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“You know what else is sad?” Rhonda’s expression is aglow with a fresh scoop. “A gorgeous man going to waste. Last week I hired an electrician to do some work, and the guy who showed up was pure eye candy.”
I freeze. I know there’s more than one electrician here in Oak Valley, so the likelihood of her talking about Sean isn’t one hundred percent or anything.
“He’s single, too,” she goes on. “Not a ring in sight. And apparently, no girlfriend or anything to boot.”
“Who are you talking about?” I ask her with more sharpness in my tone than I meant for there to be. But I have to know.
“Oh, Sean somebody. Can’t remember his last name. But he’s all dark and broody and bearded with these pretty pale eyes.” Rhonda makes a motion where she licks her thumb and sticks it to her ass while making a sizzling noise before giggling. And while I’d normally laugh, this time I can’t. “I wouldn’t mind being the pot for his honey.”
She cackles like the Wicked Witch of the West, and a strange sensation wraps around my face and head, like the aftereffects of a sunburn. Every inch of me begins to feel all tight and hot. And not in a good way.
“How do you know he doesn’t have a woman in his life?” It comes out as a demand.
“Never seen one with him in the past few years that he’s lived here. So, unless he’s got one locked up in his bedroom, he’s single.”
I bristle, even though deep down, I know I shouldn’t. Sean is as much of a free agent as I am. We’ve made no promises to one another.
Yet…
“I heard that he’s sort of an odd duck, building these teensy models and things,” I blurt. I don’t even know why except that I don’t like how Rhonda is pawing after him. “So he might not be your type.”
“Oh, I don’t mind a weird behavior or two, not with a face like that. I bet he’s a demon in the sack.”
“Heard he hasn’t been with a woman in years,” I blab, hating myself but unable to staunch my word vomit. “That he had one instance of love when he was young, and once it soured, he didn’t want to go there again.”
“Ooh, Becca.” Thea is sitting up in her chair, looking like Sonic the Hedgehog. “That is some juicy stuff. Where’d you hear it?”
“I can’t say.” And, too late, I register that I’ve already said far too much. “Ladies, do me a favor and don’t spread anything else about Sean…about the electrician. He probably wouldn’t appreciate being fodder for the rumor mill.”
“Oh, of course not,” Rhonda swears, but there’s a glint in her eye.
Thea nods, too, a smirk playing around her mouth.
They’ll keep this a secret, I hope. I’ve never asked them to keep such a piece of info to themselves like that, but I have no reason to believe that they won’t listen to my request. Besides, they did agree.
So why am I not heaving a sigh of relief? And why is it that my gut is roiling even hours and hours after they leave?
Seven
Sean
The next few days are swamped with work. Since I’m receiving some time-sensitive deliveries out at my place, I spend those nights at my Victorian, bunking in a sleeping bag. I oversee some of the more vital installations of the plumbing as the cabinetry in my kitchen is torn out and replaced. It ends up being a solid week before I’m back at the duplex. And I only return so I can take a quick shower, change, and head out to my most recent electrical gig at a new housing development within view of Lake Cooper.
Since I’m starving, I take a couple of minutes to buy some hot dogs over at the lakeside main food stand. I’m scrolling through my phone when I hear someone nearby discussing a name that automatically makes my ears perk up.
My name.
“Yeah, it’s that Sean guy. The one who’s an electrician...”
I glimpse over at the group, recognizing only a couple of them, the admin assistant over at the mayor’s office, Gigi Stevens, and her boyfriend, Brady Pirro. I installed the wiring in Brady’s motorcycle repair shop/garage and found him to be adecent guy despite the rep he used to have. Not that I care about shit like that.
I’m not a high-profile type of guy, so maybe I shouldn’t suspect they’re talking about me, but Oak Valley is a small town. How many electricians by the name of Sean could there be?
Collecting my hot dogs, I step over into the shade of the building, listening to the people in the group other than Gigi and Brady. They’re discussing how I’m some sort of sad and pitiful case due to losing love in my youth.
“Supposedly, he’s sworn to never love again. What a waste.”
I don’t know the speaker from Adam, yet what he just said sounds shockingly close to my own past. For several long minutes, I stand there hidden, staggered by the implications of this. No one in this town really knows me. And they certainly couldn’t know how I lost out on love in my youth. Karena and I didn’t live here or anywhere near Georgia. The number of people privy to that episode in my life can be counted on one hand.
