I gingerly got off the bike and walked it into the front yard, leaning it up against one of the red maples. Declan was showing Allie how he fast he could go, and Allie had a big smile on her face as he pedaled.
“He’s doing great,” she said when I limped over. She tilted her head to the side. “You okay?”
“Superb,” I said, trying to ignore the wave of nausea that washed over me.
“Not too many 4-year-olds could ride a bike like that. I’m very impressed, Declan!” she called.
He grinned and came to a stop in front of us. “Do you have a bike?”
“No. I used to when I lived in the city, but I gave it to my friend.”
“Oh.” Declan looked disappointed. “Do you think maybe she’d let you borrow it some time? Then we could all go for a bike ride together.”
“This is a very nice area for biking,” I said. “Especially now and then again in the fall.”
“Maybe I’ll buy a new bike,” Allie said. “This does seem like a good place to go bike riding. I like to go running, but I wouldn’t mind having a bike again, either.”
Declan started smiling again and then pushed off, riding back toward the end of the road. Allie watched him go.
“He okay by himself?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “He knows to turn around at the end of the road. This is a pretty quiet road, if you hadn’t noticed already yet.”
“I like it,” she said. “I like that it’s actually quiet at night, and that in the morning, I get woken up by the birds and not some taxi honking or someone’s car alarm going off.”
“You’re from the city?”
“Boston.”
I nodded. “That’s cool. I went to BU. I rather liked living in the city, though it could definitely get tiresome.”
“I’m not saying I’ll never go back,” she said, “but I grew up there, so I was definitely ready for a change of pace. Anyway, I’ve got to run or I’m going to be late for my dentist appointment.” She waved to Declan, who pedaled furiously back over.
“You’re leaving?” he asked.
“I’ve got a dentist appointment to go to. Got to make sure that my teeth are nice and healthy.” She smiled, showing him a nice row of white teeth. “But maybe I’ll see you later on, okay? Good job riding the bike.”
Many hours later, my best friend, Ben, came over. He, no doubt, had slept in, consumed copious amounts of coffee, and probably dicked around on the Internet for a while before finally deciding to get his day started. He strolled in right at I was coming downstairs from putting Declan down for his nap.
“This will probably be the last summer he takes a nap,” I said, feeling a twinge of regret. I’d gotten used to having an hour to myself in the middle of the day.
Ben yawned. “I could go for a nap.”
“Didn’t you just get up?”
“Nah, I’ve been up for hours. Went for a ride this morning on the Yeti, got some breakfast, came back home, rode the Merlin over here.”
“So you’ve gone on two rides today.”
“Guess so. I should be tired.” He yawned again and stretched, and I tried to swallow that benign envy that here it was, early afternoon, and he’d already been out twice.
“Damn, dude,” he said suddenly. He was looking out the side door, toward Allie’s house. “That’s your neighbor? I was expecting some old hag. She’s fine.”
“We just met her the other day,” I said. “Her name’s Allie. Declan took a real shine to her.”
“She single?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t ask.”