I’m probably reading too much into it, but it would be nice being able to bounce these wild ideas off someone.
Maybe I could talk to Clem later.
Clem
I catchsight of the Jeep crossing the parking lot in this direction through the glass panes in the bay door.
I’m doing a quick sweep of the floor before I head upstairs to throw something together for dinner.Manuel and Kyle left half an hour ago, but I wanted to put a little extra time in on the mayor’s Mercedes.Which reminds me, I should give Merrick a call to let him know I should be able to have his car ready for him to pick up around noon tomorrow.He should be happy an engine rebuild will not be necessary, but I doubt he’ll see it that way.
The sound of gunfire from the TV drifts down from my apartment.I guess Remi found another action movie to watch.He came down a few times, checking out what we were working on and longingly eyeing his Chevy I have sitting on the far side of the bay.It’s not really in the way where it is, and there’s enough room for the kid to be able to work on it over the winter.But most of the afternoon he’s been upstairs, watching TV, and at some point, when I poked my head in, he was fast asleep on the couch.
When Tessa dropped him off this morning, I showed him where to find everything, and basically left him to his own devices.He hasn’t said much, but was polite enough to come and ask if he could find something to eat before raiding my fridge.I have no idea if he left me anything for dinner, but we’ll find out.
I’m ready to open the door for her when she walks up.
“How are things?”she asks when I let her pass before closing the cold out.
During the days when the sun is out, I still keep the front bay door open, but the moment the sun starts sinking in the afternoon, the temperature drops dramatically.I wouldn’t be surprised if we get hit with some overnight frost.
“The kid’s good.He was down here for a bit this morning, watching us work, but this afternoon he mostly stayed upstairs.You can go on up and see him.I’m just going to finish up down here.”
Tessa messaged me early this morning to ask if my offer from last night to let Remi hang out here still stood, which of course it did.She showed up with him fifteen minutes later, she was dressed for work in jeans, a department-issued jacket, her service weapon holstered at her hip, and her hair tied back in its customary braid.
“Sure, but…uh…are you going to be around tonight?”she asks softly, peeking over her shoulder as if to check no one could overhear.
“Yeah, I’ve got no plans.”
She nods.“Okay, I just have something I want to run by you, but I don’t want to do it now.”
She nudges her head to the stairs.
“Gotcha,” I confirm.“Pop in anytime.”
Watching her go up the stairs, I notice her hair has partly come undone again.Part of me hopes it’ll still be like that when she comes by later.I wouldn’t mind undoing that braid and tangling my fingers in all that hair.
I finish sweeping up the dirt, metal shavings, and rust flakes, and dump it all in the big garbage bin against the wall, resting the broom and dust pan beside it.I’m about to go up after Tessa when she and Remi are already on their way down the stairs.
The kid looks sullen as she hustles him out the door, but the creases on his face suggest she probably had to wake him up.
My, “See you tomorrow, kid,” receives a distracted wave of his hand.
With the Mariners’game on TV, I’m just kicking back on the couch with a beer, when my phone pings with an incoming text.
Where the hell is your doorbell?
I chuckleand set my beer on the table, shove my feet in my slip-on loafers—I tried the barefoot thing on the garage floor once and ended up with a piece of metal in my heel—and rush down the stairs to open the door.
“Sorry,” I offer as I step aside to let Tessa in.“I don’t get many visitors after hours.”Make thatnovisitors, but she doesn’t need to know that.“Come on upstairs.I was just sitting down with a beer.Can I get you one?”I ask, leading the way up the stairs.
“Okay, sure, but I probably shouldn’t stay too long.”
I grab another beer from the fridge and join her in the living room, where I hand her the bottle and reach for the remote to turn off the TV.
“Don’t turn it off on my account,” she stops me.“The boys and I are all big Mariners fans.”
She sips her beer and turns her attention to the game.
After a few minutes I break the silence.
