Love Next Door Read online

  Damn Nicole for suggesting something like that to him.

  David reached for his plate and put it on his lap. Then he reached for the remote. Hopefully, mindless TV and filling his belly with greasy food would make him feel better for a short time.

  That was when there was a crashing noise and the world seemed to explode.

  Chapter Three

  Reese gave his sister a warm smile before enveloping her in a deep hug.

  “Thanks, Annie. I needed that.”

  “I noticed.” Annie laughed as she stepped back. “You just need to take a whiff of my cooking and you’re back to normal.”

  “As close to normal as I’m going to get right now.” Reese patted his belly. “I think I’m going to be rolling out to the car instead of walking.”

  “That’s what I want after you’ve eaten a meal here.” Annie grinned. “My husband is certainly in a better mood after my cooking.”

  Reese could understand why. Their mother had been an expert cook and spent all her time trying out new dishes. She would feed the poorer people in the community for nothing and would wave away their offers to pay. Annie had picked up her mother’s special knack for creating meals that would leave a plate empty at the end of the night. Unlike Reese, who had been known to boil dry an egg. If he needed a decent meal, he went over to his older sister’s place. She would happily feed him.

  And her company was what Reese also needed. Annie was warm and inviting. Her husband Aaron was good fun, and their three teenaged children kept Reese on his toes. They seemed to have endless energy, making Reese feel a lot older than he was. But Reese needed the distraction, and his nieces and nephew helped him maintain that distraction.

  Even after a pleasant evening and a full belly, Reese still found himself turning back to his previous thoughts as he headed home. Annie could give him a deviation from his mood for a short while, but it wasn’t permanent. That wasn’t unfair on Annie, she did her best. But Reese couldn’t stop himself thinking about Henry and how he had got things so badly wrong.

  He could still remember the first time they met. Henry had been nervous after a death threat had been made at him, and now someone was stalking him. Reese was meant to keep an eye on him, make sure Henry was kept safe and not accosted by someone who either wanted to get a picture while mobbing him or who wanted to kill him. It was normal. Henry was a celebrity, and it came with the status. People either loved a celebrity or hated them, and there were people who had too much time on their hands that often resulted in stalking their favorite people.

  It should have just been a regular year-long contract. But Reese hadn’t expected to fall in love. He had been in close quarters with a man before, and some of them had been gay, but he had never wanted to go any further. Henry just threw all that out the window. Initially, Reese had pushed him away and kept his distance. Getting into bed with the client literally was a bad idea. But Reese’s resolve had been weaker than he thought, and it hadn’t taken long for Henry to seduce him.

  Six months of keeping it a secret - Henry hadn’t come out and Reese knew he would be in trouble if they were found out - but Reese hadn’t cared. Henry had made things look a lot brighter in spite of their situation. The night before Henry was killed, he had asked Reese to marry him. Reese had accepted. He wouldn’t be able to carry on his job after that, but Reese didn’t mind as long as he could have Henry in his life.

  Seeing him get shot right in front of him and unable to save him had been gut-wrenching. Everything had fallen to pieces around him, and Reese had returned home a broken man. If it hadn’t been for David and Annie being there, allowing Reese to talk about nothing but Henry for hours on end and cry on their shoulders, Reese didn’t know what he would have done. He shuddered to think about it now.

  There were no suicidal thoughts now, but Reese couldn’t get himself out of his dark mood. Things just seemed to be paler than before, and they weren’t getting any brighter. Except for David. He had always been a bright spark for Reese, and that was what Reese clung on to. The younger man, even with his own problems, always had a smile and an offer to hide away from his thoughts for a few hours. Reese appreciated his help, even when he didn’t need to extend the offer.

  David was not Henry, but Reese was finding himself more and more drawn to David. Earlier, Reese had ended up checking out David while David was bent over looking into the fridge. The man kept himself in shape, and his clothes made it clear that he had a good body. The seat of his pants had certainly molded to his backside, and Reese hadn’t been able to take his eyes off him. He had had a sudden urge to reach out and see if David’s backside was at firm as it looked.

  Damn. Reese shifted in his seat. He was trying to drive home and head to bed. Having a hard-on about his next-door neighbor wasn’t making it easy to drive. He needed to jump into an ice-cold shower as soon as he got home.

  Reese pulled into his driveway, and his headlights passed over someone sitting on the steps outside his house. Reese stared. It was David, huddled up on the top step leaning against the front door. What was he doing there? And what was he doing with a brick in his hand?

  Turning off the engine, Reese got out. He locked up and headed up the path. David stood and jumped off the step. Even in the dark, his expression was tight. He looked angrier than earlier.

  “Hey, Reese. I…” David waved at Reese’s house. “I was about to get hold of you and then I remembered you were out.”

  “You could have called me.”

  “I didn’t want to bother you with my trivialities.”

  As he spoke, David tossed the brick from hand to hand. Reese eyed it warily. What was he doing with a brick? It was like David was about to attack him.

  “Erm, would you mind putting that brick down? You’re making me nervous.”

  “What? Oh.” David stopped. “This got thrown through my window about half an hour ago. I didn’t know what to do with it.”

  “You what?”

  Then Reese looked over at David’s house and saw the front window was completely shattered. There was a big hole in the middle, the remaining glass looking like an explosion.

  “Shit.” Then Reese looked around. At half-ten, the place was dark. The majority of their neighbors were either elderly or with school-age children. Practically all the houses were in darkness, the only lights coming from houses further down the street and from David’s place. “Where are the cops? This is vandalism.”

  “You know why I can’t call the cops, Reese.”

  Reese did know, but he didn’t think that scared David enough not to say anything to the police. He shook his head.

  “Put that aside for now. You should call them.”

  But David was already shaking his head. Reese groaned.

  “Come on, David…”

  “How do I know it wasn’t James?” David demanded. “I can’t exactly give his name to his buddies. They’ll think I’m a vindictive ex-partner trying to get my own back. You remember what happened last time.”

  Reese did remember, and that hadn’t been pleasant. David had been hugely embarrassed, even though he had been well within his rights to think James had thrown a brick through the window of his car. But the cops had told David that they would arrest him for wasting their time if he threw a brick through his window again. Reese had been shocked when he heard it. The Sioux Falls police department were falling down hard in his eyes. There was protecting one of their own and then there was protecting a bad apple.

  “David, someone threw a brick through your window. It’s a miracle you weren’t hurt yourself. You need to call the cops.”

  David scowled.

  “I don’t need to call them. I just need the number of a glazier who can come over and sort the window at this time of night. I thought you might know someone.”

  “I do, but…”

  David growled, which had Reese taking a step back. He didn’t often see David angry, but it wasn’t a pleasant sight when he was. And Reese had never bee
n in the path of his anger.

  “If you tell me to call the cops again, I’m going to slug you.” David shook his head. “The answer is still no.”

  Reese sighed.

  “Look, James isn’t going to be involved. And he isn’t going to be the one turning up to investigate. He’s not stupid enough to risk his career by doing this.”

  “You don’t know James like I do.”

  Reese knew he wasn’t going to get through to David anytime soon. He was so set in his belief that James had thrown a brick through his window. Reese wasn’t so sure. James was a cop. While cops could commit crimes, he didn’t think James would go to throwing a brick at the house he had once lived in. It seemed almost at the opposite end of the scale to James pleading to come inside and talk to David earlier in the day. But there was no changing David’s mind. He was so certain about it. The best thing to do was to back down and help David as he could. Reese brought out his cell phone.

  “I’ll call someone I know who can sort this out. You clean up what you can and take some pictures if you haven’t already. We’ll need it as evidence.”

  David sighed and gave Reese a mock salute.

  “Yes, sir. As you wish, sir.”

  “There’s only one room where I get called sir.”

  That was out of Reese’s mouth before he could stop it. Where had that come from? David was looking at him like he had never seen Reese before. They stared at each other, Reese at a loss at what to say. What could you say after something like that? Then David cleared his throat, his face flushing dark in the moonlight, and he backed towards his house.

  “I... I’ll go and sort out that mess. I…”

  He turned abruptly and hurried towards his house.

  ***

  Max put the last touches to the window and pressed against the glass. It didn’t budge.

  “There we go. All sorted.” He jumped down from the chair and put his tools into his bag. “That shouldn’t be a problem now. Unless someone decides David needs an extra brick for something else.”

  “Hopefully, no one’s going to come back and do the same thing anytime soon.” Reese commented as he tied up the bag. He had managed to find a strong green bag that was used for garden rubbish in his shed for the glass. The regular trash can bags got ripped far too easily.

  “I hope not. I’m happy to help out when you ask but doing it in the middle of the night is not the best time to fit a window.”

  Reese knew that, but he also knew that Max Richards would help him out whenever he asked. The handyman was on-hand for Maria’s company, both for the workplace and the employees whenever they needed him. Reese knew the real reason why he would happily be called out in the middle of the night, and it did feel a little bit like he was exploiting Max’s work, but David couldn’t sleep until morning with a hole in the window, even if they had put some cardboard across the hole.

  Reese headed out to the trash can on the drive and put the broken window glass inside. Max came out after him and headed to his truck.

  “Let me know if you need anything else, Reese.” He said over his shoulder as he put his things into the back of the truck.

  “Will do.” Reese followed him. “Thanks for coming over at this time. David appreciates it.”

  “You know I’m happy to help.” Max winked. “Anything for a friend.”

  Reese laughed.

  “I’m only your friend because I’m close to Maria.”

  “Partly.” Max chuckled. “How you two are together so much and you haven’t banged her yet, I have no idea.”

  “Because Maria’s not a man and she’s close to fifty.”

  “Who cares? I love a cougar. And she’s a gorgeous one, at that.”

  Reese rolled his eyes. The moment Max had laid his eyes on Maria, he had made it his mission to seduce her. That had been nearly a year ago and while Maria seemed to be weakening a little each time, she remained professional. Maybe it was because Max was nearer Reese’s age, and maybe it was because Maria didn’t want to be seen as sleeping with the hired help.

  “I don’t want to know what you think about my boss.”

  “Good. Because I’m not planning on sharing.” Max glanced towards the house. “Is he okay?”

  That was when Reese realized David had come to the window and was watching them. He had put a zipped fleece on, his arms folded with a scowl. After cleaning up the glass, David had retreated upstairs and Reese hadn’t seen him when he came over after the phone call to Max. He had left David alone, guessing he wanted some time to rant alone. And from the bangs and shouts coming from upstairs, he had needed that alone time.

  He wasn’t okay, and that’s what worried Reese. David had put up with a lot since he had filed for divorce, and both James and the girl David had caught him with just wouldn’t leave them alone. It had to be taking a toll on him. Reese turned back to Max.

  “Send me the invoice, will you? He’s got enough to worry about.”

  “No need. This is on me.”

  “Max, seriously.”

  Max sighed.

  “Okay, I’ll send you the invoice. But I get Maria’s personal number in return. She still refuses to give it to me.”

  “Among other things.” Reese chuckled. “She could get a restraining order on you, you know.”

  Max grinned and he climbed into the truck.

  “She’s weakening.” He said as he shut the door. “I can tell.”

  Reese could see. Max was a charming individual. No wonder Maria was weakening. He stepped back as Max backed his truck out of the drive, giving him a wave through the window before he drove off. At least there was one problem sorted. Max would have done this for free, but Reese didn’t do that. He liked to pay what he was due.

  He headed back into David’s house, finding David still at the window. David was still staring out at the front yard, barely looking around as Reese came in. Reese unzipped his coat. Now the window was up, it was getting warmer in the house.

  “It’s all sorted now.”

  “I can tell.” David didn’t look around. “How much do I owe your friend?”

  “I’m paying it. Don’t argue,” Reese warned as David started to protest, “I’m doing it.”

  David didn’t look very happy about it, turning to glare at him. Then his shoulders slumped and his expression crumbled. He looked exhausted.

  “Thanks, Reese.” He rubbed at his eyes with a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone off on you the way I did earlier.”

  “You’re entitled to. Someone’s attacked you in your own home. You could have been hurt.”

  David paced away from the window, switching a lamp on by the TV. Reese turned on the ceiling lights, the whole room brightening up to the point Reese had to shut his eyes for a moment. He had been working in partial darkness for the best part of two hours, and the brightness was painful.

  “It was James who did this.” David said defiantly. “I know it.”

  “He’s a cop, David. Why would he risk his job by terrorizing his ex-husband?”

  “He wouldn’t be the first cop to do that.”

  He wasn’t wrong there. But Reese still couldn’t connect the vandalism to James’ actions earlier.

  “He wants you back. How is throwing a brick through your window going to achieve that?”

  “I’m not entirely sure.” David began to pace. “Maybe he thinks if I’m scared someone’s after me and wishes me harm, then he can come to the rescue. To ‘protect’ me.” He sneered. “Well, I don’t need his ‘protection’. He can fuck right off. I can take care of myself.”

  Reese didn’t doubt that. David’s size told people everything. He was a gentle giant, but he could throw his weight around when pushed. Reese had seen it before, and it wasn’t pretty. This was pushing David’s anger, and he was feeling helpless. No man liked feeling helpless.

  He shoved his hands into his pockets. The urge to reach out and comfort David was sudden and unnerving.

  “Hav
e you got a diary?” Reese asked. “A notebook or something?”

  “Why?”

  “David, you know why. You need to document this. If this is going to be the start of something, you need to make a note of everything. Then we can establish a pattern, check on alibis…”

  “It’s not just some random person.” David cut in sharply. “It’s just James trying to piss me off or scare me or both.”

  “And if it is James, because we don’t know if it is yet,” Reese added when David attempted to talk over him. “There is a chance that he could escalate and go after you physically. And you will have to file that restraining order…”

  “Are you trying to tell me how to run my life?”

  David was on the defensive. He looked like he was ready to fight. Reese sighed. He was so set on it being James that the thought of someone else wanting to hurt him was out of the question.

  “Of course, I’m not.”

  “It sounds like you are, Reese.”

  “Come off it, David, this is my job. Whenever people get someone threatening them in whatever way possible, I’m there to protect them. This is what I was trained to do. You would have been trained in it as well. Everything has to be written down, recorded, so there’s a physical trail and you can get a timeline.”

  “That’s with your clients.” David snapped. “I’m not a client.”

  “You’re my neighbor and my friend. All of this extends to you as well.”

  David was breathing heavily, but Reese could see the look in his eyes. He knew Reese was right, but he didn’t want to admit it. In David’s head, it was his ex-spouse. James was the one who had vandalized his home, and David was up in arms about it. But there was also a part of David that knew if he went after James, it could blow up in his face.

  David’s shoulders slumped. He collapsed onto the couch and buried his head in his hands. Reese waited. He didn’t want to get too close in case David took a swing at him. He could wait.

  Finally, David lowered his hands, staring at the floor.

  “Sorry. I shouldn’t be going off on you.”

  “Who else can you do it with? You know I’m happy to let you rant if it makes you feel any better.”