Chasing Bailey, page 3
part #3 of Lake Harriet Series
A young woman with short blond hair brought his food and another beer, and Avery dived into it. It was the perfect blend of juicy and greasy, just like bar food should be. They had the best fries here, too. Sitting back and savoring his food, he picked up his novel and began reading. This was the perfect ending to a great day. Even though he knew he’d be up late working on his book, he was enjoying himself right now.
And then his happy bubble popped. The very reason he hadn’t been in Gallagher’s for over a year walked into the pub holding hands with her new flame.
Avery couldn’t help but stare at Melissa as she glided so effortlessly in her heels, her skirt short enough to tastefully show off her long, lean legs. Her red sweater fit her curves perfectly and her long, dark hair swung ever so slightly as she moved toward the middle of the room. She had one arm linked around her boyfriend’s arm and she was smiling up at him as if he were the smartest man in the world.
Avery’s face wrinkled up into a sneer. She used to look at him that way.
As Avery watched them settle in a booth across the room, he couldn’t help but wonder what this guy Ross had that he didn’t. He was younger than Avery—thirty-two years old like Melissa while Avery was four years older—but that couldn’t have made much difference. He was tall with an athletic build, much like Avery was, or at least the way Avery had been before the divorce, but from there the comparison ended. Ross had sandy blond hair, blue eyes, and a ridiculous goatee. Avery hated goatees, but apparently, they didn’t bother Melissa. He had money, too, but then, Avery used to have money before his wife took half of it. The part that infuriated Avery most, though, was that Ross Gunderson inherited all of his money instead of worked for it. Ross’s father owned several large car dealerships across the Twin Cities and all Ross had to do was show up once in a while to get his paycheck. At least that was how it seemed to Avery. The guy drove a sports car, owned a house on a very prestigious lake outside of the cities, and even had access to his own private jet.
And Avery now lived in a bungalow in an older neighborhood. Well, at least he earned his money and wasn’t given it. She could have the pretentious snob for all he cared.
Avery sighed. So why did it still bother him?
His appetite gone, Avery decided to leave the bar before Melissa saw him. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck trying to make nice small talk to her or Mr. Trust Fund.
He waved the waitress over and asked for his check. When she brought it, she glanced at his half-empty plate and asked, “Was there something wrong with your food?”
“No, no,” he said hurriedly. “It was fine. I just realized I had to be somewhere.” Yeah, anywhere but here! He dropped a couple of twenties on the table and headed for the door. He was almost past the bar when James called out, “See you around, Avery.”
Avery stopped and turned toward James and immediately saw Melissa staring at him. Their eyes locked, and he felt like a deer caught in headlights. Finally, he broke his gaze, waved at James, and strode out the door.
***
Lisa’s week was going well. Her neighbors coming together to help her on Sunday had really lifted her spirits. And since then, each day had run smoothly. She thought maybe it was because the stress of Bailey escaping the yard was finally gone. Or maybe she was getting the hang of being a working mom. Whatever it was, she was happy everything was going well.
Wednesday after school, Lisa picked Abby up from day care and they went grocery shopping before heading home. She kept Abby placated in the cart with a small bag of animal crackers. As soon as they arrived home, Lisa planned on heating up the soup Kristen had given them and also the corn bread she’d bought at the store’s bakery. Nothing was better than a warm piece of corn bread with melted butter on it. Her mouth watered at the thought of it.
Once home, she brought Abby inside and quickly began hauling in the groceries. Abby ran around inside the house, looking for Bailey, and since Lisa was busy, she didn’t think twice about the dog not rushing in to greet the little girl. Bringing in the last of the bags, Lisa stopped and glanced around.
No Bailey.
“Crap!”
She quickly ran to the back door where Abby was standing, staring out at the empty yard.
“No Baywee,” Abby said sadly.
Lisa scanned the yard, unable to believe the dog would have found an escape route. But then her eyes fell on it. Bailey had dug up the rocks and then a hole so he could slip under the fence.
“Cap?” Abby asked, looking up at her mother.
Lisa’s shoulder’s sagged. “Cap,” she agreed. She scooped up the little girl and headed through the house. Maybe if she could find Bailey first, she’d be able to avoid a confrontation with the hermit. She stepped outside onto the covered front porch, then realized she’d forgotten her keys.
“Wait here one second,” she told Abby. Lisa ran two steps into the house for her purse and two steps back to the front porch. As she looked up, two angry blue eyes glared back at her.
“What’s wrong with you?” the hermit growled at her, his hand holding Bailey’s collar. “Not only can’t you control your dog, but then you leave your child on the front porch, alone. Are you crazy? If I were a creep, I could have grabbed her and been gone before you even knew she was missing!”
Lisa’s mouth dropped open at his angry words. He wasn’t just annoyed, he was fuming. “I was only gone for a moment,” she tried to explain, but the hermit interrupted her.
“That’s all it takes. A moment. Just a quick second alone on the porch and this sweet little girl could have been taken.” He released Bailey and the dog ran up the steps to Abby. “You don’t deserve to have a dog or a kid,” the hermit said, looking her right in the eyes. Then he turned and stormed off across the street.
Lisa’s mind spun as she tried to digest what he’d said. She fell in one of the chairs on the porch as she stared at her daughter, innocently hugging Bailey. She’d failed again, and this time, it was big. The hermit was right—she shouldn’t have left Abby on the porch, not even for a split second. That was all it took for a child to be taken. She was a terrible mother. Devastated, she dropped her head in her hands and collapsed into tears.
“Lisa! Lisa! What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Kristen ran up on the porch as quickly as she could while carrying little Marie. “Sweetie. Why are you crying? Did that guy from across the street do this?”
Lisa looked up at her friend as shame washed over her. Shame for her incredible lack of judgment for leaving Abby unattended on the porch, and shame that Kristin was seeing her cry over what that horrid man had said to her. The stress of the last few months engulfed her. Just when she’d thought she was doing okay, she’d failed miserably, and the tears wouldn’t stop falling.
Kristen set Marie down next to Abby and Bailey then knelt beside Lisa. “What happened? Tell me what I can do.”
Between sobs, Lisa explained how Bailey had escaped again, and how she’d thoughtlessly left Abby on the porch—for only a moment—but a moment too long. “I’m a terrible mother,” she said as tears streamed down her face. “If anything happened to Abby, I’d just die.”
Kristen rubbed her back, then went inside for tissues and handed them to Lisa. “You’re not a terrible mother,” she told her with certainty. “You’re a wonderful mother doing the best you can. And that horrible man had no right yelling at you like that. I swear, I’m going over there right now to tell him what I think.”
“What’s going on?” Ryan came up on the porch, his face creased with concern. “I just pulled up and saw you both here.” He turned to Kristen. “And who are you going to tell off?”
“That awful guy across the street. He’s rude and unsociable and he’s made Lisa cry. It’s time someone told him off.” She explained what the hermit had said to Lisa. “He had no right saying that to her,” Kristen said when she’d finished.
Lisa had calmed down a little and was wiping her tears. “Please, don’t make a fuss over it. Bailey did run over to his place again, after all. And I left Abby on the porch, unattended.”
“But he can’t call you a terrible mother,” Kristen said, her voice rising. “I want to have a few words with him.”
Ryan placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Honey. You can’t just go over there and start yelling at the guy.”
“Then you do it,” Kristen said. “Tell him to lay off Lisa. Punch him if you have to.”
Lisa panicked. She didn’t want Ryan to get into a brawl because of her.
Ryan shook his head. “I’m not going to punch him,” he told Kristen. “I’ll go talk to him, though. You’re right. He has no right talking to Lisa that way.”
Kristen stared at Ryan a moment, then let out a sigh. “Fine. I’ll stay here with Lisa. But don’t be nice about it. Tell him in no uncertain terms that he has to straighten up or he can just move.”
Ryan nodded. “I will. I’ll go see what he has to say for himself.”
Chapter Four
Avery sat in his house feeling like a jerk. He couldn’t believe he’d just told that woman she shouldn’t be allowed to raise a kid. It was a terrible thing to say. No, it was more than terrible, it was appalling. But in his defense, he’d been upset finding that stupid dog in his front yard again, digging a hole. And when he’d hauled the dog back to her house, there stood that cute little girl, all alone on the porch. For some unknown reason, that made him flip out.
And now he felt guilty as hell.
The look on the woman’s face after he’d yelled at her was burned into his brain. She’d looked like she was going to faint. He’d left so quickly he hadn’t looked back to make sure she was okay. He’d been afraid that if he turned around, he wouldn’t have been able to leave. He felt so horrible, he knew he’d have run back and apologized over and over again. So he’d stuck to his resolve and gone home.
Cripes. What kind of creep had he become? In that moment, he truly hated himself.
A pounding on his front door made him jump. “Who in the world is that?” he said aloud. Avery looked out the peephole. One of the men from across the street was standing there, looking angry.
He’s probably here to punch me out. With a sigh, Avery opened the door.
“What were you thinking, talking to Lisa like that?” the guy said, scowling at Avery.
Avery was unable to come up with a good answer. “Are you her husband?”
The man looked confused for a second. “No. I live next door to her. You upset Lisa with your cruel words and then it upset my wife. And man, you’re lucky my wife didn’t come over here because she was fuming.”
Avery looked past the man and over at the pesky woman’s—Lisa’s—porch. It was empty now. He assumed this guy was married to that other woman who had the kid about the same age as Lisa’s.
“You know, everyone is this neighborhood is nice. We all try to get along. We’ve invited you to our neighborhood events and you’ve never come to any of them. So we’ve all tried to leave you alone, since that’s what you seem to want. Still, you have the nerve to yell at Lisa.”
“Yeah, but her dog keeps coming over here and digging up my yard,” Avery said, trying to defend himself. He knew as soon as the words left his mouth it was an inadequate excuse.
“So that gives you the right to call her a terrible mother? You don’t know the first thing about Lisa. Because if you did, you’d know she’s a kind and caring mother to Abby and a wonderful person.”
Avery winced. The guy was right. He’d had no right to go as far as telling her she didn’t deserve having a child. “Would you like to come in for a beer?” he asked. It looked like he’d totally thrown the guy off.
“What? A beer? Huh?”
“Maybe we can talk about this calmly over a beer. Or a soda, if you’d rather,” Avery said.
“Oh. Yeah.” The guy ran his hand through his hair and looked over his shoulder at Lisa’s house. “Well, uh, sure. I’ll have a beer,” he said.
Avery moved aside and let him in. Then he walked across the living room to the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge. The man had followed him to the island and was glancing around.
“By the way, I’m Avery,” he said, handing the guy the beer.
“Ryan. Ryan Collier,” the guy said.
They both stared at each other. Each took a sip of beer, then Ryan spoke again.
“I’ve never been in this house before. It was empty for a couple of years before you bought it. It looks nice.”
“Thanks, but no credit goes to me. I haven’t done a thing to it since I’ve moved in.”
“You’ve lived here over a year, haven’t you?” Ryan asked, eyeing the unopened boxes in the living room.
“Yeah. I guess I haven’t really made myself at home yet.”
Ryan nodded, as if he understood. “So, about Lisa.”
Avery raised his hand up to stop him. “I get it. I was an idiot to her. To tell the truth, I was in here regretting what I’d said before you came over.”
Ryan raised a brow. “Okay. Are you going to apologize to her?”
“Yeah. I was just trying to think of a way to make it up to her. I know she’s trying to keep the dog out of my yard. For some reason, though, that dog keeps heading over here.”
Ryan nodded. “Bailey’s a good dog. Border Collies are smart. He just needs some training, and unfortunately, Lisa is too swamped with work and raising Abby to take care of it. She’s doing the best she can.”
Avery motioned for them to sit on the leather sofa in the living room and Ryan did.
“Doesn’t her husband help?” Avery asked. “I thought she was married.”
Ryan studied him a moment before answering. “Actually, she and her husband split this past January. And no, he doesn’t help much except taking Abby every other weekend. He’s also the one who gave Abby the puppy for a present without Lisa’s permission.”
“Oh. I see.” Avery was getting a clearer picture of the situation. “So, she wasn’t prepared for a lively puppy.”
“No, she wasn’t.” Ryan took another sip of beer. “You know, what Bailey really needs is a little exercise to wear off his energy every day. I’ve noticed that you take long walks. Did you ever think of asking Lisa if you could take Bailey along? He’d be less likely to dig if he had exercise.”
“No, I guess that never occurred to me.” Avery sat back and thought about it. Truth be told, he’d been too absorbed with being angry about everything in his life to ever think that she needed a little help. “I’ve gotten a little rusty when it comes to the nice neighbor thing.”
“Well, it couldn’t hurt to try. Who knows? Maybe you and Lisa could even be friends,” Ryan said, a grin tugging at his lips.
Avery laughed. “Yeah. If she ever talks to me again.”
Ryan finished his beer, then stood. “Thanks for the beer. I’m glad we were able to talk this out. To tell the truth, I really didn’t want to fight anyone today.” He chuckled.
“Me neither.” Avery walked Ryan to the door. “I met another neighbor the other night. James Gallagher. He seems like a nice guy.”
Ryan nodded. “He is. And his wife is nice too. She owns a staging and design business. In fact, most of the people who live in this neighborhood are pretty great people, if you give them a chance.”
“Point taken,” Avery said. “You know, I’m not really that bad of a guy. It’s just been a difficult year for me, and I guess I took out my anger on this neighborhood, and Lisa. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“I know where you’re coming from. I had a few tough years too, before I met Kristen. Things do get better.” He grinned. “Speaking of Kristen, it took a lot of convincing to keep her from coming over here and giving you an earful. Next time you may not be so lucky.”
“Hmm. She’s a tough one, huh?”
“She worked as a pediatric oncology nurse for years before staying home with our little girl. She’s had to be tough to stay strong at her job. But she has a big heart and is loyal to her friends. She’s pretty amazing.”
“She sounds like she is. I promise I won’t give her any more reasons to come here and straighten me out,” Avery said.
“Great.” Ryan waved and walked out the door.
As Avery watched him leave, he stared across the street to where Lisa lived. He wondered how he’d make it up to her. Closing the door, he had an idea.
***
An hour later, Avery stood at Lisa’s door with a large pizza, a box of chicken strips, and a bottle of wine. He rang the bell and immediately heard the dog barking. A moment later, Lisa opened the door a little and stared at him. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her face was tear-streaked. He felt horrible. He’d been the one who’d made her cry.
“What do you want?” she asked, frowning at the boxes in his hand.
“I came over to apologize,” he said quickly so she wouldn’t slam the door in his face. He wouldn’t have blamed her if she had, though. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. It was cruel and certainly not true. It’s obvious you’re a good mother. I see you nearly every day carefully buckling your little girl in and out of her car seat and taking her for walks around the neighborhood in her little wagon. I’ve seen you hold her while talking to neighbors, giving her tiny kisses on her cheeks for no reason other than because you love her. I’m so sorry I said what I did.”
Lisa’s frown deepened. “You’ve been watching me?”
Avery realized how creepy that must have sounded. “No. I mean, yeah. I mean, not intentionally. My office is in the front bedroom and my desk faces the window. I see a lot that goes on in the neighborhood.”
She continued to stare at him, as if gauging what he’d said. From behind her, he saw Abby sitting on the floor, rolling a ball for Bailey to retrieve. The dog would run after it and bring it back to her so she could roll it again. He smiled. “Your daughter is teaching your dog how to play fetch.”
Lisa looked startled a moment, then turned and watched what he’d seen. Turning back, her expression had softened. “Yes, she is. She adores Bailey. They play together all the time.”
