Over the Fence (5 page)

David couldn’t believe it when he looked over the fence and saw someone so mercilessly clogging up the lawn mower. At first, he noticed the long bare legs. Then his gaze moved up to the luscious bottom barely covered by skimpy shorts. The woman had dark curly hair tied up into a loose ponytail. He also recognized the voice spewing out angry curses. Even though he didn’t know where he’d heard it, it roused some memories.

Only when the woman was about to kick the machine did it occur to him where he’d seen her before. Her green-brown eyes sparkled angrily when he called over to her. Eva Berger. His former colleague, with whom he had exchanged little more than three words, but whose voice he had heard when she joked with other colleagues. He’d had a big crush on her, just like all his coworkers. But she’d never noticed him. Only two of his colleagues had had the pleasure of her company, even though it had only been innocent get-togethers at a pub around the corner.

He remembered how she’d kicked the copier. It had taken all of David’s willpower not to say something when she slammed her fist on the cover. Her reaction surprised him, since he’d always known her to be calm and laid-back. But she had a cheeky way about her. The IT department always teased the company’s new employees, and Eva had been a worthy opponent in this war of words. Soon, she had won all the men’s hearts, and Michael and Karsten had been the envy of all. Nobody could figure out how those two ended up getting to spend more time with Eva than anybody else.

He’d had lots of dates at that time, and even if he had hit on her, she likely would have been nothing more than another fling to him. That was a long time ago, though, and he had changed.

But Eva didn’t seem to have changed. She hadn’t lost her talent for witty repartee, and although her face was more mature, it was even more charming than before. But it surprised him to see her here now, though he knew the Bergers had two daughters and a son. He knew Chris, but he had never gotten to meet Chris’s sisters. When Stefanie’s mother had wondered whether they would come back after the accident, he’d had a fleeting thought that maybe this Eva was the same Eva Berger he’d known back then, but he figured the odds of that were about as good as being struck by lightning.

So it was a complete surprise to find her in this little village. Some months ago, he’d discovered an old photo from a company Christmas party, and Eva was in the picture. Since then, he couldn’t get her out of his head. He’d searched for her on Facebook and Google but found nothing—especially since he had no idea where she was living. And there was no shortage of Eva Bergers. Now that she lived so close, he didn’t know what to think. It was one thing to indulge in some daydreaming, and quite another when the flesh-and-blood person stood right in front of you and didn’t even recognize you. He wondered how his life had led him to this dead end.

Ruchti came up to him and laid his head on David’s thighs. “Hey you,” he said as he scratched the boxer behind his ears. “I’m pretty bent out of shape at the moment.”

“David?” Stefanie called. “Where are you?”

David sighed and stood up. “Duty calls.” All this would be much easier if Eva weren’t living right under his nose now.

Freshly showered, her hair still wet, Eva stood in the kitchen making a salami sandwich. She peeked in on Leonie, who was tapping away on her iPhone in the living room. Kati would be here any minute to pick her up for her dentist appointment and drop off Rafael. After babysitting, there wouldn’t be enough time to cook the spaghetti dinner she’d planned. Eva bit into the sandwich and looked through the kitchen window into the neighbor’s yard, her mouth full. David wasn’t there. Instead, a dark brown boxer walked through the yard, heading toward the street. Eva had seen him a couple of times but hadn’t looked at him closely. She already knew she didn’t like him because her mother had told her how the slobbering beast had jumped over the fence and caught little Felix. If her mother hadn’t heard the kitty’s screeching, Felix probably wouldn’t have survived. But the dog had dropped the kitten and jumped back over the fence into its own territory. Eva’s mother believed the young boxer just wanted to play, but Eva wasn’t convinced. She’d lost all sympathy for the dog. Eva was more of a cat person anyway. She admired their character. Dogs have masters; cats have staff. Felix demonstrated this time and time again.

Eva took another bite and almost choked when she saw Felix hop over the fence to take a sniff of a hydrangea. She set the sandwich on the plate and started to pull open the kitchen window when the boxer ran over to inspect the interloper.

The cat arched his back, making himself look twice as big. The boxer slowed his pace but continued approaching. Before Eva had a chance to fully open the window, Felix bared his claws and swiped at the dog’s snout. The boxer howled and ran around to the front where Eva couldn’t see. Felix didn’t seem the least bit perturbed as he licked his paws with relish and lay down in the sun in the middle of the neighbor’s yard.

Eva couldn’t help but grin, even though she now felt sorry for the dog—the pain had to be fierce. It appeared that Felix had been waiting for the right moment to exact revenge on the poor dog. After all these years, he seemed to have made it clear: anyone who dared mess with him would pay. Eva was impressed that the small cat could hold his own against a full-grown boxer, even in his own yard. That cat had to have nerves of steel to lie down in enemy territory as if it were his own, especially after the showdown. Felix had developed into a remarkable beast.

Eva was about to close the window when she saw David rounding the corner to see why his dog had yelped. She leaned out the window to see David tending to the whimpering dog. As she took another bite of sandwich, the doorbell rang. Eva walked into the adjacent hallway and opened the door. “Hi, Kati! If you had come five minutes earlier, you’d have seen Felix᾽s sideshow,” she said.

“I want to hear all about it when I get back,” Kati replied, putting Eva’s eight-month-old nephew in her arms. “Leonie, come on!” Kati called. Leonie rushed into the hall and gave Eva a quick half hug before bolting out the door.

“Bye, Auntie!”

“The faster I go, the less Rafael will cry.” Kati kissed the little boy. “Mommy will be right back, sweetie.” She pressed another kiss on Rafael’s forehead and rushed down the front stoop. “Leonie is waiting, so better run quickly. Call me if you need help. Everything is in the bag. OK?”

“OK,” Eva said, with no conviction in her voice. She was afraid to be alone with her nephew even if it was only for two hours.

With the baby in her arms, she stood at the front door and watched Kati leave. “Well, honey, what do we do now?” she whispered and gently rocked her nephew. Instead of smiling, he scrunched up his face and broke into tears. “Shhhh, don’t cry.” Eva stroked his chubby little cheeks and wiped away his tears. “Mama’s coming back soon.” He wailed like crazy in response, and Eva panicked. How was she supposed to calm Rafael and lug all the baby stuff into the house? She pushed the obscenely large bag into the house with her foot while cooing in the baby’s ear. The car seat was on the bottom step. She went down the three steps and tried to put the baby in the seat, but he flailed so wildly that Eva was concerned he would fall out. “We both have to get through this somehow,” Eva whispered as she tried to fasten the strap.

“Need some help?” asked someone behind her.

Eva closed her eyes. The baby’s wailing must have alerted David. Ignoring the cries of the baby, she put on a smile and turned around. David leaned on the fence and waved. The bawling was too much for Felix. The cat had abandoned his sunny spot and searched for something farther away. But the boxer never moved from David’s side.

“It’s OK. He’ll calm down again,” Eva answered with all the conviction she could muster. She turned back to the seat’s straps and noticed she had tangled them up. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

“Wait,” David said behind her. “Sit!” he ordered.

Eva spun around. Who did this guy think he was? Then she realized he’d been speaking to the dog. The boxer sat in the yard while David climbed nimbly over the fence.

“Those seats can drive you crazy. I remember them well.”

Before Eva could say anything, David picked up the weeping Rafael, pulled him up to his shoulder, and held him with his left hand. With his right, he straightened out the tangle. “The buckle has to be fastened up here.” He stuck a part of the buckle into its rightful place. “Now it fits. If you put him in now, you can strap the belt with one hand.” He set Rafael into the seat and snapped the buckles over the baby’s tummy, then gently rocked the seat so that Rafael bobbed, which began to calm him down.

“Thank you,” Eva said. “How did you know how to do that?”

“My sister has two small children. And even though I’m rusty, I still remember how Jonas reacted anytime Stefanie left the room. It’s going to keep happening until the baby realizes his mother will come back.”

“You’ve got a kid?” He was married, so why shouldn’t he also have a child? Eva leaned toward Rafael and tickled him on the belly. He looked at her and fully suspended the clamor for two breaths before wailing again with renewed vigor.

“Jonas is fourteen and pretty independent.”

“Thanks so much for your help. I’ve got to get going . . .” The topic of conversation had made her uneasy. “Maybe I can calm him down with some food.”

“Works sometimes but not always.” David leapt back over the fence, then pointed to his boxer. “Do you have any idea what happened to him?”

Eva shook her head. This was something between her cat and his boxer. Eva walked over to the dog, patted his head, and looked at the fine scratches across his sensitive snout. “It looks as though he could have had a run-in with a kitty.”

David cocked his head and looked at Eva.

“He would have been better off to leave him alone,” Eva added. She turned away and grabbed the seat. Rafael was somewhat calmer, though he was still sniffling and his face was still red.

“He probably should have. Cats look cute but get quite crabby if you get too close. They kind of remind me of another species,” David said in an ironic tone.

“Exactly what species are you referring to?” Eva turned to David, hand on her hip.

“What species do you think I’m referring to?” David grinned broadly before he turned and walked away. He whistled to his boxer, who followed.

“Well at least cats have their own will and don’t heel every time someone whistles!” she said to her nephew, who smiled at her for the first time.

“I heard that!” David called.

Eva laughed and looked at him. “I certainly hope so!”

David shook his head but didn’t turn around. Eva smiled, picked up Rafael in his seat, and went into the house.

“Anyway, I just want everyone to know that I am not crabby,” she said to Rafael, who yawned at her. “I can’t help it if this guy shows up every time I’m having trouble with something.”

When Kati returned two hours later, Eva couldn’t have been more relieved. Her fragile peace with Rafael had been followed by indignation that his mother still was not present. Despite all the ways Eva tried to calm him down, he cried constantly. She rocked him, tried to feed him, and carried him around the house. She even tried ignoring him. Nothing changed his mood. As soon as Kati picked him up, he calmed down immediately.

“Was it bad?” Kati asked.

“The worst.”

“I heard him from the street. Don’t sweat it. He was like this at first with your mother, but he eventually settled down. After two or three times, he’ll know you better and calm down.” Kati rocked him and the little man gurgled with satisfaction. As if it wasn’t hard enough to be tyrannized by such a small person, he was now beaming like the sun.

Eva dropped into a living room armchair and groaned. “The whole street probably heard him screaming. Everybody who walked by must have wondered what I was doing to this helpless little creature.”

“Did someone come over?” Kati asked.

Eva thought about David, then shook her head. That was the last thing she wanted to talk about.

“You want to come over for dinner?”