There’s a faint metallic click as Grant stops moving for half a second longer than necessary. Then he keeps going.
“That’s good,” he says. “I’m sure Joe appreciates getting out.”
“He does,” I agree. “So . . . I hadcoffee.”
“With Joe?”
“With Milo.”
Grant climbs down the ladder, wiping his hands on his jeans. He reaches for his water bottle and takes a long drink before looking at me again. “How is Milo?”
I shrug, too quickly. “Fine. I think. He kind of fits back in.”
“Yeah,” Grant says. Not agreeing. Just acknowledging. He sets the bottle down. “You know, Sadie, I don’t care if you spend time with him.”
Something in me tenses. I hadn’t asked.
I look up and try to figure out what his eyes are trying to say. I’ve never had to read them before. They’re different, and I can’t tell if it’s jealousy or some sort of acknowledgement within them.
“I just don’t like being surprised,” he adds, softer.
“I wasn’t hiding it,” I say. And I mean it. Mostly.
“I know.” He nods once. “It’s just . . . new.”
The wordnewlingers, like it belongs more to him than to me. Silence stretches between us, filled only by the hum of the old refrigerator.
“It’s not like we’re—” Grant starts, then stops. “We’re not dating.”
“No,” I say. The word comes easily. Too easily.
He studies my face for something I don’t know how to hide yet. “And Milo?”
“He’s just . . .” I trail off, then settle on, “He’s a friend.”
Grant accepts that. Or at least, he pretends to.
“Well,” he says lightly, forcing the mood upward, “then I think we can handle that. We’re all adults.”
“Adults,” I repeat.
He smiles, reaching for the ladder again. “Hand me the next fixture?”
I do, but my mind snags on the ladder Grant is on, reminding me of the ladder Milo and I climbed last night. It felt like forever climbing back down, but Milo kept his promise. He didn’t let me fall, but my body is so sore today from tensing every muscle for so long.
“Sadie?”
I blink, realizing I missed what Grant said. “Yeah?”
“Can I take you somewhere tonight?” he asks. “It’s not anywhere anyone will see us, in case you’re worried about what rumors will spread.”
I smile softly. “Pretty sure your truck in my drive has already taken care of that.”
He laughs. “Patty did come in for a new gardening shovel and asked what I was doing at your house.”
I think back to Patty at my door two weeks ago. How she’d asked me the same question. I have to admit, that woman is thorough in threading together some top-tier rumors. Starting with some truth is more convincing than having no truth at all.
“What did you tell her?” I ask.
