Page 11 of Not You Again
“Didn’t you tell me to stay out of your business just a few hours ago?” Carly bitterly laughed, her pity turning into disbelief, which hadn’t been his intention. But whathadhe thought he’d accomplish with a line like that? That she would just agree and go back to wherever she called home? That she’d thank him for the reminder?
No, she did none of those things; instead, she put the puppy back on the ground and said, “Get him!” with way too much glee. The puppy obediently returned to Adam’s pantleg and began to maul it with all the ferocity a four-pound creature could muster. Carly crossed her arms and watched the dog with a grin. “Consider those little nips retribution for being rude to me and Shireen today.”
Adam felt momentarily dumbfounded by her comment. Was she really suggesting he deserved to be attacked by a dog because he’d beenrude? This day had taken another unexpected turn he wasn’t at all happy with.
He was, however, happy to end his night on this note, as it was a reminder that he should be home instead of trying to socialize. What good did that ever do? He reached down,picked up the puppy and placed it in the belly of a rogue shopping cart. Carly rushed over to grab her dog and cuddled it close to her chest. She’d look nurturing, if she didn’t then lock eyes with Adam and sneer. Adam straightened, got in the car, slammed the door shut and turned the engine over.
A gentle knock on the window caused him to look up and see Carly’s face so close to the glass that he noticed a birthmark just underneath her left eyebrow. A round black dot, like the darkest planet in the solar system of her face.
He rolled down the window enough to let her speak.
“Someone blocked you in.” The puppy, now nestled in the crook of her arm, let out a belly growl. Carly pointed and the rearview mirror revealed an enormous red minivan that prevented Adam from leaving.
When he turned back, she let out a bright huff of air, then added cheerfully, “Have a great night!”
He didn’t even have time to fully process what she’d said until she was walking out of sight. He thumped back into the driver’s seat. If he never had to see Carly again, it would be the best-case scenario for everyone involved.
Chapter 5
Carly
Day 239
Carly sat in the white folding chair facing her father’s coffin. She was back at the funeral home. 239 days of this.
She approached the closed casket and drummed her fingers across the sleek top of it. “Good morning,” she said. “Quick story is that I rescued a puppy. Named it Apple. You’d like him.”
The office door swung open and thwacked the wall, which meant Shireen was on the move. Usually, Carly spent a little more time with her dad, but if she waited too long, she might accidentally see Adam again.Nowwas her chance. “See you next loop.” She gave two taps to the top of the coffin, then shot down the aisle.
Carly came to the hallway and followed Shireen closely. As Shireen swung open the front door to the funeral home, Carly snuck through and walked out onto the gravel driveway. Her clunky Doc Marten boots scattered the rocks as she headed toward the road. She’d done it. She managed to avoid Adam.
“What are you doing?”
Or had she? She instinctively looked back to where Adamstood, glaring like an angry gargoyle from the door. Maybe he was still mad about last night. Admittedly, Carly had felt a twinge of shame for gloating over his misfortune.
Now, though? She was focused on getting to town so she could go about her day. Being the mature adult she was, Carly did the only thing she could think of to get him to leave her alone forever. She stuck out her tongue. The look on his face—shock and horror—made her day.
“Hey!” Adam shouted back.
But Carly rolled her eyes and refocused on getting out of the parking lot. She’d only taken a couple of steps when something hit her from behind. She fell to the ground with anoomphand realized that she was being flattened. Being run over by a car did not feel the way she would’ve imagined. Less instantaneous, more lingering. Rocks from the gravel driveway pierced her arms and she shrank against the sharpness of them.
“What the fuck?” Shireen’s voice called out.
Carly opened one eye, then both, and that was when she realized the pressure on top of her wasn’t a car, but Adam. From the corner of her vision, she spied his blue button-down, the skin of his neck and a sliver of his chin. She wriggled against him to try to get up, but was seized with pain.
“Adam?” Shireen’s stern tone made Carly freeze. “Do you want me to accidentally kill you? My car has backup cameras. And you’d reset anyway.”
“Carly tried to throw herself behind your car.” His words came out ragged as he pushed himself off.
Ohhhhhh. Wait.Wasthatwhat Adam had yelled at her about? Wouldn’t, “You’re about to be run over by a car!” have been the better option?
“I didn’t—” Carly started to say, but then more searing pain flashed across her back.
“And you thought you’d what? Save her?” Shireen planted her hands on her hips.
Carly understood on a very hidden level that what he’d done was a misguided selfless act, but judging by the look on Shireen’s face, she wasn’t impressed.
“Didn’t seem right to watch her off herself,” he said.
