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BRENTON
Over the weekend, I had tried my damndest to avoid Helen. Candace and I were bonding…kind of, and I felt closer to full custody than I ever had prior. Candace was finally starting to open up about the terrible parenting Amber had exhibited these past few months, and I knew I could use some of it in my case.
Helen hadn’t been too hard to avoid. I barely ever saw her outside. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen any signs of life over on Dudley’s property for quite some time now. I looked for her every morning during the time she usually took her run, but the hill was always empty. I was actually growing slightly worried. I knew I was avoiding her, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt just to check in.
“Is there a reason you look out that window for like twenty minutes at the same time every morning or are you just insane?”
I jumped at my daughter's voice. Candace was behind me, one hand on her hip and the other clutching her phone to her ear.
“No Alex, I’m talking to my dad. Shut up for a second,” she said into the phone.
“Um, no. No reason. Just admiring the view.”
“Right,” she rolled her eyes. “It just seems a little strange that the window you chose to enjoy the view from happens to be one of the only windows in the house that faces Helen’s.”
“It seems a little strange to me that you care,” I said to her, which took her back for a second.
“Um, well it’s just that—”
“If you must know,” I interjected. “I am a little worried about her. I made a few mistakes and, and uh…” I trailed off, not knowing how to articulate my feelings for Helen to my teenage daughter. Especially because I had made up my mind to avoid her anyway.
“Why don’t you just go over and ask?”
“Oh, it’s that simple, is it?”
“I don’t know. This is just beginning to look a little pathetic.”
“Thanks for the advice, sweetie.” I shook my head.
“Oh and ask for my boots back while you’re at it,” she added, walking back up to her room. “Hey Alex. I’m back.”
Her voice trailed away, leaving me to my thoughts. My daughter’s guidance, although given somewhat sarcastically, wasn’t half wrong. Helen and I were adults. I didn’t need to sneak around my house, waiting and spying. I could just go over and ask. It didn’t have to mean anything. Just a neighbor checking on a fellow neighbor. I smiled as an idea popped into my head.
I went to my backyard and grabbed an apple basket. I filled it with flavors of apples I had not given her yet and went back inside. In the kitchen, I ground up more of my famous coffee and placed it in a baggie. I left the basket on Helen’s front porch, opting not to knock. I didn’t leave a letter this time. I told myself it was fine if she chose not to respond to my peace offering, that I was just checking to see if she was still there.
That afternoon a grin formed as I looked out my window. My basket was no longer on her front step. She had found it. I spent the rest of my day in my basement, thinking I’d be more satisfied than I was at her acceptance of my offering. Instead, I spent the entire afternoon thinking about what it meant that she accepted the basket. She wasn’t angry enough to return it, but she hadn’t left me anything in return. I knew because I checked once an hour. Candace mumbled several times that I needed to get a life during my routine sweep of both the front and back porch.
Still not satisfied that evening, I decided to leave another basket, this time with a note. I filled it with some fresh vegetables from my greenhouse and a letter inviting her to dinner tomorrow. I apologized for the surprise introduction to my daughter the other day, and told her a proper introduction was in order if she was up for it.
“Anything yet?” Candace had asked me at the dinner table. I was surprised at how invested she seemed to become in the game of cat and mouse I seemed to be playing with my neighbor.
“Nope.” My tone was sour.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. I had really hurt Helen and she had every right to be angry, especially since I ghosted her for over a week after the startling discovery of my daughter. But if she’d only just let me explain, then I thought she’d understand.
“Damn.”
I looked at her, partially to scold her for swearing but also because I hadn’t expected her to be disappointed. Candace noticed this.
“I mean, darn because I wanted my boots back.” Then she added, “Obviously.”
“Right,” I responded.
The next morning I was doing some yard work out front when Samson came running up to me. I gave him a quick pet before getting back to sheering the tree I was working on, but he wouldn’t let up. He kept nudging my leg.
“What is it, bud?”
I looked down at him. He was now rubbing his collar against the tree. He gave a big shake and I noticed an object stuck underneath it.
