of Nate in completely inappropriate places, doing decadent things. It started her morning off—right up until the point when she saw him working on the shop and could barely meet his eyes.
****
Nate whistled tunelessly as he removed a stack of mail from the odd-shaped box standing in front of his house Friday afternoon. He’d put in a hard day at Decadence, getting things blocked out and set up for the build-out Claudia wanted. He’d tried to catch her eye at the store in the morning, but she looked really busy and he hadn’t pursued it. She had a lot on her mind with Peter here, and he didn’t need her right away. He’d catch her tomorrow. He hoped she and Justin were getting along decently and the boy wasn’t giving her any problems. He’d tried talking to Justin when the kid had walked by him on his way home from school, but as soon as he’d asked what was bothering the little guy, Justin had clammed up. Nate knew he’d wheedle it out of him eventually, maybe at dinner with Claudia next week. Or Claudia would tell him. Either way, he’d told Justin that his phone was always on. He and Justin hadn’t ever talked about Peter, his biological father, but with the guy back in town and Justin’s general moodiness of late, Nate had no doubt it would explode at some point. And he’d be there for him. Just like he was for Claudia, though she, too, had been acting weird lately. Must be all the stress, he thought.
A recent gag gift from his cousin, the mailbox made him laugh every time he saw it. Today was no exception as he took a good look at it and tried to push any concerns to the back of his mind. It was perfect. No one else in his circle of friends had an oversized replica of an Xbox Game System to hold mail.
“Hey there, sonny,” a familiar masculine voice rumbled from behind him, and Nathan jumped. His next-door neighbor, Fred, erupted with his trademark laugh and continued, “I caught you off guard. Sorry about that, my boy.”
Nate turned and beheld Fred in all his glory. There really wasn’t another word for it. And smiled. No one Nate had ever met could compete with the outfits Fred managed to put together. Today it was a pair of green polyester slacks and a flamingo pink polo shirt.
“Well, it’s a fine, beautiful day, isn’t it?” Fred said, and his flash of blinding white teeth was proof positive of the wizardry of dentures.
“Yes, sir, it is,” Nate replied. “And how are you feeling today?”
“Good as gold. Good as gold,” Fred said. “Got myself a new girlfriend down at the club, and we’re stepping out tonight. Me and my Edna.”
Nate stifled a chuckle. Fred Watson didn’t look a day over eighty-five, and he led a more social life than Nate did at the ripe old age of twenty-eight. But Nate had hopes that might change. And soon. There was a girl down at the bank he’d been thinking about asking out. Yeah, he had to remember the girl down at the bank and forget his wacky notions about Claudia flirting with him when she was probably just trying to handle this Peter situation as best she could.
“So, is this one a keeper, Fred?” Nate asked. If he remembered correctly, this was Fred’s sixth girlfriend in the last eight months. Fred Watson, the aging Lothario, was an inspiration.
The dentures flashed again in a wide smile. “Well, now, son,” Fred’s voice dropped, as if he were imparting a secret. “They’re all keepers. Even if it’s only for a short time.” And then he laughed uproariously at his own wit, his many chins jiggling merrily. “By the way, boy, when are you going to get a girl for yourself?” Fred asked as he peered at Nate from under bushy white eyebrows. “Got yourself this big house and don’t have no family to share it with. Seems a shame to let that backyard of yours go to waste with just your flowers and your patio furniture.”
Since Fred brought up Nate’s lack of female companionship every time the two talked, Nate smiled again, devilishly this time, shrugged a shoulder, and gave his standard answer. “That’s why I’m here, Fred. I’m going to find myself a beautiful ski bunny or corn-fed girl and raise a whole passel of kids.”
Hands folded over his round stomach, his neighbor laughed jovially, and his belly