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“Doesn’t sound likeyou’reold news.”
“Because my dad stole from people here in town and they feel the need to get revenge. It was only a few families but the town feels loyal to them, which is why I’m an outcast. But Nina’s made things a million times better. She keeps people from bothering me so now I can go into town without people looking like they want to kill me.” I open a cupboard and take out the oatmeal cookies Nina’s aunt gave me a few days ago.
“What’s that?” Kyle asks as I set the cookie tin in front of him.
“Breakfast.” I take the lid off. “They might be a little stale but they’re still good. And they’re oatmeal so they work for breakfast.”
“Thanks.” He takes one.
“I’ll get the coffee.” I fill the mugs and bring them to the table and sit down. “So what are you up to today?”
“I’ll try to get some writing done, and if I can’t, I’ll probably do some yard work. The lawn’s starting to get overgrown.”
I take a cookie and break it into two, dipping one half into my coffee. “Don’t take this the wrong way but you don’t seem like someone who does yard work.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Have you ever used a lawnmower?” I bite into my cookie, which is the perfect level of softness now that it’s been dipped in coffee.
“Of course I have. I’ve mowed the lawn plenty of times.”
I nod, and dunk my cookie in my coffee again. “Have you ever been in a fight?”
“That’s kind of disgusting.”
“What?”
“That.” He points to my cup. “Dipping that in your coffee.”
“It’s not disgusting. It’s good. People dip donuts in coffee. Why not cookies?”
“Dipping donuts in coffee is also disgusting. Pieces of it break off in the coffee and then you’re left drinking soggy bread.”
“That doesn’t bother me.” I point to his cookie. “They’ll break your teeth if you don’t soak them in something.”
“They’re not that stale. Not even close to breaking teeth, unless you have soft teeth, which is a much bigger problem than stale cookies.”
I laugh. “There’s no such thing as soft teeth.”
“Which is why there’s no need to dunk your cookie in hot coffee, no matter how stale it is.”
“I don’t care. I’m still doing it.” I pick up another cookie and dip it in my coffee then take a bite, closing my eyes and murmuring, “Umm, it’s so good.”
It comes out sounding sexual and when I open my eyes, I see Kyle staring at me, his lips parted. I set the cookie down and pick up my coffee. It startles him from whatever it was he was thinking about and he quickly gets up from the table and walks over to the coffeemaker.
“Need some more?” he asks, picking up the carafe.
“Yeah. Thanks.” I hold my cup out for him. “So you never answered my question.”
“About the lawnmower? Yes, I’ve used one before.”
“Not about the lawnmower. About the fight. Were you in a fight? Is that how you hurt your head?”
“Yeah.” He sits down again. “I was attacked when I was filling my tank with gas. It was night and nobody was around and the guy wanted money.”
“So what’d you do?”
“I punched him and knocked him out, then drove off. Never saw him again.”
