Was he hassling her?
If so, he was in for a rude awakening, because he wouldn’t be hassling her onmywatch, not if I could help it. I gave him a stiff smile. "Wait here. I'll see if she's home."
I shut the door in his face and called out toward Gwen's bedroom. "Hey Gwen! You've got a visitor."
Yeah, I knew the guy could hear me.That was the whole point. He needed to know thatsomebodywas watching Gwen's back whether she was home or not.
Calling out from her bedroom, Gwen asked, "Who?"
Huh. Good question.I'd meant to ask, but I'd gotten a little distracted by my urge to protect her. Moving toward her bedroom, I called back, "Some guy with a dog."
I'd just reached her open doorway when she asked, "What does he look like?"
At the dressing table, Gwen was pulling her blonde hair into its usual tight bun. She wore a formless gray dress, thick black tights, sensible gray shoes, and no makeup whatsoever.
Still, with her classic features and freckle-free skin, she was five times as pretty asIwas – not that I was jealous. In the family lottery, my sister and I had drawn therealwinning ticket when it came to our parents.
I considered Gwen's question.What did the guy look like?The answer came in an instant. "Like a big surfer dude." I hesitated. "Or did you mean the dog?"
In front of me, Gwen gave a hard swallow before lowering her voice. "I meanthim, but…" She glanced toward the front of the house. "Did he say what he wants?"
He hadn't.But judging from her reaction, his visit wasnotwelcome. Probably, he wanted the same thing fromherthat Tango had wanted from Miss Lucy. And even though Gwen went exclusively for bookish men,allkinds of men went forher, even in spite of her deliberately drab appearance.
I could only imagine how Gwen would look if she ever let loose and playedupher beauty. But for years now, she'd been playing it the other way for reasons that surely had to do with her mom.
More than once, I'd heard Gwen say that she would never follow in her mom's footsteps, which meant that the guy at the front door had surely come uninvited.
In reply to her question regarding whether he'd said what he wanted, I admitted that he hadn't. But then, I squared my shoulders. "But if you want, I'll get rid of him."
Gwen hesitated, and I was sure she was about to say yes. But then, with obvious reluctance, she replied, "No, that's alright." She reached for her eyeglasses and put them on, as if eager to get this over with. "Thanks for the offer though."
I stifled a sigh.This was just like her, being too nice to everyone.
With renewed worry, I asked, "So…do you want me to stick around?" I bit my lip. "Or, should I give you some privacy?"
Looking evenmorenervous now, she said, "He's a neighbor. Maybe you should stick around to meet him."
I knew whatthatmeant. For whatever reason, she didn't want to face this guy alone. Fortunately, she didn'thaveto, because I wasn't going anywhere, not if my favorite cousin needed me.
As I watched, Gwen pulled out her cell phone and gave it a quick glance. "And besides," she added, "I've only got a few minutes 'til I leave for work."
In a show of solidarity, I followed closely on her heels as she left the bedroom and walked to the front door. To give her just a little more space, I stepped aside when she opened it and heard the guy say in a flirty sort of way, "Kitten Cove, huh?"
He was referring, of course, to the red and green sign out front. Before my aunt had left for Switzerland, she'd arranged to have the exterior of the house decorated for Christmas. Those decorations had included an old-timey custom sign that read,"Welcome to Kitten Cove."
It didnotsay,"Welcome to Gwen's pants."
Jerkwad.
When Gwen stepped outside and shut the door behind her, I listened carefully as they exchanged a few friendly words – nothing to be concerned about until the guy said a name that drove my senses to high alert.
Tango.
Oh, my God.The beast washiscat.
Well, that was rich.Already, the guy had caused all kinds of trouble, including driving my aunt to tears. She'd called him a jackass, and judging from her expression, she'd wanted to call him something way worse.
Now thesameguy was bothering my cousin.
