "Is that enough?"

  "More than enough." He goes to the register and deposits the cash.

  "Just keep the change," I tell him when I see him counting it out.

  He comes back in front of me, wiping down the counter. "Tell Callie she'll be making cookies all day. We got a big catering order to fill."

  "Yeah, I will. So what were you saying about making progress with her? I don't understand."

  He glances around us, then leans in and lowers his voice. "This past year, she hasn't been getting any better. I was getting so worried about her, I thought I might have to intervene and get her into counseling."

  Counseling? For what? What's he talking about?