She shrugs. “The Jones family? Are you from the census or something?”
“No, I just … how long did the Jones family live here? Was there someone named Luca? Luca Pichler?”
“No idea. I don’t know them. Just get their mail sometimes.”
“What about your neighbors? Do you know how long they’ve lived here?”
She sighs. I can tell she’s impatient. “I don’t know. I’ve only lived here a year. I don’t really talk to the neighbors.”
“Okay. Thanks. Sorry for bothering you.”
The woman disappears back into the house, letting the screen door close behind her. Anne and I exchange a shrug, and then step off the porch and back onto the sidewalk.
“I figured she wouldn’t know anything about him,” I say. “He hasn’t written to me from this address since high school.”
“There has to be a neighbor around who’s lived here long enough to remember him or his family,” Anne suggests. “Where do you want to start?”
“Let’s start with the immediate neighbors first.”
As we make our way down the block, my phone vibrates with a new text message. For a moment, I forget about the name change Anne did in my phone, and I’m confused about why I’m getting a message from someone named Husky Eyes.
Husky Eyes:How’s San Diego? Better than Miami?
Naomi:It’s beautiful here. I might never come back.
Husky Eyes:You can’t make a big decision like that until after you’ve been on a date with me.
Naomi:You must be really sure of yourself to think one date can make me rethink such a big decision.
Husky Eyes:It won’t be just one date.
I read his message again, trying to figure out how such a simple sentence can make my whole body feel warmer. I start to feel lightheaded, and I realize that I’ve been holding my breath. I don’t know how I’m supposed to respond to a statement like that. I release my breath, and then I start typing.
Naomi:Oh? Someone is really confident. What if you end up hating me?
Husky Eyes:Not gonna happen.
Naomi:What are you doing today?
Husky Eyes:Just hanging with my family, wishing I was walking on the beach with this really cute weathergirl I met…
I’m startled when Anne grabs my arm, yanking me to the other side of the sidewalk.
“Earth to Naomi,” she says. “Did you really not see that telephone pole?”
“What? Oh.” I look behind us, realizing that she just saved me from walking right into a wooden pole.
“What were you smiling about?” she asks, gesturing toward my phone. Then her eyes narrow with a knowing smile. “It’s Husky Eyes, isn’t it? Is he sending you sexy pictures?”
I laugh. “No. I mean, yes, it’s him, but no, he’s not sending me pictures.” My phone buzzes again. I slip it into my pocket without looking at it just in case he decides to contradict me. “Come on. Let’s go to that house over there.”
The last house on the corner has overgrown shrubs that make it impossible to take the walkway to the front door. We have to step around the hedge to get to the porch. We haven’t had much luck with all the vacation rentals on this street, but at least this house doesn’t look quite as meticulously maintained as the rentals, so I’m hopeful that this tenant has lived here a while.
There’s no doorbell, so I knock on the wooden front door and wait. A small chirpy dog barks somewhere inside the house. A moment later, the door opens, revealing a frail older woman with glasses that make her eyes look huge. The dog is still barking from a back room inside the house.
“Good morning, ma’am,” I say. “I hope I’m not interrupting you.”
“Not at all,” she says. She smiles, showing dentures that look a little too big for her small face.
