Blue Smoke

It looked like the face was going to live up to the rest of the package.

    Early thirties, she decided. And wasn’t that handy?
    When he turned his head and glanced her way, she lifted a hand in what she considered a friendly, hi-new-neighbor salute.
    He seemed to freeze, more like she’d aimed her weapon at him rather than a casual wave. He reached up, slowly, drew off his glasses. She couldn’t make out the color of his eyes, but she felt the intensity of the stare.
    The grin seemed to explode on his face. He tossed the glasses on the ground, strode straight to the fence and vaulted over.
    Moved well—quick and agile. Green, she noted. His eyes were a misty green—and lit up a little too manically at the moment for comfort.
    “There you are,” he said. “Son of a bitch. There you are.”
    “Yeah, here I am.” She gave him a cautious smile. He smelled of sawdust and sweat—which would have been appealing if he wasn’t looking at her like he was prepared to gobble her up in one bite. “Catarina Hale.” She offered her hand. “I just bought the house.”
    “Catarina Hale.” He took her hand and held it, just held it with his calloused one. “Dream Girl.”
    “Uh-huh.” His score plummeted. “Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve got to get back inside.”
    “All this time.” He continued to stare at her. “All these years. You’re better than I remembered. How about that?”
    “How about that?” She tugged her hand free, backed up.
    “I can’t believe it. You’re just here. Boom. Or maybe I’m having a hallucination.”
    He grabbed for her hand again, and she slapped hers on his chest. “Maybe you are. Maybe you’ve had a little too much sun. Better go back to your corner now, Carpenter Boy.”
    “No, wait. You don’t get it. You were there, then you weren’t. Then the other time, and then again. And you keep getting away before I can catch up. And now you’re right here, talking to me. I’m talking to you.”
    “Not anymore.” Nobody had mentioned the carpenter next door was a lunatic. Shouldn’t there have been full disclosure? “Go home. Lie down. Seek help.”
    She turned, started back to the door.

    “Wait, wait, wait.” He lunged after her.
    In response she spun around, caught his arm, tipped him off balance and jerked his arm behind his back. “Don’t make me arrest you, for God’s sake. I haven’t even moved in yet.”
    “The cop. The cop.” He laughed, twisted his head around to grin at her. “I forgot they said a cop was moving in. You’re a cop. That’s so cool.”
    “You’re one second away from serious trouble.”
    “And you smell really good.”
    “That’s it.” She pushed him up against the back wall of her house. “Spread ’em.”
    “Okay, okay, hold on.” He was laughing and tapping his forehead against the wall. “If I sound like a crazy person, it’s just the shock. Um, oh, shit. Don’t cuff me—at least until we know each other better. College Park, May 1992. A party—crap, I don’t know whose house it was. Group house, off campus. Jill, Jessie—no Jan. I think Jan somebody lived in the house.”
    Reena hesitated, the cuffs still in her hand. “Keep going.”
    “I saw you. I didn’t know anybody. Came with a friend, and I saw you across the room. You were wearing this little pink top—your hair was longer, just past your shoulders. I like the way you’re wearing it now. Sort of exploding to the jaw.”
    “I’ll tell my hairdresser you approve. I met you at a party in College Park?”
    “No. I never got to you. The music stopped. It was a moment for me. Can I turn around?”
    He didn’t sound crazy—exactly. And she was intrigued. She stepped back. “Hands to yourself.”
    “No problem.” He held them up, palms out, then lowered them to hook his thumbs on his tool belt. “I saw you, and I was . . . Pow.” He punched a fist to his heart. “But by the time I got across the room—place was packed—you were gone. I looked everywhere. Upstairs, outside, everywhere.”
    “You saw me over ten years ago, across the room at a college party, and you remember what I was wearing?”

    “It was like . . . for a minute, it was just you. Sounds weird, but there it is. Then this other time? A pal dragged me to the stupid mall on a Saturday, and I saw you up a level. Just there, and I went running around looking for the damn stairs. But by the time I got up, you’d Houdini’d again. Wow. Wow.”
    He grinned like a