Free Neighborhood Watch by Andrew Neiderman Page B

everything. In a few days, it will be as if you’ve lived here for years.” He put his hat on. “Well, thank you again,” he said, nodded with the firmness of a salute, and turned to go. Teddy closed the door.
    “Why were you so sarcastic, honey?” Teddy asked.
    “Was I?”
    “Were you? ‘I don’t want to get shot taking a walk at night’? You should have heard yourself.”
    “I don’t know. All this Big Brother stuff. And since you mentioned it, what about that crack about my peculiar habits? What’s so peculiar about taking a walk at night?”
    “I don’t think he meant peculiar in the pejorative sense.”
    “Pejorative? Well, well, counselor,” Kristin kidded.
    “Besides, we’re paying for all this attention with our homeowner’s dues,” Teddy said. “I listened when Michele explained all that.”
    “I know.”
    “It’s all for our benefit, isn’t it?” he asked gently.
    “And with one five-year-old and another child on the way . . .”
    “Right, right. I guess I’m just tired and irritable.”
    “Oh, yes, I was going to rub your pregnant tummy.”
    He took her hand and continued their retreat toward the master bedroom. The patio door drapes were still open. Just past the pool and the hedges at the rear of their backyard, the surface of Emerald Lake glistened in the moonlight like a brand-new silver coin.
    “Isn’t that beautiful?” Teddy said, walking up to the patio doors. Kristin came up beside him and he kissed her on the neck. “What a romantic setting. And it’s ours.”
    He turned her to him and they kissed. Then, without speaking, they began to undress. As they lay beside each other and petted and kissed, the moonlight began its nocturnal journey from one side of the lake to the other, eventually reaching their patio with its illumination. The lunar light was so bright, it was as if they had left a light on in the room. Now it was their naked bodies that glistened as they made love softly, tenderly but with a sensuality that brought them both to a satisfying conclusion.
    Afterward, they lay beside each other until their heartbeats slowed and their breathing became regular. The moonlight passed over the house. The lake looked inky, but they could see the stars that had been washed out by the moon’s brightness before.
    “I think we’re going to be very happy here, Kristin. Don’t you?”
    “I hope so,” she said. She stared out at the shadows in their backyard. Suddenly, she thought one took shape and became the silhouette of a man. She sat up in bed and studied the scene.
    “Something wrong?”
    For a moment she didn’t reply. He sat up, too.
    “What is it, Kristin?”
    “I thought someone was standing out there watching us, but I guess it was just the
    movement of shadows.”
    “Where?”
    “It’s nothing,” she said and lay down again. He stared a moment and then shrugged and reclined again, too. Then he smiled at her and ran the palm of his hand gingerly over her slightly raised stomach.
    “I guess now we’re going to have twins, honey.”
    “All right, Teddy Morris. I won’t ever confess my childhood fantasies to you again if you tease me.”
    He laughed but her eyes returned to the patio windows.
    “Maybe we shouldn’t leave our drapes open so wide.”
    “Why not? You can’t be afraid of Peeping Toms here. Our security forces would mow
    them down with machine guns,” he said.
    “Unless our security forces were the Peeping Toms,” she replied.
    He laughed.
    “Considering what goes on here, we might be the best show in town.”
    “Right,” she said and gazed at the window.
    “Relax. We’re in paradise,” he said and snuggled closer. He was the first to fall asleep, his breathing becoming deep and heavy, but she kept her eyes open, her attention fixed on the backyard. Was it only her imagination or had someone been spying on them? It
    wasn’t the sort of thing she wanted to bring up on their first night in a new house, she thought, especially a