The door to the garage banged open. Marcus's 35 lb mutt Zooky streaked from the kitchen to the mud room. The house filled with barking.
"Mama coming home is the only thing that will get you out of the kitchen," he muttered. The breedless dog, a result of years of unplanned dog sex, faithfully sat at Marcus's feet in the kitchen for food prep every meal. Her tail thumped on the linoleum while waiting for scraps. She preferred carrots but would take most other crunchy vegetables, as well as all breads.
Aubrey shoved a pile of mail over and put her bag on the counter. She kissed Marcus on the cheek and with a quick, "Smells good," she disappeared to the bedroom upstairs. Marcus didn't want to make contact with whatever was on her scrubs today ... or any other day for that matter. Zooky reassumed her position at Marcus's feet, muzzle pointed up at him, expectant look on her face.
Marcus diced the red peppers for the stir fry and flicked a long piece off the counter. The dog went and ate it, crunching twice before swallowing.
Aubrey came downstairs minutes later. She was in her at-home apparel, a heavy Pittsburgh Steelers hoodie and loose sweatpants barely clinging to her hips. She eyeballed the sizzling pan on the stove before cornering Marcus at the sink. She pressed her body against his, pushing into his chest.
"No bra? Nice touch," he said as she leaned up to kiss him thoroughly. His hands confirmed it moments later. Aubrey bit his lip and Marcus yelped, pulling his hands away from her breasts.
"I'm hungry. There will be time for that after dinner ... if dinner is good. Or even if it's not," she said, breaking free from the kiss, "And I saw you did laundry and got the house done. Thanks."
"Of course. Dinner'll be plated in a minute. Milk?"
Aubrey nodded and sat at the table. Marcus scooped food onto plates and delivered them to the table. He dropped a shaker of red pepper flakes next to his own glass of milk.
"Did you see the "For Sale" sign next door went down?" Aubrey asked.
Marcus nodded. "I'll do you one better," he said, "I was walking the dog and saw one of those pod container things tucked away on the side driveway. And someone already took down the basketball hoop if you didn't notice. I'm betting there aren't kids."
"We'll go back to a dead-quiet dead-end street again," Aubrey said, "I kinda liked having those kids playing next door. At least they brought some noise to the neighborhood, some life, you know?"
Marcus nodded.
"Yeah," he said, "Hey, what's your schedule over the weekend?"
"I wrote on the calendar this time," Aubrey said, smiling, "I'm on both Saturday and Sunday and off until Wednesday next week. The hospital hired another clinical specialist so I'll get a little more time back starting in a few weeks. And then it'll be September. We should be able to sneak a quick summertime vacation in here somewhere."
Marcus nodded.
"Anything you need done around the house?" he asked, "I think most of it is clean enough. I'll get whatever's left while you're working. I'm not working until Tuesday myself and I'll have the time."
Aubrey shook her head.
"You work hard enough," she said, "Enjoy a few days with the dog. She could use the attention." She pointed at her plate with her fork, "This is really good, by the way."
Marcus nodded a thank you. "It's the hoisen sauce. I figured you'd like it," he said.
Marcus didn't like waking up to a quiet house. The dog was under a pile of blankets and the morning sun hadn't hit her front window yet. Aubrey was gone and the house sat silently. She had the coffee machine filled with grounds and water, primed and ready. Marcus couldn't make a good pot of coffee to save his life and even though Aubrey didn't drink caffeine, she had the coffee-to-water ratio dialed in to perfectly fit Marcus's tastes. It was one of those little things one of them did for the other.
Marcus decided he would lace up his shoes and go for a quick few miles before taking the dog out. He sipped the hot coffee and drew up his day. Work-out, mow the yard, do some outside things, and he'd make it up from there. He'd burn the dog out too, walking her into submission today.
Less than 30 minutes later he was cruising in from a hard 4-mile run. Sweat coursed down his body and molded his shirt to his torso. He pulled up and slowed to a jog a few driveways away from his house. A woman was standing in her front yard frowning at the hole in the lawn from the For Sale sign. Marcus went to say hello.
"Hello," he said, "I'm Marcus. I live next door."
The woman smiled and extended a hand.
"I'm Lynn. It seems too obvious to say I'm your new neighbor but here we are, right?"
Marcus liked her instantly. She had a friendly smile and she was engaging.
"It used to be the Sedlmeyers' place," he said, "The woods behind your fence belong to the family on the other side of the highway but they don't have a problem if anyone goes back there. John built a few trails for their kids that make for pleasant walks."
Lynn nodded. "Nice of them," she said.
"Yeah," Marcus agreed, "I think there's no way to police it so they just figured it's easier to greenlight everyone. Anyway, you'll see a herd of deer pass through in the early mornings. We get some coyotes and a fox or two fairly regularly. Half a mile back is the highway, and then corn and cows. This is a quiet street and sometimes I feel like Aubrey and I are the only ones here."
"Aubrey's your...?" Lynn asked.
"Girlfriend. We're living in sin. One day we'll get married but we're both young and in no rush to make anything official. At least, 32 is young for me," Marcus said.
Lynn laughed.
"I'm getting up toward 50," she said, "You're a spring chicken to me."
"I would have guessed lower than that," Marcus said, meaning it. Lynn was in good shape. No, better than good shape. He could tell she kept active. Her thick blonde hair was tied up in a messy-but-classy ponytail and her bare arms were tanned and toned. She obviously spent time in the gym and kept an eye on her diet.
"You look fit too," she said acknowledging his appraisal with a nod, "I saw you sprinting in and thought 'cool, running buddy.' I don't know now. You look at lot stronger up close."
"I'm good for picking things up and putting them down and all that," Marcus said, laughing. "Speaking of, you need help? I saw the pile of boxes on the side of the house. I'm happy to join the fun and lift the heavy stuff if it will help you."
Lynn waved him away.
"No, I'm all set. It's good for me. I'm in no rush anyway to get this done today. It seems like no one is around to criticize the boxes. But I keep things tidy so no worries." She checked her watch. "It's been a pleasure but I have a thing to do. Have a quiet afternoon."
Marcus shook her extended hand a second time.
"You too. It was nice meeting you. Aubrey and I seem to be the only ones around. Let us know if you need anything," he said.
"Oh, I will. I'm not shy," Lynn said and turned to walk back in her house.
Steam poured out the bathroom into the bedroom. Marcus preferred ultra-hot showers after his runs and the 40 minutes of lifting that followed. It always turned their small master bath into a sauna.
Marcus put on a fresh pair of running shorts and a t-shirt. The day was hot outside and he went light clothes, especially since he was going outside for the day.
