Leaving Normal, Stef Holm [ebook reader screen .TXT] 📗

"Don't I know it? I'll be so glad to give them up." An unpredictable monthly was the reason she'd had only one child. Looking back, getting pregnant almost seemed like a fluke.

She and Greg had tried for many years after Cassie to have a second baby, but Natalie had never been able to conceive. She hadn't wanted to endure the uncertain trials of fertility treatments, so they told themselves if it happened on its own, it happened. But it never did.

"I do remember Mom saying once she was finished with the change, she didn't have to shave her legs as often. Now, that's something to look forward to."

Natalie choked down a laugh.

Her younger sister was the queen of optimism, and the cheerleader for true love and romance. Sarah had been married for sixteen years to a wonderful man, and working as a Pampered Chef consultant made use of her bubbly personality.

Sarah's gaze left the instruction area and went to the aisles where the home-improvement store teemed with holiday customers. "Have you noticed how many men are in here?" Her careful perusal came to a grinding halt. "Oh. My. God… It's the May Hunk-of-the-Month."

"What are you talking about?" Natalie asked, her eyebrows lifting in confusion.

'The firefighter calendar! It's the guy for the month of May. Look at him."

Natalie followed her sister's gaze to the entrance of the electrical aisle and watched a man come forward.

There was only one way to describe him: larger than life.

His masculine presence domineered the shoppers walking past him. Well above average in height, broader in the shoulders than other men, he had clipped short black hair that framed a strong face. Standing somewhere around six foot four or five, he probably weighed in the two-hundred-and-forty-pound range—but every ounce was lean muscle; a solid chest, pumped biceps, a flat belly. Taper-leg jeans encased his thighs.

He wore a hooded, Kelly green sweatshirt with a front pouch pocket. Natalie recognized the IAFF logo— International Association of Firefighters—and the Maltese cross on the left corner of his chest. The words Engine 13 were above it with Lucky 13 below.

"He's gorgeous," her sister sighed.

"He's my neighbor."

Eyes wide open in disbelief, Sarah gazed sideways at her. "Mr. May is your neighbor? Since when?"

"Since about four months ago."

"How come I've never seen him?"

"How often do you come over, aside from Sunday-night dinners?"

"Obviously not often enough. We should move Thanksgiving from my house to yours."

"We should not," Natalie countered swiftly. "I'm doing Christmas."

The sisters stared as her neighbor smiled to one of the female clerks who had apparently asked him if he needed help. He had one of those boyish smiles, Natalie thought. Okay, so she had admired him…from afar. He was definitely good-looking. The best-looking man she'd ever seen. She'd only spoken to him a few times since he'd moved in with his wife and little girl.

"He's very married," Natalie caught herself talking aloud.

"Too bad for you."

"No, not too bad. He's clearly younger than me."

"Younger is better."

"Not when younger is in the thirties. I'm forty-three."

"You don't look forty-three."

"I do when I'm naked."

The corners of his mouth softened as he laughed at something the clerk said, then she pointed and he continued on. The clerk, like Natalie and her sister, hatched him retreat.

Natalie conceded that he walked away as good as he approached, his behind just as great a view as his face. No question about it—her neighbor was the type of man who could make a woman lose her mind and every bit of common sense she possessed.

"I'm happily married, but a man like that…" Sarah said, blinking out of her stupor. "He's incredible."

Natalie couldn't deny that. She also couldn't deny he was very much a married man and, as tempting as he was, he was off-limits.

However, he did attract her attention whenever she caught a glimpse of his silver Dodge Ram pulling into the driveway across the street. She had a vague notion about his schedule; he seemed to work one day on and then was off for two.

She'd never conversed with his wife—very attractive, of course—and wasn't sure what the woman did for a living, but assumed it was something out of her house. She was usually at home during the day.

"He's just a guy who lives across the street from me," Natalie finally replied.

"He's not just any guy." With a slow, secret smile, Sarah added in a soft tone, "He's the real thing. The romance hero in the books I read."

Natalie tucked her hair behind her ear, recalling the dozens of books Sarah had loaned her after the divorce. They were meant to give her hope that she'd have a second chance in love. Instead, they'd depressed her. "Those books you read are made-up fluff. The men in them don't really exist. When I'm ready, I just want a normal guy."

"I don't think there are any normal guys. Steve bought bikini briefs the other day and I had a fit."

"Why would he buy those?"

"He said it was a mistake, but I think he wanted to see my reaction. And I gave him one—I told him if he ever wore them I'd have to revert to the granny panties I wore when I was pregnant."

The sisters traded glances, then laughed at the absurdity of their banter. The instructor gave them a frown and they didn't say anything further for the rest of the class.

When it was over, Natalie felt inspired. "I'm going to buy a screw gun so I can get to work on that closet remodel. You know, I think we had one of these cordless jobs but Greg took it with him."

"I saw Greg the other day," Sarah said, walking next to Natalie toward the check stands.

"Is he still dating that woman—Renee?"

"Yes."

"I figured he'd get remarried sooner rather than later. He's had two years on his own, and statistics say he should have been on his second wife by now. I hate to admit it, but I didn't think he could take care of himself for this long."

"Leave it