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“Yep.”
One word.One damn syllable. Yet I heard the amusement. That did it. The entirety of the day came to a boil. And the top was about to pop off this pot as I marched toward my jerk of a neighbor.
I stood toe to toe with him and jabbed my pointer into his chest. “You think this is funny? Do you?” It pissed me off that in the middle of my rage, I noticed how hard said chest was underneath my finger. The damn thing felt like a brick wall.But no…just no. I forced myself to ignore it and continue. “I drove fifteen hours in traffic, with my cell phone buzzing like an insistent mosquito at my ear, got a flat tire, the air conditioning in my rental broke, I hit yourstupidmailbox, and then the key breaks off in the door. I had to slither over to the grumpy neighbor to borrow a ladder just so I can get in. And when I finally make it inside, the house is a shambles and clearly has been occupied by someone with a hoarding issue. And as if all of that’s not enough,not enough of a shitty day to kill a person’s spirit, then youenjoyingthis moment has pushed me over the edge.” I pulled my finger from the human oak tree and jabbed it back in with each staccato word.
“I.”
Jab.
“Am.”
Jab.
“Done.”
Jab.
“You.”
Jab.
“Suck.”
At least I’d managed to wipe the smirk from the guy’s face. Though he didn’t say a word. He just stood there staring at me. After a solid minute, he finally spoke.
“You staying here tonight?”
My eyes widened. “Of course I’m staying here!”I screamed like a lunatic.“Where the hell else would I go?”
He looked at me for a few heartbeats, then turned and walked out. I thought that was the end of things until I heard a car door opening. Ten seconds later, Paul Bunyan appeared in my doorway againwith my suitcases.
I was rendered as speechless as when I’d walked into the house. The man set the bags down in the kitchen and disappeared again. A minute later he returned, this time with the blow-up bed I’d packed and a box. He added those to my suitcase pile and disappeared yet again. After two more trips, he caught my eyes and gave a curt nod. “You have a good night.”
Then he was gone, door pulled shut behind him and all.
I shook my head as I looked around the house. What the heck had happened in the last fifteen minutes?
CHAPTER 2
America’s Friendliest Town
Josie
“Hi. Do you deliver?”
The gray-haired man wearing aSamnametag smiled. “Sure do. Where’s it going?”
“About a mile away, on Rosewood Lane.”
“Not a problem at all. I might be able to get you on the schedule for this afternoon, if you want.”
“Oh, that would be great. Thank you so much.”
“Do you know what you want delivered?”
“I have a list, mostly sheetrock and hardware and whatnot, but I thought I’d take a walk around to see if there’s anything I might’ve forgotten.”
He nodded. “You take your time. My name is Sam. I go on break in about a half hour, but I’ll look for you before I go to see if we can’t get you taken care of.”
