Chapter 3

Two days after Janice had shown Tyler where Paul had lived and where his mailbox was in the lobby, Sandy had come in from work, stopping to collect her mail.

She hadn't paid attention to the man a few feet away from her, his dark hair partially covering his face as he shuffled through a few pieces of his own mail.

Neither had paid attention as they began to head back to their respective units, Sandy nearly colliding with the man.

"Excuse me!" Sandy said, getting his attention

"Oh damn!" he said, exasperated. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

He ran a hand through his hair, displaying beautiful hazel eyes, his whole appearance in general practically stopping Sandy in her tracks.

It was almost as if Mike had come back to life….only in a slightly shorter, younger version….

"I'm sorry," she said. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, but I'm the one that nearly knocked you down. I should be the one doing the asking," he chuckled, taking in all of the petite brunette in front of him.

"Well, at least no one got hurt," Sandy managed a smile.

"Are you the new neighbor?" he asked. "I'm sorry; I'm on the road a lot and don't get a lot of time to be here at home." He stuck out his hand and smiled. "Paul London."

"Oh, where are my manners? Sandy Dillard. I just moved here about a month ago with my son Tyler. He's sixteen."

"No kidding? You sure don't look old enough to be a mom to a kid that age."

Sandy didn't know what to think; she just smiled and thanked him shyly.

"So you're the lady that moved next door to Winona Evans," he said. "She did say she got a new neighbor that had a kid."

"Yes, Tyler hangs out a good bit with Janice and a few other kids from school that they both know."

"Jan's a good kid though she can be nosy at times," Paul laughed. "But I guess we were all curious at that age."

"Tyler especially," Sandy nodded in agreement. "At first, he wasn't even thrilled about moving down here. But now he seems to want to go everywhere."

"Oh? Where are you from?" Paul asked.

"Philadelphia," Sandy answered. "We moved down here when I got a job in administration at the hospital."

He raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm….now I know where to go if I get hurt or sick."

"I just shuffle papers," Sandy laughed. "I'm not a nurse or anything like that."

"Oh well, I tried," he shrugged.

"Hey, listen, since I haven't been much of a neighbor, why don't you and your son come down for dinner, say tomorrow? I'm off for a couple of days."

"Uh yeah, sure, I'd like that. I'm sure Tyler would too."

"Be warned I can't cook worth a shit," Paul said. "But I order take out quite well."

"Well in that case," Sandy said, laughing a little, "why don't you come over to our place and have something home cooked for a change? I'm sure you get tired of take out all the time, especially with all that traveling you do. And it won't be a problem since I'm off tomorrow anyway."

"I think I like your idea better," he nodded, giving her a killer smile.

"Good," Sandy replied. "Is six o'clock all right?"

"Six it is. I'll see you then, Ms. Dillard."

"It's Sandy," she said as they began to go their separate ways.

"Right," Paul winked. "Until tomorrow then."