Next Door Neighbors (18 page)

16

              Brian checked the time, afraid he was running late. Never did he expect long-time family friend and realtor, Blake Gearson, to spend such a long time at his mom’s house. It was just to be a quick meeting to get some questions answered, but Mr. Gearson turned it into so much more than that.

              Blake came prepared with a market analysis that he handed over to Brian as soon as he walked into the door. Brian felt it was premature, but the information did give him an idea of what to expect in the coming months.

              While inside, Blake mentioned some things that needed to change. He also pointed out the things that worked well and shouldn’t be touched.

              When the two men had a moment to sit, Blake spoke up first. “I really like what you did to the place, Brian. It looks much better than it did when I last saw it.”

              “Thank you. I just followed through on what my mom wanted,” Brian smiled in return.

              “So what are your plans?”

              Brian went over what he was thinking about doing and asked some general questions on how to best proceed when he was ready.

              That started over an hour ago.

              Now Brian felt if he didn’t get Blake out the door soon, he would never make it to Jill’s house in time to talk to her.

              And he really needed to talk to her.

              When Mr. Gearson paused a moment, Brian took it as his cue to get him out the door. “Well, I think I have everything I need. It won’t be for a few months probably before a decision is made so I’ll keep the information.”

              “Sounds good, Brian.”

              Both of them stood up, and Brian led Blake to the front door. As they shook each other’s hands, Brian said, “Say hi to your wife and kids for me.”

              “Will do,” Blake smiled.

              Brian shut the door as soon as Blake left, glanced at the clock one last time and called for Buddy to quick go outside.

              One nice thing about being in Ashwin during the winter months is that Buddy was able to experience snow for the first time. And he loved the snow. It made having him go outside that much easier.

              He came running to Brian as he called, tail wagging out of excitement. As soon as the door was open he ran out and frolicked around. Snow was flying around everywhere Buddy pranced, Brian chuckling at the sight.

              “Hurry up, Buddy!”

              Buddy acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing, choosing to chase a squirrel instead.

              “No, Buddy. Come on!”

              It took Brian’s whistle to get his dog to finally come inside.

              “Okay, Buddy. Now I need to go next door for a little while,” he said to the dog while stooping to his level to rub his ears.

              The dog made a sound as if he understood what his owner was saying, which made Brian smile.

              “Wish me luck, okay?”

              Buddy licked Brian’s hand to show his love and support.

              Putting a couple of things away, he threw on his coat and made the walk to next door.

              I just hope she listens to her heart instead of her head.

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              Jill heard a knock at the door and checked the clock on the wall above the TV.

              Seven o’clock.

             
Wow, he sure is punctual.

              Before answering the door, she quickly checked her appearance in the bathroom mirror, wanting to make sure she looked okay. On one hand she thought her jeans and baggy sweatshirt were a little on the sloppy side, but then on second thought she wondered why she even cared.

              One thing was for sure, she had to try to act a little nicer. This whole afternoon she contemplated on what a horribly mean person she’s been to him. Avoiding him probably wasn’t the best answer, although she just wasn’t sure what else to do.

              But after thinking about it and letting her friend’s words and his own words sink in, she realized there were good guys out there. There were plenty of men who weren’t like her dad or her friend’s husband or Mark.

              The question was could she trust one? She didn’t think she wanted to take that risk.

              Still, Jill told herself she had to be nice to Brian, to be his friend. Nothing less.

              And certainly nothing more.

              Jill made her way to answer the door, and as an attempt to acting nicer, she greeted him with a smile and let him come in.

              Brian noticed she seemed different when she opened the door. Definitely wasn’t the same Jill that’s been around the last couple of weeks. It was the Jill he first knew.

              She seemed refreshed. Spirited.              

              Like a huge weight was off her shoulders.

              Whatever it was, it was a pleasant surprise.

              “Would you like something to drink?” she politely asked.

              Brian declined.

              “Well, then go ahead and make yourself comfortable in the living room. I’ll be right there.”

              As Jill got herself a glass of water, Brian took a seat on the couch.

              Marble immediately jumped up on Brian’s legs and tried to make himself comfortable.

              “Hey, Marble,” Brian smiled, petting the cat’s head and back. “How have you been?”

              Marble laid down and purred, enjoying the extra attention.

              Jill walked in and noticed the two of them right away. “If he bothers you, feel free to kick him off.”

              “Oh, he’s fine,” Brian insisted.

              “I was talking to Marble,” Jill joked, partially laughing as a result.

              “Ha-ha,” Brian responded.

              He wasn’t sure what happened over the last few hours to bring Jill back, but he definitely liked it. She was being herself. She was relaxed. She was communicating. Everything she used to do when the two of them first met she was doing again. There was none of this avoidance going on that made Brian feel like dirt.

              Brian watched Jill’s every move as she took a seat on the opposite end of the couch and sipped from her glass of water. He wasn’t sure what logo that was on her sweatshirt – maybe a high school sport’s team he guessed – but the colors looked nice on Jill. She looked cozy and casual in her attire, all the makings for a gorgeous appearance.

              “You look nice by the way.”

              Looking down as if to remind herself of what she was wearing, she coughed, “Thank you.” But then she reminded him, “But we’re here to talk about your mom and that house, remember?” She tilted her head in the direction of Elena’s house as she mentioned it.

              “I’m just being honest. That’s all. No harm, no foul.”

              Jill could tell he was being genuine, something she appreciated about him. His comment was not a way to gain brownie points or to start something. He was just making an obvious observation and making his opinion known.

              After a brief moment of silence, both Brian and Jill spoke up at the same time.

              “You go first,” Brian offered.

              “Oh,” she started. She then looked down at her hands holding onto the glass of water. What she was about to say was a little tough.

              “I just wanted to say that…”

              Brian wondered why she didn’t finish that sentence right away, but gave her his full attention for when the words eventually came out.

              Clearing her throat and looking up into Brian’s dark eyes, they finally arrived, “That I’m sorry.”

             
She’s apologizing?

              “I have not conducted myself in the best behavior these last couple of weeks. I should have never acted the way I did towards you. You did nothing wrong.”

              Brian jumped on the bandwagon to apologize himself.

              “I should have never kissed you. Maybe I took advantage of you when you were in a weak spot.”

              Jill shook her head and disagreed, “No, no, no. You never took advantage of me. I kissed you back, remember?”

              Brian did remember. He remembered how she craved for more and kept the kiss alive by giving as much as she was getting.

              “The kiss was wonderful and happened at a really good moment. It’s just that instead of avoiding you and being cold towards you, I should have just come out and talked to you about it.” Jill then ended with, “So I’m sorry. Can you forgive me? I want us to be friends.”

             
Just friends?

              A tad hurt, he forced a smile and said, “Of course I forgive you. Please don’t be hard on yourself.”

              She smiled in return, after which she took another sip of water. She was really glad to have gotten all of that off her chest.

              “I guess it’s my turn now, right?” Brian asked.

              “Yeah, is everything okay?” The only reason Jill asked that question was because of how desperate Brian seemed to talk to her before leaving.

              “Yes. Everything’s fine.”

              Trying to decide what he all wanted to say and how he was going to go about saying it, he started with the basics first. “I’ve been talking to my mom quite extensively lately about her house. You know, everything she wants to do and by when, etc.”

              “Mm-hmm,” Jill acknowledged.

              “And bottom line is she wants to sell as soon as possible.”

              “Ah, okay,” Jill sighed. She knew this day was coming, albeit this was much sooner than she hoped. However, she supposed a new tenant was better than it just sitting empty.             

              This couldn’t have been everything he had to say though because it wasn’t really any new information, and certainly nothing that she had to absolutely know about before he left. So she asked, “Is that all?”

              Now Brian was the one that looked like what he was about to say was tough. The words had to come out just right. “Well, no. Not exactly.”

              Brian shifted in his seat, making Marble unhappy. The cat jumped down and began licking his front paw.

              Leaning forward and scratching his facial hair, he began the topic he was most nervous about. “The thing is, Jill, is that I want to buy it.”

              Jill’s eyebrows raised, not expecting him to say that.

              “I want to move up here and be close to my mom.” Shifting his face to hers, he added, “To be close to you.”

              “Me?”

              “Yes. You!” he said sweetly.

              Jill couldn’t muster up anything else to say. She was in complete shock and could not fathom why he would want to leave behind his home or business.

              His whole life.

              It made a little more sense if it was for his mom, but her? That made absolutely no sense and she wasn’t going to encourage him.

              Slowly shaking her head, she said, “Look, Brian, I’m sorry, but what I said earlier about being friends, I meant it. I can’t stop you from doing what you want to do, but you have to know that we’ll just be friends. That’s it.”

              Jill was really surprised on how well she said what she just did. She was calm, polite and kind, yet firm in her resolve. Although she could tell if she continued much longer she may break down in tears.

              Right before her was a man who was so different from what she knew. He helped her on numerous occasions, they got along and enjoyed many laughs as well as one steamy kiss, and now here he was offering to leave his world behind to come be with her. It hurt for her to have to shut him down. She just hoped Brian would understand and choose wisely without asking anything else of her.

              “You won’t even give me – us – a chance?” he asked.

              “I did give a man a chance before, Brian. I ended up alone with barely anything left to my name. And while I know you’re not Mark, I just don’t want to go through another heartbreak if something between us goes wrong.”

              Jill’s eyes were now starting to water, but she tried her hardest to keep them from overflowing. Through the mist she saw Brian’s own hurt.

              “I’m really sorry,” she again apologized.

              Slapping both knees then coming to a stand, he sadly asked one last question. “Well, I told my mom the plans that I had. She flat out told me not to come up here just for her. The only way she wanted me to come up here was if I had another reason. There is no other reason, is there?”