Page 19 of The Atonement
He stepped back, moving away from the counter with a final nod. “Alright, well, it was great to meet you, Adele.” He shook Maisy’s hand. “Maisy.” Then he lockedeyes with me again, suddenly too close. “So nice to meet you, Ainsley. I’m…I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”
I nodded, uncharacteristically at a loss for words.
Luckily for me, Mom was having no such shortage. “So nice to meet you, Matt. I didn’t ask, but is that short for Matthew?” She was at his side in an instant, eager to stop his attempts at escape.
“Nah, it’s short for Leonard.”
Mom hesitated and Matt guffawed, much to Maisy’s delight. “Sorry, yeah, it’s for Matthew.”
“Leonard would be cool,” Maisy said.
“Maisy’s cooler.” He patted her head.
“Mom, you want to walk Matt out?” I asked abruptly, interrupting their laughter.
“That’s not necessary.” Matt tucked his hands in his pockets. “Sorry, again, for…interrupting.” He held my gaze for a half second more, something warm in his eyes that made me feel dizzy, then turned toward the living room.
“Don’t be silly. Of course I’ll walk you out.” Mom rounded the island and crossed the room.
He chuckled, waiting for her to catch up with him. “They warned me about this Southern hospitality, Ms. Adele.”
“Oh, just Adele, please.” She took hold of his arm, leading the way toward the door. To my dismay, he looked back at me over his shoulder just once more, catching me watching him, and offered a smallsmile and a wave.
I turned my attention to Maisy, and once they’d left the room, I ran a hand through her hair again, unsure of what to say.
“Are you okay? You look like you’re going to be sick,” she said, taking another bite of her peach.
I touched my cheeks, the warmth of them burning my palms. “I could ask you the same thing. Is everything okay here?”
She nodded slowly, brows drawn down. “Um, yeah. Why?” She swirled her spoon around the bowl in front of her.
Had my mother told her Peter was there? It didn’t seem like it, and I didn’t want to bring it up if she hadn’t in case she expected to see him.
“That was just kind of weird,” I said eventually, as I heard the front door shut.
“What was?”
“The neighbor.” I tilted my head in the direction he’d gone. “You didn’t think so?”
“I don’t know. I thought he was really cool, actually.”
“And much too old for you.”
“Ew, Mom!” She stuck out her tongue with disgust. “He’s like…an adult. What are you talking about? You thought Ilikedhim, liked him?”
I shrugged, forcing the worry out of my chest as if clawing it with my bare hands. Maisy was a child. Not every man was out to get her. Was my perception tarnished by everything that had happened with her coach?
“I’m only teasing,” I said, waving away her worry,then crossed the room to retrieve a glass from the cabinet. I filled it with water as we waited for my mother to return. “What have you been up to all day?”
“Reading,” she said, her mouth full of fruit. “Grandma said she wants to take me on a walk around the neighborhood later.”
“What?” I wasn’t sure I’d heard her over the sound of the ice hitting my glass.
She repeated herself. “A walk. For exercise or whatever. Maybe you could go with us.”
“No. You’re not going to walk around the neighborhood with your grandmother. We’re leaving today.”
Her eyes brightened. “We are?”
