HOA

The way Ken smiled made Valerie wonder what he was thinking, and he knew she could tell there was something he wasn't saying.

"The uh, the last woman I was dating...or seeing...she uh, she didn't like dogs much, and she really didn't like Hank. And because of that, it didn't last more than a couple of weeks once I realized she wasn't ever gonna warm up to him."

"Oh. Okay," Valerie said, not sure what else to say. "Well, I like Hank, and that won't ever be a problem."

Again, the way he smiled at her caused her to realize what she'd just said.

"No. I wasn't implying there was going to be an 'ever' or any such thing. All I meant was..."

Ken laughed then said, "Wow. Would it really be that bad if there was an 'ever'? You know, for you and me?"

Valerie was rarely at a loss for words, but all she could do was stare until she couldn't even do that anymore. She quickly stood up, folded the lawn chair, then told Ken dinner would be ready in about an hour.

"Perfect. We'll see you...both...then," he told her.

He stood there until she looked up at him then waited.

"What?" she asked, again wondering why he was looking at her like that.

"I'm waiting for you to smile," he said...smiling.

She did her best not to then lost the battle.

"There. Are you happy?" she said, unable to stop smiling.

"I'm gettin' there," he replied with a smile of his own. "See you in an hour?"

"Yes. See you then," she said as he waved goodbye to Jayden, who hadn't overhead any of their conversation.

"When are we gonna play again?" he called out to Ken.

"Soon!" came the reply.

Valerie made her son shower when they got inside then went to the her bathroom to do the same thing, making sure not to get her hair wet. Only after she got out did she realize she hadn't started anything for dinner, and she still needed to get dressed.

As she flipped through her clothes in the closet she realized she had three choices where dinner was concerned. One, she could call for pizza. Two, she could make something that wouldn't take a lot of time, like omelets, for dinner. Or three, she could take them all out for a real meal.

She could wear pretty much anything for options 1 and 2, but she'd need something nicer for #3. Unless, of course, they went for fast food, something she tried to avoid at all costs.

"Okay. Calm down. Relax. This isn't a big deal. First, find something nice enough to wear for all three options then make a decision about dinner."

Calmer, she took a deep breath then pulled out a simple black, knit top and a pair of white Capri pants and black flats. She threw them on then quickly brushed her hair before touching up her mascara and called it quits.

When she came out of the bedroom, Jayden was in the kitchen with a towel wrapped around his waist, looking for something to eat.

"Hold on, buddy," she told him.

"Mom. I'm starving," he told her as he rummaged though the pantry.

"Okay, but...we're having someone over for dinner, so you'll have to wait a few minutes."

"Wait. Someone's coming over here?" he asked. "Who is it?"

"It's...Ken," she told him.

"Really? Ken's having dinner with us?" Jayden said, his eyeballs about to pop out of his head.

"Yes. He'll be here in about twenty minutes so go put on some clothes."

"Yes! This is so awesome!" he said as he went back to his room to get dressed.

"Twenty minutes? That's not even time to get a pizza delivered," Valerie said out loud as she once again felt mildly panicked.

But when the doorbell rang five minutes later, she felt even more so. When she saw Ken's truck outside she had no idea what to do.

"Maybe try answering the door," she said to herself as she took another long, slow breath while walking toward the door.

She stopped at the door, took one more deep breath, then put on a smile before opening it.

"Ken. Hi!" she said as Hank came in and began sniffing her.

"Hey, boy!" she said as she petted him.

"We're early, huh?" he said apologetically as they stepped inside.

"No. Not at all," Valerie said, telling another little white lie.

As she stood up, she saw Ken in something other than work clothes for the first time and said—out loud, "Oh, my."

"Is there a problem?" Ken said as he looked around.

"Um...no. I um...I just realized I haven't even started dinner, and I'm not even sure what to make," she told him, chalking up a third white lie even though what she'd said was partially true.

Just as she started rattling off her three options, Jayden came running out and went straight to Ken.

"Hey, bud!" the contractor said as Jayden hugged him and got one in return.

"This is so cool!" Jayden said without saying 'hello' back.

"Mom? What are we having?" he asked.

"Um...how about we..."

She saw Hank wagging his tail and that meant option #3 was out as no decent restaurant—or even a fast food joint—would let a non-service dog in.

"Order in."

"Can we have pizza? Please???" Jayden begged.

Pizza was the closest thing to junk food she allowed her son to eat except on rare occasions when he could have a slice of birthday cake or maybe a piece of pie for Christmas dinner.

"We need to ask our guest if that's okay," she told her son while looking up at Ken. "He might not even eat pizza."

"I'd eat pizza every night of the week if I could," he told them. "And this guy loves anything meat related you can put on one, huh boy?"

Hank barked, and Valerie laughed.

"Okay, then. I'll call right now. What kind does everyone want?"

The guys wanted a Meat Lover's special with every fat-laden morsel of sausage, hamburger, Canadian bacon, and pepperoni that could be put on it, while Valerie wanted black olives and mushrooms on hers.

"You're not a vegan, are you?" Ken asked with a raised eye.

"Who me?" Valerie said as though someone else might be there.

Ken smiled as she said, "No. I'm not a vegan. I just don't eat..."

"Meat?" Ken suggested with a smile.

"I eat meat," she said a bit defensively. "Well, it it's chicken or fish. Or shrimp."

"Ah. Okay. So that's how you stay in a small petite size, isn't it?" Ken teased.

The funny thing was that was exactly the size she wore.

Valerie pretended she was hurt and said, "I see no reason to stand her and take this kind of abuse. I'm going to go order the pizza. Mine and...the junk!"

She did a head flip for effect, and Jayden wasn't sure she was kidding until Ken started laughing.

"You're mom is pretty awesome," he said knowing Valerie heard him.

"She's the best," Jayden said right back. "Well, most of the time."

"I heard that!" his mom said.

"Busted!" Ken told him as he put his arm around the boy. "So...show me what you do around here for fun, okay?"

"Come on. I'll show you my Xbox and Harry Potter collection and all my other stuff!" Jayden said as he led the way to his room.

"I hope your bed is made and your clothes are in the hamper," his mom said as she looked up the number to the pizza place.

Her two choices in Green Cove Springs were Dominoes and Pizza Hut. Even though Dominoes had come a long way over the last several years, childhood memories of tomato sauce on cardboard were still stuck in her head, so Pizza Hut got her business. Truth be told, she loved their pan pizza. She just rarely allowed herself to eat it.

Neither Jayden's bed was made nor were his clothes put away, but Ken didn't care at all.

"Nice," he said when he looked around the boy's room.

The first thing Ken noticed was a poster of Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

"He's my favorite NBA player," Jayden told him.

"Yeah. Well, he's good, that's for sure," Ken told him.

After checking out everything Jayden wanted to show him, Ken suggested they go back out and wait on the pizza.

"Okay!" he said immediately.

Valerie was done ordering and sitting there waiting on them.

As Ken walked back in, she again noticed how incredibly handsome he looked. He was wearing a dark-blue, button-down shirt with the sleeves partially rolled up, and a pair of bone-colored Dockers. Between that and his freshly-shaven, very masculine face, it was all she could do not to stare.

"The pizza will be here in about 20 minutes," she announced.

"That's okay. I can wait," Jayden told her. Evidently he hadn't actually been starving.

Valerie suggested moving to the living to talk while they waited, and as they were walking, Ken told her, "I meant to tell you how nice you look."

"Oh, my goodness. Thank you!" she said, wishing she'd worn the kind of gauzy black top she'd almost chosen instead.

"And you look very nice yourself," she told him, trusting he didn't know what she'd been thinking.

Just the thought of him being aware that a woman so much older than him found him attractive made her uneasy. Most of that was due to imagining a man who was say somewhere around 60 or so...having those kinds of feelings for her. Valerie was willing to admit that while she would at least consider an offer from someone 10-15 years older than her, it was unlikely she would accept it, let alone get involved. So in her mind, the same logic applied with a man that much younger than her. Or at least she assumed he was that much younger as she stole another quick glance at him.

Once they sat down, Valerie asked Ken about his business and tried to forget about her...internal fantasies.

"If I'm not being to nosey, what do you do as a contractor?"

"Well, I'm totally self-employed. I work all around the city and as far north as southern Jacksonville, and as far south as Keystone Heights."

"Oh, so...pretty much from the south of Duval County to the southern end of Clay County?"

"Pretty much," he told her with a smile. "Although what I really love doing is making custom furniture. If I can build my reputation and keep getting referrals, I'd love to do nothing but that. However, until then, I've gotta pay the bills, and while I'm not complaining, I have more regular work than I can handle."

"Do you have any pictures of your furniture with you?" she asked, now very interested.

"Oh, I might have a couple," he said as he pulled out his phone.

He scrolled to the album containing his best work and handed it to Jayden, who was sitting between him and his mother on the couch.

"Can you hand this to your mom, please?"

Jayden did so then looked with her as she slowly scrolled through them.

"Oh, my goodness. Ken, these are beautiful! I love this large wall unit!"

She turned the camera to show him, and Ken said, "A doctor up in Orange Park ordered that. He liked it so well he had me make him a custom oak desk, too. It's a few more pics down."

Valerie found it and was duly impressed.

"Your work is amazing," she told him sincerely.

"Thank you. Other than Hank, it's my one true love in life."

Hank was laying on the floor right beside his 'Daddy' just as quiet as could be.

She scrolled through quite a few more, and the only thing that stopped her from looking at all of them was the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.

Valerie got up and handed Ken the phone when he also stood up and said, "Let me get this, okay?"

"You'll do no such thing!" she said. "Not in my home."

"But that's the thing. You're opening your home to me and I'm just freeloading."

"You're not...freeloading. You're an invited guest."

"Then at least let me get the tip," he said as they headed toward the door.

"Um...okay. I can live with that," she told him as she looked up at him.

Valerie picked up the cash she'd set out and handed the young delivery driver $20 for the $18.32 order, and told him to keep the change while Ken handed him another $10 and thanked him.

"Wow. Thank you, sir. You and your wife and really good tippers," he told them.

"No. I'm not..." Valerie began saying just as Ken put his arm around her.

"Well, we do make a pretty team."

He looked down at Valerie who was holding the pizza boxes then said, "Right, honey?"

The driver had no idea and turned around to leave while Valerie stood there just staring up at Ken.

"We should...we should go...sit down and eat...now," she said a word or two at a time.

"Whatever you say...honey," Ken said with a smile as he slowly took his arm down.

It made no difference he was totally kidding around. Just the short amount of time he stood there with his arm around her saying those words rattled her deeply as all of her previous thoughts came rushing back at the same time.

Thankfully, it didn't last long, and by the time they started in on their first slice, it was over. Or at least the outward evidence of what had just happened had passed. Internally, Valerie found herself looking at this handsome, younger man very differently the rest of the evening.

As they ate, Ken asked about Valerie's practice and how long she'd been there.

When she told him, Ken said, "Wait. If you've been a vet that long, and assuming you went straight to college and then vet school..."

"I know. I'm...ancient," she said, knowing he was doing the math, meaning her little fantasy was over now that he'd realized just how much older than him she was.

"You...you can't possibly have practiced that long," he said with no hint of teasing.

"Oh, yes I can," Valerie assured him.

"But that would mean..."

He stopped talking without saying an age, but Valerie knew what he was thinking.

"You see, I really am ancient."

"Forty-three isn't old," Jayden said, spilling the beans with a mouthful of pizza.

Ken's eyes opened wide for a second as he glanced at Jayden then back at his mom.

"No. No way," Ken said, shaking his head. "There's no way."

Valerie shrugged, smiled, then said, "Way?" as a question more than an affirmation.

Ken whistled in disbelief as he shook his head and said, "You uh, you could knock me over with a feather right now."

"You? Ha! You're what? Six-one? Six-two?" she said, changing the topic from age to why he couldn't be knocked over with a feather.

"No. I'm 5' 11". Well, maybe...and a half...but who's counting?" he replied with a smile.

"Regardless, that means I'm the only one who could be knocked over with a feather," Valerie told him, secretly loving what he'd said about her appearance even if it was pure flattery.

"All right. I'm taking your word for it, but I have to say, I'm not sure I believe you."

He cocked his head then said, "About the age thing. But you might just be small enough for a feather to do the trick."

His smile made Valerie's knees weak, and she was thankful to be sitting, while Jayden was completely lost. In an effort to get some attention, he piped up and asked if he could give Hank some of the meat on his pizza.

"Oh, gee. I totally forgot. Yes, go ahead, buddy, and I've gotta get this guy some food," Ken said when he realized how late it was and his dog hadn't eaten a thing since 6am.

"I've got some leftovers in the refrigerator," Valerie said as she got up.

She pulled the refrigerator door open and said, "See if this will work."

Valerie was unaware Ken walked over behind her and was peeking over her shoulder as she reached for a casserole dish. She had no idea he was that close, so after grabbing the dish, she stood up so quickly Ken barely raised up before she banged into his chin.

"Hello," he said as she turned around, literally inches from her face causing her to make a loud noise which cause her son to laugh.

"Jayden is always scaring me, and now you're doing it, too?" she said as though it really bothered her. He had startled her, but she didn't mind at all being that close to him.

"Sorry. You just kind of stood up and well, here we are," he said as they looked into one another's eyes.

"Yes we are, aren't we?" she said very quietly, as she looked down at the glass dish in her hands she'd nearly dropped when he scared her like that.

Ken finally stepped aside so she could show him what was in it.

"Oh, he'll love that!" he said immediately.

"Vegetables are good for dogs. Unlike cats, that are only equipped to eat a protein-based diet, dogs can digest a lot of different..."

Valerie realized she was talking to avoid making eye contact, so she stopped then asked if Ken wanted her to heat it all up.

"Sure. We can nuke it for a few seconds to release the smells, but Hank'd gladly eat it cold. Guaranteed."

"I'll put in in for a minute on 50, okay?" she suggested without looking at him.

"Sure. Sounds great. Right, Boy?" he said to Hank who was wagging his tail like crazy.

When the microwave beeped, Valerie took the bowl back out and asked what Ken wanted her to do with it.

"Um...can we stir it up a little more maybe?"

"Sure. I'll take care of that," Valerie said, her head still spinning from their brief encounter.

She stirred the contents mixing the meat, potatoes, carrots, corn, and beans into a kind of canine succotash that smelled pretty good.

"Can I feed him?" Jayden asked as he chomped a huge bite of pizza.

"Yeah, sure," Ken said. "Just plop the bowl down anywhere not on the tile and he'll take care of the rest."

Jayden dropped a couple slices of pepperoni and a hunk of hamburger meat in first then picked up the bowl. Hank was standing on the carpeting just outside the kitchen, so Jayden walked over and set the bowl down in front of him. Before he could move his hands away, Hank started gobbling up the food.

"Oh. Hold on!" Ken said.

He reached in his pocket for the pain pill he'd brought and pushed it into the middle of the mishmash. Hank never slowed down and ate the pill, oblivious to having done so.

"Honey? Can you put some water in a bowl for Hank?" Valerie asked her son.

"Sure," he said in a happy tone.

"This has been so good for him," she said quietly to Ken.

"It's been good for me, too," he told her with that killer smile of his...killing her.

With the 'incident' waning, she looked up at Ken and said, "I'm glad you enjoy doing things with Jayden."

"I do," Ken replied. "But I wasn't only referring to your son when I said this was good for me, too."

Then he smiled at her again, and the feelings she thought were gone came crashing back with a vengeance.

"Here you go, boy!" Jayden called out as he carried the bowl over just as Hank was licking the last of the meal out of the food bowl.

As with the food, Hank started lapping as soon as the bowl hit the floor. He drained half of it before he stopped, and Jayden volunteered to clean up the spilled water without being asked.

"He was thirsty," Valerie said, grateful for something else to talk about.

"We're all thirsting for something, aren't we?" Ken said just loudly enough for her to hear.

"Oh. I...I suppose that's right," Valerie replied without looking at him, not sure what he meant.

"But not...you?" he asked just as quietly.

"Who? Me?" she asked nervously, still wondering what he was trying to say.

Ken smiled that smile again then said, "That's okay. We don't have to talk about it."

"No, it's just that, well, I'm not sure there's anything to talk about, you know?"

"Okay. Maybe I'm the only one who's...thirsty," he said politely.

This time he waited again until she looked up at him.

"Then again, maybe I'm not," he told her before saying it might be time for him and Big Hank to head home.

"But you just got here!" Jayden said in protest.

"Honey, it's not polite to try and make a guest stay longer than they want to," his mom told him.

Ken looked at Valerie then said, "I didn't way I wanted to leave, I only said it might be time to head home."

"I don't understand," she told him.

"I was giving you an out. You know, in case you wanted to get rid of me."

He glanced at Hank then said, "Us."

"Jayden? Honey? Can you give us a moment, please?" she asked as sweetly as she could.

"Will Ken leave when I go away?" he asked, causing his mom to understand that was her son's way of saying his dad had done that very thing to him.