Local Hero

face. She’d have sworn the man was looking straight back at her with amused and very clear blue eyes. His hair was dark and shaggy, as if it hadn’t seen a barber or a comb in a little too long. But the face was fascinating, lean and bony and unshaven.
    “Mom, are you going to open it?”
    “What?” Hester stepped back when she realized she’d been staring at the delivery boy for a good deal longer than necessary.
    “I’m starving,” Radley reminded her.
    “Sorry.” Hester opened the door and discovered the fascinating face went with a long, athletic body. And bare feet.
    “Did you order pizza?”
    “Yes.” But it was snowing outside. What was he doing barefoot?
    “Good.” Before Hester realized his intention, Mitch strolled inside.
    “I’ll take that,” Hester said quickly. “Take this into the kitchen, Radley.” She shielded her son with her body and wondered if she’d need a weapon.
    “Nice place.” Mitch looked casually around at crates and open boxes.
    “I’ll get your money.”
    “It’s on the house.” Mitch smiled at her. Hester wondered if the self-defense course she’d taken two years before would come back to her.
    “Radley, take that into the kitchen while I pay the delivery man.”
    “Neighbor,” Mitch corrected. “I’m in 406—you know, two floors down. The pizza got delivered to my place by mistake.”
    “I see.” But for some reason it didn’t make her any less nervous. “I’m sorry for the trouble.” Hester reached for her purse.
    “I took care of it.” He wasn’t sure whether she looked more likely to lunge or to flee, but he’d been right about her being worth investigating. She was a tall one, he thought, model height, with that same kind of understated body. Her rich, warm brown hair was pulled back from a diamond-shaped face dominated by big gray eyes and a mouth just one size too large.
    “Why don’t you consider the pizza my version of the welcoming committee?”
    “That’s really very kind, but I couldn’t—”
    “Refuse such a neighborly offer?”
    Because she was a bit too cool and reserved for his taste, Mitch looked past her to the boy. “Hi, I’m Mitch.” This time his smile was answered.
    “I’m Rad. We just moved in.”
    “So I see. From out of town?”
    “Uh-uh. We just changed apartments because Mom got a new job and the other was too small. I can see the park from my window.”
    “Me, too.”
    “Excuse me, Mr.—?”
    “It’s Mitch,” he repeated with a glance at Hester.
    “Yes, well, it’s very kind of you to bring this up.” As well as being very odd, she thought. “But I don’t want to impose on your time.”
    “You can have a piece,” Radley invited. “We never finish it all.”
    “Rad, I’m sure Mr.—Mitch has things to do.”
    “Not a thing.” He knew his manners, had been taught them painstakingly. Another time, he might even have put them to use and bowed out, but something about the woman’s reserve and the child’s warmth made him obstinate. “Got a beer?”
    “No, I’m sorry, I—”
    “We’ve got soda,” Radley piped up. “Mom lets me have one sometimes.” There was nothing Radley liked more than company. He gave Mitch a totally ingenuous smile. “Want to see the kitchen?”
    “Love to.” With something close to a smirk for Hester, Mitch followed the boy.
    She stood in the center of the room for a moment, hands on her hips, unsure whether to be exasperated or furious. The last thing she wanted after a day of lugging boxes was company. Especially a stranger’s. The only thing to do now was to give him a piece of the damn pizza and blot out her obligation to him.
    “We’ve got a garbage disposal. It makes great noises.”
    “I bet.” Obligingly Mitch leaned over the sink while Radley flipped the switch.
    “Rad, don’t run that with nothing in it. As you can see, we’re a bit disorganized yet.” Hester went to the freshly lined cupboard for plates.
    “I’ve been here for five years, and I’m still disorganized.”
    “We’re going to get a kitten.” Radley climbed up on a stool, then reached for the napkins his mother had already put in one of her little wicker baskets. “The other place wouldn’t allow pets, but we can have one here, can’t we, Mom?”
    “As soon as we’re settled, Rad. Diet or regular?” she asked Mitch.
    “Regular’s fine. Looks like you’ve gotten a lot accomplished in one day.” The kitchen was neat as a pin. A thriving asparagus fern hung