"I heard y'all got a new neighbor." Joe had a snug look on his face.
"Yup." Caleb didn't want to talk about it.
"I heard she's a famous model."
"I didn't know." Caleb sipped his whiskey.
"Y'all want to go over there and check her out?"
"Nope." Caleb did not bite into this conversation.
"Y'all are no fun at all. How about Josh and I go over to your place and we'll introduce ourselves to her. Man, oh man, she is hot."
"Told y'all enough, I don't have time for women and I'm not going to waste my time."
"You're a lying SOB. You've met her. I know y'all, Caleb."
"I met her just enough to tell her to leave me alone and to stay off my land."
Joe pushed his cowboy hat off of his head. "I'll give her a friendly welcome. Dottie said she's real nice."
"Leave me out of it." Caleb took another sip of his whiskey.
"You're sore about your animals. Lucas said she helped you by taking those boys' pictures," Joe bated Caleb.
"Look, if this is all you want to talk about, I'm leaving. This town is too small and everyone knows everyone's business. Butt out." Caleb swallowed the rest of his drink and stood up to leave.
"Easy, Caleb, chill." Joe knew he had pushed Caleb too far. "This is a safe subject, where are you going to get some animals?"
"Fosters, of course." Another drink appeared in front of Caleb. He started to relax until he watched as two women came into the pub, Kat and Ally. Of all the places in Texas, why did they have to come here?
Joe noticed Caleb's expression and turned around to look at what Caleb pretended to avoid. "That's her, isn't it? Whoa, baby. Check out those legs." He turned back around to Caleb. "Well, aren't you gonna introduce us?"
Kat and Ally waited to be seated and that's when they noticed Caleb and his friends. Ally wished she had taken more time with her appearance this morning. She had on no makeup and had her hair tucked into a baseball cap. She prayed Caleb wouldn't see her and she didn't like the way his friend looked at her.
"Look, Ally, there's Caleb," Kat whispered in her ear. "Should we say something to him?"
"No." Ally didn't turn around. "I'll pretend I don't see him. Kat, he probably thinks I'm following him."
"Why do you think that? Ally, is there something you're not telling me?" Kat studied her little sister.
"No. Yes, no. Forget it. Let's just order." She scanned the menu and looked up at Kat. "There's nothing to eat. Everything is fried? I don't eat fried food."
"Try the veggie tamales. They're out of this world. Uh-oh. His friend is coming over here. Play nice." Kat plastered a smile on her face.
"Damn," said Ally under her breath.
"Caleb isn't, though. He looks pretty ticked off at his friend."
"Hello, ladies." Joe glanced at Kat but his attention remained focused on Ally. "Y'all new in town?"
"I'm not, but my sister is," answered Kat as she telepathically willed Ally not to be rude. Ally ignored her..
"Well then, where y'all from?" asked Joe, his attention still riveted on Ally.
"Joe, these ladies are trying to eat their dinner. Stop pestering them." Caleb had come up behind Joe. He tipped his hat at Kat and Ally.
"Sorry, ma'am, when all y'all are done, why not join us for some drinks?" asked Joe.
"We'll take a rain check," said Kat gracefully.
"Suit yourselves. By the way, my name is Joe. I'm a friend of Caleb here. Y'all let me know if he pesters you." Joe smiled at Caleb who glared back at him.
"I don't want to give him a bad reputation, but he's been a great help," said Ally graciously as she looked at Caleb with a smile. Caleb cracked a small smile at the compliment.
Neither Kat nor Joe missed the electricity between Caleb and Ally. Kat once again studied her sister carefully.
"Enjoy your dinner. Come on, Joe." They went back to the bar leaving Kat and Ally alone.
"What's going on with you two?" asked Kat. "You like him, don't you?"
"How can I like him? I've only known him for four days." Ally pulled out the brochures she and Kat were supposed to look through. "Here, get busy. What do you think Mom and Dad would like?"
"Ally, be careful. Please?"
"When did you know you were in love with Tom?" Ally looked up at her sister.
"When we first met at…oh, I see what you're getting at." Kat looked defeated. "Do as I say, not as I do."
"Point taken, now, which of these do you like?" Ally shoved the brochures in front of Kat while she munched on her dinner and every once in a while sneaked a look at the bar. Caleb totally ignored her, which she appreciated.
"I like this comforter set and then you can paint the room with a lighter color. Also, why don't you bring the theme into the bathroom? Look at these towels. Ally, this is so much fun."
"I've never painted before," murmured Ally. "Good Lord, me with a paintbrush?" She giggled at the thought.
"I love to paint, but I have my business to run. Wait a minute. One of the other wives in my neighborhood paints. I'll call her tomorrow?"
"Perfect. See if she can do it before the parents arrive." The waitress handed Ally the bill as they were speaking. Ally counted out the money and left a nice tip. "Ready? I've got a big day planned for tomorrow."
"Sure, let's go." Kat stood up and looked at where Joe and Caleb were in a serious game of darts. "Should we say something to them?"
"No, they're busy. I don't think they will mind." Ally wanted to get out of there.
"There they go," said Joe as he watched Ally and Kat's retreat from the reflection of the jukebox. "They didn't even say goodbye."
"I didn't expect them to. They had personal business they were discussing until y'all rudely interrupted them."
"You've got a crush on her. I know you, Caleb." Joe grinned.
"You're whacked. Why do you think she moved here in the first place? To get away from guys like you who want to paw at her all the time."
"And when did you find this out?" Joe's smile spread into a cocky grin.
"Right before she moved in when I called her to let her know the rules of the neighborhood, so we were on the same page." Caleb threw his last dart. "Looks like I won."
"Dang, Caleb. The rules of the neighborhood? You sound like some kind of tyrant." Joe looked amazed at Caleb's bluntness.
"I am not. Those folks who had the house before her were the worst neighbors ever. I wasn't going to put up with that again. I'm leaving. I got a shit load of work to do tomorrow and I can't be having a hangover."
"Me too." Joe swallowed the last of his drink and they walked out to the parking lot together. "Keep in touch, bro."
"Yup." Caleb crawled into his truck and started home. "I gotta crush on Ally? No way." He then found himself driving past her house and he didn't see Kat's car, meaning one thing; Ally was alone by herself. Should he stop? He wrestled with his emotions and finally gave in. Caleb got out of the truck and walked up to Ally's front door. He hesitated a moment and then rang the doorbell.
Ally appeared seconds later in what looked like her pajamas, since they had pictures of dogs on them. Not something you would expect a super model to wear. Her hair had been neatly brushed and once again wore no makeup, making her appear younger and almost vulnerable. "Caleb." She smiled at him shyly. "You caught me getting ready for bed.”
"Isn't it a little early for that?" Caleb entered the house, but stood in place.
"I've got a lot to do tomorrow." Their eyes never left one another's.
"Look," said Caleb breaking the moment. “I just want to apologize for my friend's behavior. He acted out of line."
"Thanks. As much as I don't like it, I've become accustomed to people doing that to me." Ally rolled her eyes.
"Well, I don't like it. Why can't they leave you alone?"
"I thought it would cool off when I moved here." Ally crossed her arms over her chest.
"So, what were you talking about over dinner? You had catalogs." Caleb leaned up against the wall, with his hands in his pockets.
"This morning, I called my parents to invite them to see the house. They live in Houston and want to come up here next weekend to see me. As you can see, I don't have much furniture, so Kat took me shopping today and I bought a bedroom set. It's being delivered tomorrow. "Ally smiled. "I'm daddy's little girl. He's going to want to do everything for me like hang pictures, talk about the fuse box and maybe even the sprinkler system." Ally smiled again at Caleb.
"Aren't you glad I explained it? Now you can impress him. Daddy's little girl?" Caleb flirted back at her. "I bet you were spoiled rotten."
"Maybe a little, but not that much. Kat is more my mom's favorite, not me, I mean don't get me wrong. We do get along, but we have our moments."
"How long are they staying?" Caleb hoped it wasn't too long.
"Not long at all. They'll probably leave around Tuesday."
"Are you going to introduce me to them?" Caleb's smile dazzled Ally.
"Why do you want to meet then?" asked Ally.
"To show them I'm not a bad boy." Caleb flirted with her again.
"I don't know you well enough to determine if you're a bad boy." Ally looked at Caleb with wary eyes.
"Why don't you find out?" asked Caleb.
"Since we're neighbors, I probably will. Okay. I'll introduce you to my parents, but I'll warn you, Dad can be tough."
"So can I." Caleb looked thoughtfully at Ally "You know what it is? You stick out because you're different."