Engaged to Her Neighbor

Chapter 3

Daniel had stayed up late last night working on the table he was building. Before yesterday it had just been something to pass the time, but now he imagined a little boy and his pretty sister sitting at it and had worked until he was too tired to do anything else.

This morning he had been sitting on the front porch when the school bus came rattling down the lane and he watched as Chris got on and Macy waved as he left. She stood there and watched until the bus was gone and then looked up towards him. She gave him a small wave, that he didn’t return, before heading back inside her house.

He didn’t need a woman and child taking up his thoughts all the time. He’d build them a table and that would be the end of it, it wasn’t a friendship, he didn’t need more friends. The people he had around him now were the only ones he needed.

He splashed the last of his coffee over the railing and went back inside. The sooner he made the table, the sooner they would be out of his mind. He felt bad for the boy is all, wanting something simple like a kitchen table. He wasn’t doing it to impress the sister that’s for sure.

Tomorrow he would have the table done and would start on the chairs. Daniel liked having a plan and it made everything go so much smoother and faster when you knew what you were doing. He wasn’t going to think about the way she filled out her jeans as she walked away last night, nope that was definitely not on his mind.

She wasn’t on his mind when he sanded the table legs and definitely wasn’t on his mind when he considered what color to stain the table. He didn’t consider her coloring at all as he polished the table and admired the wood grain. He did consider her when he heard the dog bark though and headed outside to see what was happening.

Macy was hauling boxes out the front door and trying to pile the flattened ones into her car. Daniel briefly considered offering his help, but no one wanted help from someone with a bum leg. Hell, he couldn’t even haul the boxes out for her with the damn cane in his hand.

Daniel turned and went back to his shop. It had been the blast of cold water he had needed to remember who and what he was. He had no business wanting this young woman next door who had way more possibilities than some injured ex-soldier.

As he limped towards his workshop, he considered what had come over him and how he had almost forgotten who he was because some pretty woman moved in next door. He was usually very careful about who he interacted with, but the kid and the dog had forced his hand twice now. He didn’t want complications in his life, it was fine the way it was, and he didn’t need to set himself up for rejection from another woman.

When his fiancée left him was one of the lowest points of his life. A little more than a year ago he had come home from war, injured, exhausted, and needing a lot of help to do things while he recovered. One look at him and the work involved in helping him, combined with the fact that he would probably never walk right again, and she had left. She didn’t even have the decency to break up with him in person, it was a damn text message.

He wished he could say that he was over that now, but she had just shown him how much he could trust people. His sister had attempted to care for him as he recovered, but he knew it was too time consuming and had ended up hiring a nurse, a male one, to get him through the worst of it. Once he was able to get around with the cane Daniel had let him go as well, preferring to remain alone, until now when other thoughts were creeping up.

Daniel did his best to push those thoughts down and out of his mind where they belonged as he surveyed his shop. Rubbing his knee, he sat and considered what else needed to be done and what his first step would be today. Settling on a plan, Daniel set about working and cranked his music up louder trying to drown out his tumultuous thoughts.

Unpacking was a pain in the butt. Macy had been at it all day and felt like the boxes were multiplying, they didn’t even have that much stuff. Checking the clock, she plopped down on the futon, deciding a short break was in order before getting Chris off the bus.

She had applied for a few more jobs online but had put off doing any legwork for now until she could find the living room floor again. So far, she hadn’t heard back from any of them, but she had almost found the whole living room.

Seeing the boxes clear out was putting more stress on her to get them some kind of furniture. She had even tried to hook up the small TV they had to the antenna, but sadly they must be too far down the hill to get any reception. She resolved to stop into a thrift store and get some movies for Chris so he would have something to do on rainy days when he got bored.

When Chris got home, he wasn’t going to be thrilled about the proposition, but he would need to help her with the bed frames because it was a two-person job. Mentally preparing herself for that battle she grabbed the leash and hooked it onto Lucy before heading to the end of the driveway to get Chris.

As soon as he got off the bus, she could instantly tell he had a good day. He was all smiles as he enthusiastically greeted Lucy and then her. Jabbering on about his day and the friends he’d made, she couldn’t help but smile. For the first time in his life Chris was fitting in on his own merit and not looked down upon just because of who his father was.

Macy was shocked, Chris didn’t fight her on helping at all, and once they were done with the two bed frames, he laid down in the living room floor to work on his homework. She took the casserole out of the fridge and went about warming it up in the oven for dinner.

Plating the dinner, she grabbed a fork and tasted it, praying it would be good or they would be eating quick noodles instead tonight. In hindsight, she should have done that earlier so she could have run to the store in case. Pleased that it was flavorful, full of chicken and cheese, she helped Chris up to eat with her on the futon.

Between bites Chris told her about his day, again. Macy wasn’t complaining though because she was ecstatic that he had a good day. This was probably the most talkative she had seen him ever.

Macy cleaned up from dinner while Chris got ready for bed. Scrubbing the last of the food from the pan, she wondered what the proper thing was to do with this casserole dish. This was new territory for her, and while she thought about sending it to school with Chris, she was more concerned that it wouldn’t make it in one piece. Setting it aside she resolved to figure it out later and went to check on Chris.

“Do you have everything ready for tomorrow?” Macy poked her head into his room.

“Yep, pants and a shirt right there.” Chris pointed at a pile of clothes at the foot of his bed.

“Socks?”

“Oh yeah.” He scrambled off the bed and threw a pair of socks on the bed as well.

“I’m really glad you had a good first day.”

“Me too. Did you know we are going on a field trip at the end of the month? To a farm?”

“You did tell me that.” She laughed and sat next to him, tickling his ribs to get him to laugh as well. “Is there a form for me to fill out or anything?”

“Nuh-uh, it will come later she said.”

“Oh, okay.” Macy committed that to memory, hoping she wouldn’t miss the form when it did come home.

“I made new friends and I think we are going to have a sleepover soon!” Chris bounced on his knees on the mattress in excitement. “Tucker said it would be at his house and we would have pizza and get to play video games!”

“That’s awesome bud. Do you remember my phone number?” Chris nodded. “You can give that to your friends so their parents can call me to set something up, it might not be that soon though, after all you just met them.”

“You don’t understand, Tucker is my best friend.”

“Already? My, that was fast.” Macy winked at him. “Do you want me to read to you tonight?”

“Not really, I’m tired and think I should just get some sleep.”

Effectively dismissed, Macy kissed his forehead and tucked the covers around him. The last thing he seemed was tired, he was still full of energy. Smiling, she shut the door, this must be a trick to get tomorrow to come faster.

Unfortunately, she now had even more time to herself. Tomorrow she would need to head out and look for jobs, so she set out her own clothes, the most professional ones she had, a white blouse and black pants, before heading back to the living room. With nothing else to do, she looked around and took in their new home for the first time since they’d gotten here.

The carpet floor had seen better days, but it was far from dirty, just worn from regular use. The walls were stark white, something new for Macy since all the trailers they’d rented before usually had walls tinged yellow with nicotine stains or were already some shade of brown to cover the color. She had taken the TV from Joe’s, figuring he wasn’t going to need it anyway, it sat in the corner, opposite her right now on the futon.

She mentally added up the things that she would like to get for them in here, some pictures or paintings on the wall would be nice and help it feel less empty. She’d already decided on getting some movies and could check for some cheap decorative pictures while she was there. As she put her hands in her lap, trying to avoid using the data on her phone to play games, she considered that she might want to get some books for her too. Something to do at night when it was just her, alone with her thoughts.

Other things on her list were kitchen towels, outside toys, and anything else she could come up with. Macy tapped her hands on her legs as she thought. It would probably be best if she took out cash from her account, forcing herself to stick to a budget. She looked up where the thrift store was before heading to bed. She would head there first thing in the morning after Chris got on the bus, maybe it would put her in a better mood before she went job hunting and grocery shopping.

Wearily, she rose from the futon and walked down the short hall to her bedroom. Tomorrow was a new day, and it would certainly be an interesting one.