Kiss Me, I Dare You

Chapter 2

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Friday, June 12, 2015

"I hate moving!" Allene Eaton whined as she lifted a box from the bed of the older model white Ford 150 she had borrowed from her sister, Edie. "Why hasn't someone invented a way to move that doesn't include toting heavy boxes?"

"They have. You call a moving company and get them to come move all these heavy boxes for you. For a fee of course," Lazarus Powell informed her with a swat on her bottom. "Now quit your whining, Alleen Laverne, and move out of the way. I don't know about you, but I have other things to do today."

"Hey, people who call me that have been known to disappear." She lowered her brows and scowled at him. "If you value your life, you'll remember that."

"My bad, Allie," he said, putting extra emphasis on her nickname.

"Better. Now keep your hands off my rear, and we'll get along just peachy." Allie stepped out of his way, so Lazarus could get to the last box.

He favored her with a you-love-me-and-you-know-it grin. "What? That was a love tap."

"Whatevs." Allie huffed and shook her head before changing the subject. "Edie's rehearsal dinner is tonight."

"Ah, so that's the reason you are all Oscar the Grouch today."

Allie balanced the box, which was not all that heavy, on her hip and glared at her friend. "You need to quit watching Sesame Street with your nephew. Besides," she adjusted the box so she could point her finger at him. "You are the one that lives in a garbage can."

Lazarus threw her a pained look. "Are you impugning the honor of my trailer? We don't all have daddy's who are willing to let us live in a two story brick mini-mansion rent free."

Allie didn't have a comeback for that. She knew she was lucky to be able to move into her grandmother's house. Gram had passed away a year ago. Until today, Edie, the third in the line of the infamous Eaton sisters, had lived in the house. She was getting married tomorrow. She and her hubby to be, Finn Farrell, had moved most of Edie's belongings to his house, which was across the back alley from Gram's, leaving the house resident free.

The red brick two-story belonged to her father, now that Gram was gone. He did not want to rent it out or sell it, but he did not want it to stand empty, either. When Edie had accepted Finn's proposal, her dad had offered the house to Allie. "When Edie moves out," she had agreed. Edie would have been okay with her moving in early, but Allie had no desire to run into Finn's brother, Kenny, so she had decided to wait.

She looked at the large house, with its wrap around porch and tall dormers. At twenty-six, having her own place was appealing. This would be the first time that Allie had lived on her own as in no roommate, no sister, no parents. The idea of independence appealed to her; the reality scared her a little, so she was glad that Edie would be close. Not that she expected the newlywed Edie to spend much time traipsing across the back alley to check up on her.

As if reading her thoughts Lazarus said, "You should get a roommate or two. This house is too big for just one person." He nudged her with the edge of the box he was carrying to get her moving.

She frowned at him and gave him a squinty-eyed stare that summed up her feelings on the matter succinctly. In case he didn't read faces, she added, "I don't think so. I'm looking forward to being on my own."