And her ruse worked. Instead of following Andi, who seemed to have the situation under control (even if she were
spreading lies...), he went up on the porch and into the house, found the cobbler and dished himself out a healthy
portion. That's what being home was for, catching up on food and sleep, right?
At least that was his belief as he sat himself on the porch and strained his ears for any more information coming from
the two women.
Sure, he was a little bit older than her but that wasn't a bad thing. All the guys her age were such little boys. College
guys were either going to be living on campus for the next ten years or else still thought it was a giant beer garden.
And the ones that knew she'd gone to college and never had themselves all thought they had something to prove.
She was so sick of boys trying to prove things. What she wanted - what she'd wanted since she was just a freshman
in high school - was a very specific man. And it was about time he realized it.
Tossing her blond hair over her shoulder she swung down the sidewalk. Oh, she'd seen the woman with him. And
where they'd gone. It was about time to clarify a claim she'd had staked for years now.
Paige knew she looked good in her white shorts and the shirt she'd tied up at midriff. So there was no lack of
confidence as she walked up the walk to Mrs. Johnson's house and, perfectly, faked surprise at who was sitting, alone
and untended, on the porch.
"Hector!" Her voice was pleased and surprised in just the right amounts and she only had to fake the second one,
smile bright. "I didn't know you were in town. What a surprise!"
"Hey Paige." Hector said as Paige came up the short walk to Mrs Johnson's porch. "It's always a surprise when I'm in
town." He said patiently, as if explaining it to his nieces or nephews. "I rarely give out any warning. Quieter that way,
don't you think?"
He wasn't as oblivious as he appeared to Andi and Cassie. Paige had been finding one reason or another to come
onto him since she was in high school, and for years thought his 'rejections' had more to do with her being jail bait
than him just not being interested! So needless to say, it had gotten kicked up a notch since the day after she had
turned eighteen. Which, unfortunately, he had the bad luck of being home for.
"So how's college?" He asked. "You finish yet, or still got a few more years?"
She hoisted herself up on the railing in front of him after she'd reached the porch and settled on it. Knowing it showed
off her tanned legs. The boys made comments about her legs back at school. She blew them off but she knew how to
flaunt an asset.
"No." She wrinkled her nose and gave a shrug. She knew he thought she was too young and had every intention of
showing him otherwise. "I'm done. Got my degree in business. Daddy wants me to take over all the book work at the
shop for him but I'm not sure." She looked at him with a smile. She really wasn't sure what she wanted to do next. But
she'd work something out. It kind of revolved around him actually. And he sure did look nice. His hair was still a bit
wet, he must have just had a shower. Which was a nice thought. "So, do you know how long you're back for this
time?" She asked.
"No idea. Playing it by ear." Hector said. "Damn this is good." He said. "I do sure love peach cobbler." He shrugged. "I
think going into a ready made business is a good idea for the young people. Get their feet wet before they branch out
on their own. And your father is a good man. Maybe I'll call him up later and see if he has any taped games for me
this time."
He was trying to point out, again, that he was her parents' friends. Sure, he might be slightly closer to her age than
theirs, but she was a kid. And a very obvious kid at that! "But how long we stay depends on Andi. If she wants to stay,
we stay. If not, we'll go to her parents' house for a bit. Or somewhere else. It’s a vacation. Haven't taken one in a while
and not really sure what people do on them." He said with a chuckle. "So I guess I need my hand held through this
relaxation process. Thank god for Andi."
She ignored the 'young people' comment but her eyebrows went up at that second part. Andi, hmmm? So she had a
name to go with the boney woman she'd seen earlier. She wouldn't have thought Hector would go out for the anorexic
girls. Not the way he enjoyed eating. She knew she was just the right size herself. Slim but with curves in all the right
places. Much nicer to snuggle up against than some scarecrow. But the expression on her face didn't shift much
beyond the eyebrows and she gave him a puzzled smile.
"Andi?" Her voice somehow managed to imbue it with a masculine connotation. She bit her lower lip in thought. "I don't
remember anyone named Andi." She commented thoughtfully. She looked around but of course Mrs. Johnson and
the string bean were elsewhere. "Did she come with you?"
"All the way from Africa." Hector said. "got her to take a vacation from her job too. She's a doctor over there." He
finished the cobbler and set the dish aside and took a sip of iced tea he had also swiped from the kitchen. "Right now
she's enjoying a tour of Mrs Johnson's gardens. Nothing in the world like her gardens, and believe me, I've seen a
good part of the world. So has she, come to think of it. You might like her if you can get past the accent." And the fact
that I'm rather attached to her, he added silently.
"All the way from Africa?" Paige asked. Not having to fake surprise. Being snarky only turned men off. Not that she
was worried. Hector dated 'lite' as her dad called it. He never got too attached to anyone and she'd learned it
generally didn't take much to bump them along on their way out the door of his life. When he bothered date anyone at
all. "It sounds very interesting." She agreed. Possibly 'goody two shoe' factor though. She didn't think you made a lot
of money in most parts of Africa as a doctor. "Most of the rest of the world sounds interesting though." She stated
wistfully, mentally tossing the skeleton for the moment to concentrate on who she really wanted to talk about. Men
liked talking about themselves and she wouldn't mind listening to Hector. "I'd love to travel. It seems like there's so
much to see. Did you get to see a lot of Africa this time? What was it like?"
"Paige, I'm in the military. I didn't go on a guided pretty tour of Africa." He said. If he couldn't get it into her head that
he was with someone, then he'd chase her off by portraying himself as a scary scary man. "I saw death, walking
skeletons and people willing to kill their own families for a scrap of bread. Warlords willing to exploit that. Girls no older
than ten being sold into prostitution. Boys younger than that throwing grenades at me. The world I see isn't a pretty
post card world. So when you travel, don't go there. Stick to the pyramids and Moroccan architecture."
She winced a bit at that. Of course she knew what was going on in the rest of the world. She read Newsweek. But it
was the way he said what he said that made it seem - worse somehow. Something in his voice that said the pictures in
the magazines weren't just pictures of somewhere far away and unrelated. She knew what he was trying to do. And it
wasn't going to work. She did have what it took to be a soldier's wife and she wasn't a little kid anymore.
"Oh, Hector." Her blue eyes were wide and she moved over in one smooth motion to end up sitting on the arm of his
chair, looking at him. "That's terrible."
It had been a dual purpose move because just as she'd settled, Mrs. Johnson and the skin and bones woman came
around the corner of the house. Laughing about something.
"An elephant, truly." A prim voice was swearing and then the woman looked over and her eyes went right past Paige
where she was sitting and everything in her face softened and warmed as they met Hector's.
Hector gave Paige a look, the usual one he gave her that she was sitting too close for his comfort, but any other
reaction from him was promptly stifled when Mrs. Johnson and Andi came around the corner, laughing. He was
immediately out of his chair and coming down the porch steps.
"Great cobbler." He said to Mrs Johnson, who laughed.
"I take it that it was cool enough to eat, indeed." She said and gave Paige a look. She'd been trying to get her hooks
into Hector since she was first able to properly fill out a bra. This whole scene was no surprise to Mrs Johnson.
He nodded. "Indeed." He said with raised eyebrows then kissed Andi. As much to send a message to whoever was
watching as well as to just kiss her in the sunshine. "I take it her garden was properly impressive?" He teased.
Paige bristled and glared at Andi. Hector thought he knew about war? He had no idea.
"Oh, so impressive." Andi answered, wrapping her arms contentedly around his shoulders. "She showed me her
flowers and her herbs and we talked about you."
"I had no idea clothing tore so easy." Mrs. Johnson agreed cheerfully. In fact, they had talked, just a bit, about how
Hector and his English doctor had met. She suspected she hadn't been told a great deal of it and that a great deal of
what she had been told was gloss. But it had been romantic anyway and given her more than a little idea of how badly
the tall younger woman adored Hector.
"I came over to see if you wanted some company, Mrs. Johnson." Paige stood up and moved over to lean against the
pillar at the top of the short run of stairs. It showed off her curves and also indicated that she was present too. Kissing
aside, though he did look like he was a good kisser, she wasn't about to let some foreign immigrant run her off. She'd
been here longer and she had more right.
"That's very kind of you, dear." Mrs. Johnson nodded. Knowing that was far from who the girl wanted to keep
company. Oh, yes. She'd be spending a great deal more time watering her flowers in the front yard so she could
watch what was going on. Looked like things were going to perk up a bit around here. Paige was a sweet girl but she
had some notions in her head.
Paige, unfortunately for her, was completely zoned out. Mrs. Johnson was allowed entrance because, well, she made
a killer cobbler. But just barely.
"Cloth is one of the weaker things we've invented." Hector said to Mrs Johnson's comment. "We make up for it by
wrapping it around strong women." But his eyes were laughing toward Andi, as if she had just become his own
personal source of gravity. "Told you that you had to protect me from her, right?" He said, referring to the elderly
widow, not the young co ed. He'd been fending her off for years.
"She's very clever." Andi agree with a smile of her own. She was aware of the younger girl. Of where her placement
had been and the look on her face. But Hector was looking at her with those eyes of his and that look on them... her
body softened against his and she raised her face. "I'm going to have to learn to cook something truly impressive if I
hope to stand a chance against the lure of her cobbler. Otherwise you'll be sneaking down here all the time."
Mrs. Johnson chortled.
"How do you think I caught my first and third husband?" She asked with a twinkle in her eyes. Young love was usually
a pleasure to watch. Seeing Hector in love was like watching a sky full of shooting stars.
Paige knew it would be rude, and worse, graceless to insert a self introduction. But they'd have to come up for air
eventually. In the meantime she gave the other woman a critical examination and came to the conclusion that, not
only was she obviously anorexic but she was too tall and didn't have enough padding to have decent curves. Which
probably meant she couldn't cook either. Tallying, that left Paige a very comfortable advantage. She just needed a
way to edge herself in.
"The second one caught her." Hector said with a wink. "And once you eat the cobbler, I might not be the only one
sneaking down here."
"Her cobbler is absolutely famous in these parts." Paige said brightly. "Hi." She said, coming down the steps with a
slight sway in her hips, taking advantage of the curves she knew she had over the Anorexic Amazon. "I'm Paige" She
slipped Hector a hooded look. "I've known Hector for simply years."
"Really?" Andi recognized all the signs of a female defending her territory. The only pity was the girl was out of her
league. Still, she was just a young thing and so Andi didn't give the almost expected response of 'he's never
mentioned you'. Instead she simply extended one of her hands without unwrapping her other arm. "I'm Andi. And I've
known Hector for..." she appeared to give it some thought. "Simply a year."
Mrs. Johnson, who had been wondering, stifled a chuckle and looked innocent and calm. She'd hoped Hector would
find a girl with some spine to her.
Paige entirely caught the implication. That it had taken the scarecrow less than a year to catch what Paige herself
had obviously been unable to. It didn't matter. She knew how little effort Hector put into relationships when it came to
dates. It would be different with her, of course but he'd lose interest in the bean pole quickly enough. Didn't mean she
was going to take the overconfident snubs laying down either though. She shook the offered hand anyway and than
stood close enough that it was impossible to ignore her. Sometimes you had to invade personal space to make a
point.
"Hector tells me you're from Africa." She drawled as if she truly did care. Implying that he shared confidences with her
a great deal. "He's never brought anyone back from that far away before." She added with a smile that could only be
seen as innocently unaware of what she'd also just implied and trying to be friendly.
Hector gave her a surprised look at that and then shook his head. "Actually, the last girl I brought to my grandparents'
house was after senior prom. She was from the next town over." He said. "Since then the well kinda ran dry. I'm
surprised you remembered that. You were....ten? Maybe?"
"Actually, the last girl he brought home was me." Mrs. Johnson said with a smile. "Last time he came home, I invited
myself over for dinner. I do so love to hear about his travels." Even if she got the obviously glossed over version. "I'm
sorry my little honeybees." She said to Andi and Paige. "But I changed his diapers. So obviously I've known him
longer."
Hector had that unnerving feeling that he was about to get stuck in the middle of some cross fire.