Second Hand: A Tucker Springs Novel 2

El wouldn’t let go of my arm, and my mother couldn’t stop cooing over MoJo, who’d been very put out to be left in El’s car while he’d run through the chaos to find me. Mom wouldn’t take the bedroom, either, insisting she wanted to sleep on the couch so she could stay up and watch TV. When I pointed out El didn’t have one, she swatted me on the butt and told me to go make things up with my young man.
    I did as I was told.
It didn’t take much effort, since as soon as the door closed behind us, El had me in his arms, kissing me so hard I couldn’t breathe.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he said for what had to be the fifteenth time.
“You didn’t,” I assured him, and held him close.
“About tomorrow.” He stroked my hair as he spoke. “My family has this big picnic, and I’d love it if you came with me. You and your mom both.”
“Okay,” I said, smiling, and kissed him.
He blinked at me a minute, almost as if I’d surprised him. Then he let out a breath that almost sounded like relief. “And stay here for now, okay? We’ll get a better bed for your mom, but—just stay, Paul, please.”
I wasn’t sure when I’d been this happy, and this was speaking as someone whose house had just burned down. “Yes,” I said. Then I pushed him onto the bed and reminded him as best I could that I was right there and not planning to go anywhere.

    That night I dreamed about Bo and Luke Duke doing a striptease for me, but when Luke took me into his arms, he turned into a beautiful woman, then into El, and we made love all night long. At some point the dream turned into reality, El crushing my mouth under his as he drove into me again and again and again. After that my sleep was deep and dreamless, probably the most peaceful sleep I ever had.
    Even so, I woke early, just after dawn. El was dead to the world, and so was Mom. I should have gone back to bed, but I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and padded around the kitchen, not sure what to do with myself. It was almost like something was nagging at the back of my mind, but I couldn’t grasp what it was. When MoJo danced around my legs, I took her outside, and once I was there, I realized what was bothering me and what I had to do to fix it. When she was done with her business, I took her back upstairs, left a note on the kitchen counter, and went for a walk.
    Bill was outside when I got to the ruins of my house, assessing the damage to his own property.
“Is everything okay?” I asked him, frowning at his ruined flowerbed. “Outside of this, I mean.”
“It’s all good,” he assured me. “They soaked the garage pretty well, and everything smells a little like smoke, but it’s all going to be okay.” He grimaced. “Sorry you can’t say the same.”
I waved the worry away. “I guess we’re both out of the contest now, huh?”
Bill looked confused. “Contest?”
“The Curb Appeal contest from the neighborhood association. For $500? You know, what Lorraine has been helping you with?”
When I said Lorraine’s name, Bill’s eyes darkened and he glanced back at his house. “What about Lorraine?”
Lorraine, I realized, was watching us from Bill’s front porch, in what looked to be a borrowed robe.
Pieces of the puzzle fell finally into place, and I had to swallow a laugh. Bill didn’t know about the contest. He hadn’t been competing with me. I remembered the way he’d gloated at me that one day, how Lorraine had been hanging out with him all that week, defecting from my yard.
Well, he’d been competing with me, but not for $500.
“Nothing,” I said at last, and smiled. “Just that I hope the two of you are very happy together.”
The clouds left Bill’s face, and he smiled too. “You take care, Paul. I’ll let you know if I hear of another rental in the neighborhood.”
“Thanks,” I said, eyeing the wreckage of my house, identifying what I hoped was the remains of my bedside table. “But I’m kind of hoping to be living somewhere else.” I nodded at him. “If you’ll excuse me, there’s one thing I’d like to see if I can find.”

chapter 29
    E

    l woke to the sound of someone knocking on his bedroom door. Blinking in confusion, he sat up and looked around for Paul. He wasn’t there. “Yeah?”
    The door opened, and Paul came in, looking like a hot mess, covered in ash and grime and stinking of smoke. He had a funny look on his face. “I can’t go with you to the picnic.”
    “Oh.” El tried not to give away how