A loud bark makes me aware of the culprit and I look down to find a black lab picking up a tennis ball that landed at my feet.
“Oh, I’m sorry, miss.” The voice belongs to a handsome man who appears to be native American with his brown skin and long black hair that runs halfway down his back. He has thick brows, a defined jaw covered in stubble and his topaz eyes look anything but sorry.
His topaz eyes hold slight amusement as he reaches down to take the ball from the dog, only to throw it again, this time in the opposite direction of where we’re standing.
My teeth clench just as I realize pushing down all my anger and addictions for the past couple of weeks may not have been the best idea.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I ask him as I swat the abandoned ice cream cone off my shirt. “You’re laughing when your dog just nearly knocked me on my ass and made me lose my ice cream.”
His eyes widen slightly, and he holds out a hand in surrender but it’s too late.
My fingers twitch. “Not to mention you’re in my yard.” He stands just off to the side of the rose bushes in front of our house as his dog trots through my freshly cut grass. “If I find one drop of shit in my yard, I’m going to find you and cut your b-” I pull myself up short, remembering the kids are next to me. I’ve already let out enough expletives to scar them for life. The last thing they need to hear is how I plan on cutting off this man’s balls.
“Look, I’m sorry, ma’am. I didn’t mean to upset you and I certainly didn’t mean for Charlie to hit you, she just gets a little excited sometimes.”
A part of me still feels like he isn’t being genuine, especially with the way he says ma’am patronizingly. I open my mouth to let him know just how I feel about his apology, just as Lilly starts to cry. “Now look at what you did,” I accuse.
His mouth falls open and I turn my back on him, as I move over to take Lilly out of her stroller. Tanner is now playing with the dog who’s on her back, tummy up as Tanner giggles and pets her. His forgotten ice cream is in his free hand, melting. “Good girl,” he says, and she lets out a satisfying bark.
“Ma’am, maybe you didn’t take your Xanax today and that’s why you’re so crabby, but let me be clear, I did not make that kid cry.”
Maybe I would have let the argument go but the second I hear his words, my head snaps up and I turn. I forget about taking Lilly out of her stroller as I glide over to the man. “First off, stop fucking calling me ma’am like that.” He appears to be in his mid-twenties like myself and I feel it’s a veiled insult the way he keeps calling me ma’am. “And yes you fucking did create this problem. We were having a good time and you absolutely ruined it, setting this downward spiral into motion.”
He scrunches his nose, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re delusional! Is it that time of the month or something?”
It’s the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back.
I turn around and take Tanner’s melted ice cream cone from his hand and channeling the two months I played pitcher, I hurl the ice cream right at the man.
It hits him square in the chest and his graphic tee is now covered in ice cream just like mine.
It gives me slight satisfaction.
“What in the hell is wrong with you?” he shouts as he looks down at his ruined shirt. “You crazy bi-”
“Whoa, whoa, what’s going on here?” A deep voice cuts off the stranger and I turn to find a man jogging over to us with a frown on his face. He steps between me and the man, placing a hand on his chest in a comfortable gesture that suggests maybe they know each other.
The newcomer has fair skin, dark brown hair, a small beard and blue eyes full of concern.
“She’s crazy,” the other man mutters.
I’ll show you crazy.Before I can do anything, Lilly starts to yell at the top of her lungs, reminding me of her presence and reality starts to sink in.
I’ve just created a full-fledged scene in our front yard, nearly forgetting about both kids, and flipping out on a stranger.
Fuck.
Someone is going to report you and you’re going to lose the only thing of your sister that you have left.
“Stay out of my yard,” I tell the man before sharply turning on my heels and grabbing the handles of Lilly’s stroller. “Come on, Tanner,” I say lowly and I guess he can detect the seriousness of the moment because he gets up without a complaint, his eyes sad as he’s forced to leave the dog.
I hurry into the house but the whole way there, I feel the eyes of the strangers on the back of my neck.