Dolly was taking her sweet time, sniffing the bushes at the edge of the porch to find the right one to pee near. I jumped as I heard a door slam, the door to the neighbor’s house.
I froze with my back to the house, pretending I wasn’t completely aware of what was happening. Was she leaving again on that motorcycle? Where would she go tonight? The only bar in town closed in less than an hour, and there was nothing else open. Unless she might be going to a friend’s house for a party?
Or perhaps she was going to the beach for a midnight swim. I shivered at the thought of Jude slipping beneath the waves like a mermaid.
My ears perked for the rumble of the motorcycle starting up, but I didn’t hear it. Dolly finally found her perfect spot and did her thing. She seemed content to sniff around the yard, so I let her, wrapping my arms around myself and breathing the sharp sea air. I’d missed this smell, even if I hadn’t missed much else. Maybe I’d go for a midnight swim. The only danger of doing that in the height of the summer was encountering drunken teenagers, out having a bonfire on the beach and smoking a lot of weed.
I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths before turning around. I told myself not to look at the porch next door, but my eyes had other ideas.
She was there, sitting on the porch on an Adirondack chair and staring out toward the ocean, just like I’d been doing. An open beer rested on the porch railing.
I swiveled my head away so she wouldn’t catch me looking again, and at that moment Dolly decided that she’d make a mad dash for Jude’s yard.
“Dolly!” I yelled as she bounded up the porch and went right for Jude. Well, shit. “Dolly, come back!”
She completely ignored me. I was going to have to go get her.
Groaning inside, I dragged myself over to the house, preparing for anything. What I found was Jude petting Dolly’s head and Dolly closing her eyes in bliss and then trying to climb in Jude’s lap.
“Dolly,” I said, but she acted as if I wasn’t even there. “I’m sorry. I should have kept her on the leash.” I couldn’t look up at Jude, so I watched her hands stroke Dolly’s head. The air around the porch seemed thicker somehow, or maybe it was just harder to breathe near Jude.
“It’s okay,” she said, and I felt like I’d never heard her voice before. I wasn’t sure if I had. “I don’t mind.”
Dolly finally stopped trying to climb into the chair and settled for putting her paws and her head in Jude’s lap.
“Sorry,” I said again. I needed to take Dolly and get the hell out of here, but I couldn’t move. My feet were glued to her porch.
“Haven’t seen you in a while, Iris,” she said. Her voice had a rough quality that made me think of bar smoke and darkness. There was a hard quality about her that made my stomach flip over a few times.
“Yeah, I moved back today.” My gaze finally crept its way up to her face only to find her watching me with fathomless brown eyes. Her face was all sharp angles, along with her haircut. A fluttering in my stomach erupted, and I forgot what we were talking about until she blinked again.
“When did you get back?” My voice trembled, and I hoped she didn’t hear it.
Her fingers danced back and forth on Dolly’s head. “Last year,” she said, but didn’t elaborate. Chatty.
“I should probably go,” I said, stating the obvious.
“Stay if you like,” she said, picking up her beer and gesturing to the empty chair next to her.
“Okay?” I collapsed into the chair and tried to calm my galloping heart.
“Do you want a beer?” she asked after a few seconds of silence.
“No, thank you.” What was I doing here? I should have grabbed Dolly and run back into the house. Was Jude doing this so she could confront me about staring at her earlier?
I had no idea how to have a conversation with her so I stopped trying to think of things to say and just sat there, my insides twisting around like pissed-off snakes. At least Dolly was enjoying herself.
Jude didn’t seem eager to say anything either, so there we were. I kept expecting my mom to open the door and yell for me to come back. At least that would give me an escape route.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Jude. She petted Dolly with one hand and the other lifted the beer to her lips periodically. She wore a T-shirt and the same shorts as earlier.
I needed to stop thinking about that earlier non-outfit. I blushed hard and hoped she couldn’t see in the dark.
If I strained my ears, I could just barely hear the crash of the waves. Somewhere nearby, a soft boom followed by another let me know someone was setting off fireworks.
“That’s a cool motorcycle,” I blurted out, and wished I could walk into the ocean and disappear.
“Thank you. It’s not very useful in the winter, but it’s good for getting around in the summer.” She pressed her lips together as if she’d said too much.
“I’ve never been on a bike. I’m scared I’d fly off or something.” This kept getting worse and worse.
“I’m sure you’d be fine, once you tried it. Do you always let fear dictate your life?”
I sat up, shocked. “No,” I said, but it didn’t sound convincing. “You don’t even know me.” I didn’t know her either, but I was the one being called out.
“True. Just something to think about.” She moved Dolly’s
