Page 17 of The Chad Next Door
Was she following me?
“What are you doing out here?” I ask, folding my arms as Duke rolls over beneath her vigorous rubs and offers his belly for sacrifice.
She giggles, rubbing him even faster before she looks back up at me. Then she freezes, her eyes locking on my arms for three seconds before she meets my gaze again. “I got distracted by your muscles—I mean by Metallica. I missed the turn.” Red blossoms on her cheeks as she turns her focus back to my ridiculous dog.
I’m so tempted to call out her slip, but I’m more curious about the other part. “Metallica?”
“It’s my belt band.”
“Your what?”
She snickers before hopping up to be more at my level. “You know, the band that you sing along to so loudly that you lose your voice? Belt band.”
“I don’t think anyone calls it that.”
“How would you know, old man?”
“How do you even know who Metallica is?”
“I’m notthatyoung!”
I scoff, flexing my arms a little just to see what she’ll do. “How old are you, anyway?”
She’s pretty good about ignoring my biceps directly, but that doesn’t stop her face from heating more. “I’m twenty-four.”
Hmm. She almost looks younger than that. “I was listening to Metallica before you were even born,” I say, which might be true. My dad loved metal bands, so there were probably some moments when I was younger that I heard a few songs. But now I’m thinking about how I was twelve the year Hope was born. That was the year Mom married Lloyd and found out she was pregnant a few months later. The twins were horrified and cried for days, but I was excited.
This really isn’t helping the wholeoldsituation. Twelve years isn’t a lot, but it’s…a lot.
She folds her own arms, though I’m not sure what she’s hoping to gain by matching me. She’s still tiny, and now she’s got Duke pressing himself up against her leg begging for more ear scratches. “And how old are you? Fifty? Sixty?”
“Forty-seven.” I don’t know why I say that. Maybe it’s a defense mechanism of some sort, even if it makes absolutely no sense. But I can’t complain about the outcome because her jaw drops, her bottomless eyes going wider than I’ve ever seen them.
“Seriously?” When I nod, she claps a hand over her mouth. “Dang, you look good for your age, Grizz!”
“Chad.” I hold out my hand, unable to stop myself from grinning. “My name is Chad. And I’m thirty-six.” I should be concerned that she didn’t really question the almost-fifty thing.
Though she takes my hand, she seems weirdly fixated on my smile. What, do I have something in my teeth? No, because I haven’t eaten anything today, something I’m feeling now that the adrenaline of my run is wearing off. Still, my smile drops under her examination, which breaks the spell, and she grimaces.
“Sorry,” she says, almost in a whisper. “You just…you have a really good smile. I wasn’t sure if you would.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Chuckling, she shakes her head and takes a step back. I’m not sure she realizes she’s still holding on to my hand, stretching our arms out between us. “Nothing. Just a theory I have. I should let you get back to your run.”
I tighten my grip on her hand before she can walk away. I’m almost enjoying this civility, and she’s excellent at distracting me from my wandering thoughts of things I can’t control. I can’t control her either, but she’s the only one who has all the answers I want. Maybe, if I can be nice for long enough, she’ll give me some of them.
“Where are the kids?” I ask.
She looks down at our clasped hands. “School. I figured they were probably ready to start back up again.”
“I’m sorry about their mom.” I almost let out a curse before I remember Zelda told me that part so it’s okay that I know it. At least I didn’t find anything on Hope, so there’s no chance of slipping up there.
Hope blinks, looking back up at me with a lot of emotions swirling in her eyes. No tears, though. “Thanks. Me too.”
“When did…?” I know this answer already, but if Hope is willing to give me some info on her own, I’ll have less to hide.
She wraps her other arm around her middle and shivers a little. She’s probably cold, but I think there’s some emotion coming through with that movement as well. “It was about a month ago,” she says. “Really sudden. And my sister decided that I should be the one to take them if anything happened to her.”
