Page 22 of Take My Heart
‘You don’t have to do that,’ I tell her as she hangs my coat on the hook.
‘It drives me crazy seeing it on the floor.’
‘So you’re a neat freak,’ I say as we walk to the living room.
‘No, I just like to have things picked up.’
‘Yeah, you’re a neat freak.’
‘Or maybe you’re a slob,’ she says, sitting on the couch.
‘Maybe. But at least I admit it.’ I sit next to her in the chair, the old recliner my dad had in the basement. My mom never liked it. She was more than happy to give it to me when I moved out.
Kate glances at me. ‘Hanging up a coat does not make me a neat freak.’
‘Agree to disagree.’
She sighs as she looks around for the TV remote.
‘Under the couch,’ I say, seeing it there. ‘Right behind your feet.’
She leans down and searches for it with her hand. She finds it and picks it up. ‘Why was it under the couch?’
‘Because that’s where I left it?’ I shrug. ‘Not sure.’
She holds up the remote. ‘If you had a designated spot for it, you’d always know where it was. And that doesn’t make you a neat freak. It just makes you organized.’
‘It DOES make you a neat freak and I KNEW where it was. I told you it was under the couch.’
She looks at me. ‘Agree to disagree.’
‘Works for me.’
Our eyes meet and I feel something strange in my chest, like my heart’s jumping around. What the hell? I take a breath and sit back. Maybe I need to drink some water. I always forget to hydrate in the winter.
Kate turns on the TV. ‘What do you want to watch?’
‘Basketball.’
She looks at me. ‘Really?’
‘I don’t care. Watch whatever you want. I need to call Nick and then try to fix the plow again.’
‘Can I help?’ she asks with an eager tone.
‘If you want, but there’s really not much you can do.’
‘I’ll do anything that gets my mind off what happened today.’
‘Why don’t you take a nap? You won’t think about stuff while you’re sleeping.’
‘I’m not tired.’ She focuses back on the TV. ‘I’ll just find something to watch.’
It’s not that I mind her being in the garage with me while I work. I just think it’d be better if she stayed inside where it’s warm. And I think she needs to deal with what happened today instead of trying to ignore it.
I need to do the same about my own situation. I need to accept that this house is no longer an investment but a money pit that’s putting me in debt. I need to tell Jason I won’t be able to pay him back the money he loaned me and that we’ll have to take a loss on the house. And I need to face the reality that my business—something I put my heart and soul into—may not make it.
Thinking about that, now I know why Kate’s avoiding reality. It’s a lot easier than facing the truth.
