Rock Hard Neighbor

“Wait, wait, wait. He wants to marry you?” she asked.

“Not actually marry me. A fake marriage in order to paint his home to be a better one for Lanie.”

“Is that smart?” Sarah asked.

“It’s better than handing Lanie over to a druggie father,” I said.

Sarah’s eyes raked over me before she drew in a deep breath.

“You want to protect Lanie from what you went through growing up.” She understood.

“I’d do anything to keep her from it,” I said breathlessly.

“And you like Brian. That much is obvious,” she said. “So it’s not like you’d be miserable.”

“Brian said we could file for an annulment once he’d blocked Lanie’s father out of her life forever,” I said.

“Here’s what I think,” Sarah said. “If you think you could stand living with him and it’s for the good of Lanie, then go for it. You are both going in under the assumption that this isn’t a permanent thing, so you have that going for you.”

“I’m concerned about what that might to do Lanie, though. She already likes me, and if I go live with them, and then leave, that would do damage as well,” I said.

“Why would you have to permanently live with them?”

“Because we’d be married?”

“Look, your cabin is right down the road. You have paperwork that says you inherited it when your grandmother passed. Keep some clothes and shit at his place, stay there two or three nights a week, and tell them you’re hopping between fixing the cabin and staying there.”

“I’d have to bring that up with Brian, but it could work,” I said.

“It sounds like you’ve made up your mind.”

I turned my head and saw Sarah grinning at me over her burger.

“I guess I have,” I said, grinning.

“Oh, my little Amanda’s growing up.”

“Shut up,” I said.

“Look, I understand your hesitation. This is a tricky situation. What you have to keep in mind is that you have to pick and choose your battles. Dancing around Lanie and making her believe is easy, but if Brian loses this court battle and she goes off with her bullshit father because you didn’t do this, you’re going to feel guilty about it. I know you. I know you’ll beat yourself up over it. Every damn day.”

“I know,” I said.

“Plus, you could probably cut a deal with him.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Your cabin needs some repairs. Is he handy? Maybe you could trade this marriage for him doing work on the cabin himself. You know, to lessen the monetary blow you’ll take later.”

“Huh. That would actually be a good arrangement. I’m not sure if he’s good at repairing things, but he’s been isolated for a long time. If shit broke, he strikes me as the type of person who would fix it rather than calling someone to have it fixed.”

“Talk to him about it. Make this a mutually beneficial arrangement,” she said.

“What would I do without you?” I asked as I took a bite of my burger.

“Flounder around on dry land until you died.”

“You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?”

The two of us talked well into the evening, and by the time I was ready to leave, it was almost midnight. My eyes were fluttering closed as Sarah and I watched another movie on television, and I figured spending another night with Sarah wouldn’t hurt.

“Coffee in the morning?” I asked as I slipped underneath the covers.

“I promise not to knock it over this time,” Sarah said.

“Deal.”

CHAPTER 16

Brian

Even though I knew I needed to keep my nose out of Amanda’s business, I couldn’t help but keep an eye out for her. She was a single woman living alone on a mountainside, and Lanie had taken a liking to her. She was a warm presence whenever she was around, and I was hoping she would show up this morning. I knew she needed time to think, but I figured with the way she looked at Lanie yesterday she would’ve made up her mind already.

But instead, I watched her drive away from her home yesterday, and she hadn’t returned yet.

I was getting very nervous. Was she okay? Had my request scared her off for good? I told her to take my number, but she still hadn’t texted me. I had no way to get in contact with her, and short of sitting on her porch until she came home, there was nothing I could do. I cooked breakfast for Lanie and tried to keep my mind at bay. I needed something to distract me. Something that would keep my racing mind still that would also forward my plan to fight for Lanie.

So, I got my phone and started taking pictures of the house.

I took pictures of her room and all the food in the fridge. Pictures of all the land I lived on and all the places we took hikes. I took shots of the clean living room and the rest of my spotless house. I also included pictures of her own bathroom and all the toys she had.