Chapter 1

I came home from work one Friday for lunch – my office isn’t that far from home and occasionally I do come home just to get away from work for a bit and regroup. When I got there, I noticed a flat-bed tow truck loading up my neighbor’s prize 1965 Mustang convertible. Curious, I went over to see her.

“Hi Sally, I saw the tow truck outside. Are you having car troubles?”

She looked down sadly. “No, it’s being repossessed.”

“Repossessed? What happened?”

“Well I got fired about a week ago and I can’t make the payments on it.” She showed me the repossession notice.

“But Sally, you only owe $5,400 on the car!”

“Yeah, well it might as well be five million. I can’t make the payments, I can’t afford the insurance or the registration which will be due in a couple of months.”

“What happened?”

“The boutique that I worked for, The Sassy Lassy, is closing down. The owner wants to retire and the place has been bought out. It’s not even going to be a boutique anymore ... it’s being turned into one of those juice bar/ health food places, I guess.”

“And you can’t get a job there? I mean how much intelligence does it take to make those papaya/mango smoothy things anyway?”

“They don’t want women like me there. They want the young bubble-headed blondes with perky tits and tight asses. I am too old to be in that crowd.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. The car has been repossessed, my house is going into foreclosure. I am out of work and I can’t even apply for State Aid because it will be at least three months before that kicks in. I am getting unemployment right now, but that will run out in six weeks ... eight if I can get an extension. But that’s it. I am thinking I will probably just pull up roots here and go someplace to start over.”

“Damn, Sally, that’s terrible!

“I’m actually glad you came over. I have a favor to ask you.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I wouldn’t ask except that I don’t have any other options, but could you take Boomer for me? I don’t know what is going to happen and I don’t know if I can keep him. I don’t want him going to just anyone and I don’t have the heart to take him to the pound.” Her voice wavered as she spoke, and I could see this decision was tearing her apart.

“Sally Marie Ridell, I will do no such thing! You are not going to leave this town and you are not going to leave me or your dog. This is what you are going to do. Today is Friday so I am going to call work and tell them I won’t be in this afternoon – I had some kind of emergency at home. Then you and I are going to go get a U-Haul truck and on the way home, we are going to stop and get you a storage unit. We are going to pack your things and put them in storage and you and Boomer are going to come to stay with me until you get back on your feet. I am not losing a good friend and good neighbor over some damn overpriced orange juice joint! And Buster here would be lost without his pal Boomer!

“Really, John? You would take me and Boomer in just like that?”

“Sure, Sally this is a three-bedroom/two bath house. More than enough house for a single guy and a dog. I have a spare bedroom just waiting for you and you can even have your own bathroom. You and Boomer are welcome to stay here as long as you like and that way you stay in the neighborhood with people you know and not have to start all over again.”

“I-I don’t know what to say...”

“Well, yes is always a good answer in these cases!”

“Yes! Of course Yes! Oh, Boomer, did you hear that? We can stay together!” Seeing the joy that it brought her knowing she wouldn’t have to get rid of Boomer was more than worth it.

So it was settled. I called the office and said that I had a problem here at home to take care of and wouldn’t be in that afternoon. As I was the manager of the insurance agency I worked at, it was no problem for me to take the time off (they were probably glad I was not coming in, actually!). Then we drove down to the local U-Haul office and rented one of their largest trucks. Sally was afraid to drive such a large vehicle, so I let her drive my car while I took the truck. We stopped by a storage unit place not far from home and secured a good-sized storage for her, then headed home.

That Saturday was a busy one. With her directing, and me and a couple of other friends doing the heavy lifting, we got her former house cleared out and the things put in storage that she wouldn’t need for a while. She kept her clothes, some personal items, and things she would need and we brought them into the house. I showed her where her room would be and once she got settled, I gave her the tour and showed her where things were kept. She had been over many times before, but only as a houseguest. Now she would be living here – she would need to know where things were stored and how the house ran.

We got done with everything just in time to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. Because we had been working all day we opted to just go out for a pizza and save cooking and dishes.

Later that night we were watching TV on the sofa with the dogs on the floor at our feet. We were contemplating heading off to bed when Sally turned to me.

“John, why did you take me and Boomer in like you did? I mean sure we were friendly to each other and borrowed sugar and things like that. We waved to each other as we passed by. But you and I were not really ‘Come live with me’ close. Why did you take pity on a dog and her pet?”

“Truthfully? For selfish reasons, I assure you.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t want you to leave. I liked seeing you next door – you brightened my day with your waves and your ‘Hi John” when we saw each other. And if you moved away who knows what kind of wackadoodle or heavy metal punk rocker psycho would move in next. And I saw how you felt when you asked me to take care of Boomer – as a fellow dog lover, I knew what that took for you to come to that decision. I can’t even imagine my life without Buster here. I couldn’t let you get rid of your best friend.”

“And that’s it? That’s the reason – that you didn’t want somebody new across the street and didn’t want me to get rid of Boomer?”

“Well, Sally, you may not know this about me, but I don’t have a wide circle of friends. I am kind of a private person until I get to know someone. And once I do consider you a friend, I don’t like to lose you. You and I have been neighbors for a long, long time. I am used to seeing you across the street. I didn’t want that to go away. Besides ... you got to admit, you spruce the place up a bit!”

Sally giggled at my remark. “Well, I don’t know about the last part, but I do consider you a friend too, John. A really special, really wonderful friend.” She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

Then she sat back. I thought that was it – she was thanking me for helping her. That was fine ... she had just got here after all and we hadn’t had a chance to do much “bonding”. But then she looked at me in an odd way.

“Wait. I think we can do better than just a peck on the cheek.” She slid closer and put her hand on the back of my neck, pulling me into a real kiss. One with more meaning than just “thank you” ... this one said, “I WANT you.”

As much as I was enjoying her kiss (Sally was a great kisser!) I didn’t want to take advantage of a woman in a bad situation. I had rescued her sure, but I didn’t want that to be the basis for sex. I didn’t want “I owe you” sex; if we were going to do something, it should be because we wanted it not out of some sense of obligation.

“Sally, um, I appreciate the kiss, but is this ... how do I put it ... because of what I’ve done in helping you?”

“Honestly? The first kiss was a thank you kiss. But the second one, no. John, I have a little confession to make and we might as well start this living together thing with all our cards on the table. Don’t you agree?”

“Absolutely.”

“Well, John the thing is that I have lived across the street from you for a long time, that’s true. But what you don’t know is that I used to ... um ... watch you. Not in a creepy stalker way, but because I thought you were – oh God I can’t believe I’m telling you this – I thought you were hot. I watched you when you washed your car, when you cut the grass and when you would go out for a run ... I’m so embarrassed!” She must have been because her cheeks had turned the prettiest shade of crimson!

I sat there for several moments just taking in and processing this information. It was a surprise to be sure, and it caught me off guard knowing that I had been being watched for who knows how long. But there in the living room with my new housemate, I studied her standing there fidgeting nervously. I’m sure she thought that her confession would endanger her staying here with me. But as I looked at her that idea was the furthest from my mind.

Sally Ridell was a very attractive twenty-four-year-old woman, about five foot tall and maybe ninety pounds with large almond-shaped green eyes, long brown hair down to the small of her back, and the hottest tight hardbody I had seen in a long time. She might be a tiny thing, but she packed a lot in that small package! I was actually kicking myself mentally for not noticing her before!

“Say something, John!” her words snapped me out of the trance I was in.

“Oh, sorry. It’s just that I am a little blown away that you have been watching me – and that you think I’m hot! Now it’s time for my confession ... truth be told I hadn’t really noticed you all that much. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just that I am always thinking about work or what I am doing next or something. I don’t take a whole lot of notice of what’s going on around me unless it is glaringly obvious – like the tow truck hauling off your car. But I have to say that particular trait of mine has done me wrong in this case.”