Page 46 of Here You Are

He put his arm around the oldest girl and said, “This is Brooklyn. She is fourteen and thinks everything I do is embarrassing. Brooklyn, this is Cassie, and she lives just diagonally from us.” Brooklyn looked at me with a little smile and shrugged her dad off.

“Nice to meet you,” she said, and continued, “I see you with the older lady next door a lot.”

I smiled back at her and said, “Oh yes, she is my best friend whether I want her to be or not.”

Ben continued, “You have met my ten-year-old, Linden, already.” He scooped up the youngest girl and said, “And this is Taylen. Taylen, can you tell Cassie how old you are?”

Taylen made an effort to hold up four fingers.

“Good job, baby,” he said and set her back down on the ground. “Brook, will you take your sisters inside and get them in dry clothes?”

“Sure, Dad,” Brooklyn responded, picking up Taylen to carry her inside.

“It looks like you have your hands full,” I said. I had the towel wrapped around my body to avoid any unintentional nipple sightings. I reached for the bag of paper plates. “I’ll get these back over to Emilia’s since they seem to be plates, which is what is needed to put food on that you plan to eat. I'll wash this towel and get it back to you.”

“No hurry; it looks good on you.” The corner of Ben’s mouth tipped up into a half smile. He walked a bit closer and said, “Again, I'm really sorry you got wet, and welcome to my shitshow. You can stop by any time.”

“Well, with the reception I received when I stopped by today, I can’t see why I wouldn’t be back tomorrow. And no big deal about them getting me wet. I was a bit shocked by the cold water, but I need to shower anyway, so we’ll just call it a presoak. I’m going to go get cleaned up. If you need any help getting things ready, let me know.”

“I think that might be fun. It was good to see you,” he said and pulled me in for a long, wet hug. I gasped quietly and apparently forgot how humans are supposed to react during physical contact with another human. Normally, I only touch people who are willing to have sex with me. With my unencumbered arm, I reached around and patted him on the back. I quickly pulled back and started to turn around to walk home.

“I meant what I said, Cassie. Feel free to come over any time. I would like the company of someone who doesn’t consider me an ATM.”

I gave a little backward wave and scurried back to my house. I’m going to need to shower and think about why that long, wet hug took my breath away.

Chapter 20

Present Day, July 4th, 2021

Let freedom ring. I pledge allegiance to the flag. “Merica!

This is me walking around my house trying to get pumped for this evening's festivities. Widow Jenkins bought me a sequin dress with a bald eagle driving a monster truck on it that she insists I wear. I am wearing a headband with ridiculous stars-and-stripes antennas. If I had a normal friend, I might be doing normal-people activities on the Fourth of July, like going to the lake. Nope. I am hanging out with all of my old neighbors tonight, Grass Daddy and his girls.

I have been avoiding Ben like the plague since WJ accused us of K-I-S-S-I-N-G in a tree and the unintentional wet t-shirt contest. I have been more mortified, but it was definitely up there. I also can’t have him embracing me in long hugs because he smells good, which has been known to confuse me in the past. I have been strolling through my house, trying to find things to do so I can avoid going outside. I don’t want to risk Jenkins coming over here and dragging me out by my ear (or antennae), so I head for the door.

The Fourth of July has exploded across the street. There are inflatable decorations, streamers, and every flat surface is covered in red, white, and blue. I peered out the window earlier and saw WJ and Ben having an animated conversation, probably about the placement of the twelve-foot inflatable Uncle Sam. I would put my money on WJ winning that argument. It looks like the whole neighborhood of gray hairs showed up. Ben is managing the grill, and his girls are running around with water guns, spraying each other. I don’t intend to pay much attention to his small humans, but they are all wearing red, white, and blue dresses and look adorable.

“Cassie, get your ass over here! This Uncle Sam keeps falling forward into the eagle’s ass, and it looks downright pornographic. Come over here and help me with this!” Widow Jenkins yells at me as I walk across the street.

“Ok, can’t wait to help!” I reply with an eye roll.

Once we get Uncle Sam’s face out of the bald eagle and restore a sense of dignity at the gathering, I head over to get some food. There are burgers, brats, potato salad, watermelon, cupcakes, some questionable-looking “salads,” and so many coolers of beer. I had no idea the neighbors partied this hard. I load up a plate and take a seat at a table with Widow Jenkins and the Thompsons. I am one giant mouthful of burger into my meal when someone sits down next to me. I look over and choke a little when I see it is Grass Daddy.

“Hi, Cassie. How do you think the decorations turned out?” Ben asks me with a smirk.

“Oh, it looks like nothing I have ever seen before. Did you already own all of these patriotic T-Rex balloons?” I asked him, assuming he was the mastermind behind the dinosaur decor.

He lets out a hearty laugh. “Those would be what my girls chose for the party. The rest is all Emilia. I think she is going to have to rent a storage unit for everything she bought after the party if this becomes an annual event.”

“One can only hope,” I reply to him and put my face back to my burger.

“So, was that you who started singing after our porch planning meeting the other night?” Ben asks.

And now I am choking. I cough about ten times, avoiding his gaze. He starts patting me on the back as a gentle Heimlich Maneuver. “Not sure what you’re talking about,” I finally managed to get out.

He chuckles and says, “I could have sworn I heard someone singing a song with our names in it, but I didn’t have the courage to turn around to investigate.”

“Yeah, that would be Widow Jenkins. She is a menace and the most embarrassing human I know. Begrudgingly, she is also my best friend,” I reply.