“I get it. I spent a lifetime being pre-judged.”
He gave a nod. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I imagine a lot of people judge you by how you look. Like you’d just as soon kill ’em all and let God sort ’em out.”
He snorted, a sound that almost passed for a laugh. “My sons got me that T-shirt.”
Making him laugh even in some small capacity felt like winning something. “Were you a gunny?”
“No. Master sergeant.”
“I see.” She didn’t really, but she doubted asking more questions would result in any further understanding. She’d Google it later and see what she could learn that way.
A couple came toward them, also walking a dog, a big, happy yellow Lab. She said hello as they passed the trio. The two dogs sniffed each other briefly and then carried on.
She thought Brick was going to try to pass her the leash again, but he didn’t. His hand had tightened around the grip, though. He was doing well with Beau, so she wasn’t taking it back from him. “Do your sons come to visit you often?”
“Some.”
“What do you do when they’re here? Go out to eat? Golf? Fishing? Go to the pool?”
“Eat. Fish.”
She rolled her eyes at the overload of information. She stopped abruptly. It took Brick a step to catch on, then he stopped, too. She put her hands on her hips. “It’s really hard to have a conversation with someone who answers in single syllables. Do you think maybe you could elaborate a bit? Even ifyouthink it’s information I wouldn’t be interested in, I can assure you, it is. For example, you could tell me where you go to eat. What your sons’ favorite restaurant is. What dish they like to order. How long you’ve been going there. Or what kind of fish you fish for, what kind of bait you use, if you’re on a boat or you fish from the beach. If you eat the fish or throw them back. Literallyanythingelse you can think of. You think you can give that a try?”
He stared at her with something that might have been amusement in his eyes, but it might have also been irritation. She really couldn’t tell.
The right corner of his mouth quirked up a centimeter. “Yes, Gunny.”
She laughed, pretty sure that was his equivalent of a joke. She started walking again and as he fell into step beside her, she asked, “Hey, did you see theBuzzthis morning?”
He shook his head.
“There’s a competition coming up.” That was nothing new, though. The community center was always hosting some kind of competition. “It’s a bake-off. You should enter your wife’s cake.”
He grunted.
“Nope,” Blaise said. “Grunts are no longer acceptable answers. Unless you want me to just interpret them as I see fit, which in that case, I’ll take that grunt to mean not only do you want to enter, but you’re looking forward to it and you’d like me to fill out the entry form for you.”
“No.”
“No, you’ll fill out the entry form yourself?”
“No, I’m not entering.”
“Why not? And let me preempt you by saying ‘Because’ is not an answer.”
He sighed. “I don’t want to.”
“Mmm…nope, that’s not going to pass as a valid answer either.” She put her hand on his arm. “Hey, you’re not afraid of winning, are you? I mean, I can see how that might be a problem. There are a lot of single women in this community. They find out there’s a tall, handsome, eligible bachelor who also bakes and you’ll be beating them off with a stick.”
He cut his eyes to her.
“What?” She looked up at him. “Youaretall.”
He smiled. “You have to help me.”
She almost fell over in surprise but managed to play it cool. “By filling out the entry form?”
