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“Like now,” he said.
“Maybe you just want to make sure your voice still works?”
“It does. I know. I spend it talking to the dog now. She doesn’t talk back though.”
“If you aren’t in a hurry, maybe you wouldn’t mind dinner?” she asked. Why not throw it out there and see what he said. “Nothing special. I could put some burgers on my grill. Sammie could run around the backyard and we could see if you lose your voice if you talk more than twenty minutes?”
He smiled. The wrinkles around his eyes making him seem more human to her. “I could do that. Do you have shade in the back?”
“I do,” she said. “You seem to have gotten a lot of sun this week.”
He snorted. “I’ve been busy with work but have been doing some of it outside so that Sammie can run around. I didn’t think much of sunscreen. I suppose I should order it.”
“Order?” she asked, laughing. “Why not go to the store for it?”
“Ordering is so much easier,” he said.
“Doing things the easy way is probably how you didn’t have a haircut for more than half a year.”
“Oh, you are almost as bad as my mother,” he said. “This should be interesting.”
She smirked rather than taking insult to it. “Then let's go to the back and see if I can try not to sound much older than I am.”
Brent hadno idea this would happen when he decided to walk Sammie today.
He’d been delaying it and changing his mind on and off, but then said screw it. He was overthinking a damn walk.
So he’d grabbed Sammie’s leash and clipped it to her harness that at least helped with the tugging that she did. Or more like he felt as if he wasn’t choking her.
By the time he turned the corner and saw Vivian outside, he figured she was busy and wouldn’t notice him. The fact he checked his beard and hair twice before he left was a pathetic thought and made him realize how bad he had it for some human contact with a hot chick that was nice to him.
“You’ve got a lot of yard back here,” he said when she opened the gate. It was nice that he could unclip Sammie and let her go. He did, but she stayed by Vivian’s side. Figures.
“I do. More work for me, but I like it. Too many years spent living with no yard at all. Or not one to run around in.”
“You said you were from Chicago, right?” he asked. He was trying to remember but didn’t think she did. If she did then he’d feel horrible that he forgot and she’d think he didn’t listen.
“Yes,” she said. “I was in a row home with my grandparents for years. Then apartments. Not much outdoor space and I was craving it.”
“A long way from Chicago,” he said, more curious than he should be. Yes, he could look into her and it jumped into his mind, but he told himself no, not to do it. No more than the small search he’d already done.
“I needed a change. There was no one left there for me.”
“Do you mind me asking, if you lived with your grandparents, where your parents were?”
See, he could ask and not look. He’d call that an improvement and it would make Rob proud too.
“My mother died when I was seventeen. My father is dead in my eyes,” she said. “My maternal grandparents raised me after.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know a little bit about how hard it is to lose someone close.”
“I figured you did,” she said. “It was in your eyes when we talked another time. Aside from your friend, can I ask who it was? When you mentioned he saved you, I figured someone close.”
“My twin,” he said. “Maureen died of cancer when we were sixteen. My best friend, Rob, all but saved me. He died in the line of fire earlier in the year.”
He hadn’t said that to anyone out loud before Vivian and realized now why he hadn’t when he saw the sympathy in her face.
Great way to ruin any chance with a woman. Letting them think you were a walking case of drama or bad luck.
