The Town (Book 1, Lonstino & Greenwood Series)

Chapter 4 - The Professor

GREG

The throbbing in my head gets more painful with each minute that passes as the two little devils in the backseat wrestle. I sometimes swear that Hannah's only purpose in life is to make Lewis' and my life miserable. My sister decided it was an excellent idea to just drop the kids at his store and go away for a week with her new boyfriend. My brother in law called me in a hurry to ask if I could pick them up as they were running around and disturbing the customers.

My relationship with Hannah has never been the best. Growing up, we barely tolerated each other and she found pleasure in bullying me at every moment. She's been the embarrassment of the family due to the regular stream of boyfriends she's had and we thought that when she started dating Lewis Redmont she was finally ready to settle down. For some time she seemed calm and we were happy to welcome a decent and caring man into the family when they married. Not long after their honeymoon, they announced that they were expecting the two little boys currently spitting at each other. After the twins were born, she decided that motherhood was not for her and abandoned her family. Lewis never recovered from the heavy blow. He moved to Lonstino from Greenwood for her, left his family and his thriving business behind, and still it wasn't good enough for my sister.

I hope Ximena forgives me for being late. This isn't the way I expected my day to go and I don't want to give her a bad impression. As I make a right turn into Harbor Street, I look around for any unknown cars but see none. Once in my driveway, I get out and open the front door for the little maniacs to run inside. Charlie walks in my direction accompanied by a woman I don't recognize.

"Greg!" He greets me. "This is Ximena."

I guess my confusion shows because the woman moves in front of Charlie before he can say anything else.

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Walker. My car broke down and your friends have been kind enough to help me get here. Jaden will fix my car and let you know when I can pick it."

"Well... Hi! Nice to meet you too. Come inside to give you the keys to the studio. We can bring your bags upstairs later."

She laughs and brings her backpack to the front of her body, then pulls out a set of keys.

"My suitcases are in my car. Which also means that Jaden won't be able to fix it if he can't open it."

Charlie and I exchange glances. Jaden doesn't need keys to open a car and hotwire it...

"No worries. Charlie, please, do me a favor. Can you take my car and pick up her stuff? Hannah played a new stunt and I have Luke and Michael here. Lewis will try to close the store early," I give my keys to Charlie and he nods.

Ximena gives us a curious look and gives her own keys to Charlie. I get the boys' bags out of the trunk and Charlie pulls out of the driveway.

"My apologies for whatever we find inside. My little nephews are here, and my brother in law will come to pick them in about two hours. How was the drive to Lonstino?"

"Eventful. It's only an hour away from Greenwood, but it seems I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up lost in a rural area. My car's oil pump seems busted and it died on me. Luckily Jaden passed by and rescued me from the middle of nowhere."

"I'll write directions via the highway for you. We have many services in Lonstino, but still need to head to Greenwood for others. Let me know if you need anything that you can't find here. I give lessons at the university there, so I can bring things back. So... This is my house and I live on the ground floor, up this staircase is the entrance to the studio. It's very private since the only part of the house we share is this entrance hallway and the small basement where I have the washer and the dryer."

We find the boys hanging on the couch and watching TV. They look like two little angels and not the spitting machines of a couple of minutes ago.

"Guys, this is Ximena and she will live upstairs," I say as I place their bags on the dining table. Their eyes are glued to the TV and don't even acknowledge our presence.

XIMENA

If my college professors looked like Greg, I would have paid better attention. Not only is he good looking; dark brown hair and eyes, with an elegant neatly trimmed beard, but his voice is deep. His frumpy way of dressing can use an update and he limps some, but the rest of his looks compensate for that. I follow him upstairs and into the studio, which is actually a beautiful apartment with a bay window in the living room. I caress the light wood of a console and appreciate the good taste of the sage green and red accents on beige furniture.

"This is beautiful... You should charge more."

Greg stands close to the door and laughs. "Maybe in another town. I guess that means it's up to your standards."

"Standards? This place is even bigger than mine! You should do something about the photos in your rental advertisement. They don't do it justice. I love this place!"

"Thanks. I'm not really good with a camera and hiring a professional photographer seemed exaggerated at the time. I'll definitely invest in those later. Here at the back is the kitchen and through that door you can reach the garden downstairs. I've tried to keep the plants there alive, but honestly the sun and the rain do a better job than me. The main bedroom has an en suite bathroom, and to the left, the small room can be used as a storage or work room."

"This view is fantastic and inspirational. I think I'll just pull an armchair close to the window and work there."

Suddenly we hear a loud crash coming from downstairs. Greg walks down the stairs with some difficulty but as fast as he can, and I follow.

Flour covers almost every surface in the kitchen and I almost step on a cracked egg on the floor. Milk drips from the kitchen counter and between the feet of the kids a glass bowl lies shattered.

Greg leans on the kitchen counter and holds his head with both hands while looking around. The boys stand in the middle of the chaos with worried faces and dirty clothes.

"What in the universe were you doing?" Greg sighs.

"We wanted to bake a cake for the lady," one of them says, pointing at me. The boys are two drops of water, with light brown hair and bright blue eyes.

"Why did you want to bake a cake for me?" I pick the first of the boys up and sit him on the counter. I rather get their clothes even dirtier than them getting wounds from glass shards.

"Aren't you his girlfriend?" The other boy asks. "Are you our new aunt like Aunt Sophia?"

Greg's face is drained of color.

"What are your names?"

"I'm Luke, and he is Michael," the boy with a chipped front tooth says.

"Luke and Michael, it's very nice to meet you. My name is Ximena," I offer them a hand to shake and they do it. "I'm really happy that you wanted to bake a cake for me. I just got here and I don't know many people. I hope we can be friends. I'm renting the apartment upstairs for a few months, but I'm not your uncle's girlfriend. When you come to see him, I hope you stop by to say hello. Maybe one day we can even bake a cake together."

The boys get excited at my proposition. The color has returned to Greg's face.

"But if you really want all of that to happen, you need to help us clean this mess. The next time you want to do something like this you need to ask your uncle first. Understood?" I say and the boys nod. "Now give me a welcome hug," I open my arms.

"Ximena, they-"

Greg's words are cut as the boys hug me tight. I grab a kitchen towel and wipe their faces from the flour mess, but they'll need a shower. Greg seems deep in thought about something.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"Yeah, sorry for all of this," he opens a cupboard and takes out a broom and a mop.

I sweep the broken glass first so the boys can get off the counter. Greg gives them rags to dust the surfaces while we clean the egg and the mess the milk made. Now it's not the right time, but I wonder who is Sophia and why she isn't anymore in Greg's life.