“Umm, hi,” she said, breaking the silence after a few awkward moments. “You just moved into the Sanchez place across the road, right?”
“Hi. I did, yes.”
I extended a hand to her, which she took and shook gently.
“I'm Everett James,” I said. “Just thought I’d come over and introduce myself since I saw you pull in.”
“I'm Vivienne Andrews,” she replied. “Nice to meet you.” She smiled, and it made her even more beautiful. “Say, you've got a bit of an accent. Texas?”
I nodded. “Grew up on a ranch in East Texas. I haven't been back for many years, but yeah, a lil' of the accent is still there.”
“My grandmother was a Texan,” she said. “Also from East Texas. That's how I recognized it.”
“Great place. You get out there much?” I asked.
“We visited a few times when I was a kid, but I don't know it too well. Like you, it's been a few years.”
I nodded. An awkward silence passed between us, and I
scrambled to think of something to say to keep the conversation going.
“Say, uh, I noticed as I was coming up the steps that your porch rail is loose. Didn’t know if maybe you or your husband had noticed and—”
“Oh, I’m not married,” she interrupted, somewhat hastily.
“Oh, I see. Well, maybe your boyfriend might want to take a look at—”
“I uh, I don't have a boyfriend either,” she said.
“Really?” I blurted out without thinking, surprised that she didn’t and kinda taken aback at how quickly she had corrected me. It was good to know, though. “Well, since I'm almost done mowing my lawn, and I’m pretty good with a hammer, how about I see if I can get that fixed for you? It won't take more than, say, 15 minutes.”
“Oh no, I really couldn't ask you to do something like that; it would be—”
At that moment, my phone started ringing in my pocket.
“Excuse me, Vivienne,” I said as I took my phone out and looked at the screen. The babysitter. “I just need to take this call.”
“Sure.”
I answered the phone.
“Hey Maggie,” I said. “What's up?”
Maggie explained that she had come down with a bad cold and thus wouldn't be able to babysit my daughter, Janie, tonight while I was at my meeting.
“Oh no, sorry to hear that, Maggie. I sure do hope you get better soon. I'll, uh, I'll find someone else to look after Jane tonight. Thanks for calling and letting me know.” We said our goodbyes, I put the phone back in my pocket, and shook my head and sighed. Maggie was the teenage daughter of my contact at the school board and essentially my only option for a sitter.
“What's the problem?” Vivienne asked.
“Oh, that was my babysitter. She can't take care of Jane tonight. Seems she's come down with a bad cold.”
“Oh, you're a father?” her eyes widened a little, and it was quite clear that she was surprised.
“I am, yeah. My lil' Jane is three years old.”
“And your wife isn't able to look after her tonight?” she asked.
“I'm not married . . . We've uh, we've been divorced a couple of years now.”