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“Then take the summer off. I won’t tell him.”
“You want me to lie to my friend?” He narrows his eyes at me. “Is that what people do wherever you’re from? They lie to their friends?”
“I’m not trying to cause problems between you and Miller. I just want to be left alone. I don’t like coming home and finding some stranger in my kitchen.”
“I’m not a stranger. I’m Hank Folts.” He extends his hand to me. “And you are?”
Shaking his hand, I say, “Kyle.”
“No last name?”
I sigh. “Shadwick. Kyle Shadwick.”
He grins, causing the wrinkles on his tan face to become even more pronounced. “Nice to meet you, Kyle Shadwick.”
“Yeah,” I mutter, glancing around the room, wishing he’d leave.
“You’re still white as a ghost.” He chuckles. “No need to be scared around here. The only burglars that’ll be sneaking around are cat burglars, as in actual cats. I caught one trying to come in when I came through the back door today. I shooed him out before he got in.”
Great. So now I have cats trying to get in my house. I’m allergic to cats.
“So you come here every Friday?” I ask.
He nods, then takes a drink of his beer. “Every Friday at one. I work down at the hardware store but get off at noon on Fridays. I have lunch, then come over here, have a beer with Miller, then mow his lawn. The old man hurt his leg years ago on some farm equipment and has trouble pushing the mower so I volunteered for the job, in exchange for beer.” He gives me a wink. “That’s a hint to keep the fridge stocked.”
So now I need to buy this guy beer? I don’t even want him here but it sounds like I’m not going to be able to get rid of him. He’s loyal to Miller, and trying to get him to go away will cause more trouble than it’s worth.
“How about I leave the beer out back in a cooler before you come over so you don’t have to go in the house when I’m not here?”
“What do I look like?” he asks with anger in his voice. “Some farm animal? I’m not allowed to go in the damn house? What if I have to use the toilet?”
I let out a long sigh. “Fine. But it needs to be the same time each week, and no coming here outside of that. You nearly gave me a heart attack showing up here without telling me.”
He shakes his head. “You big city people need to learn how to relax and stop thinking you’re important enough for crooks to come after you. Unless you’re famous or have a lot of money, nobody’s interested in you. And out here? I guarantee nobody’s going to be breaking your windows to get in. They’ve got better things to do.”
He doesn’t get that it’s not the townspeople I’m worried about. It’s the people my father knows. The people looking for me. Trying to kill me.
“How long do you think you’ll be?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I usually spend about an hour on the beer and a couple hours on the lawn, but since your conversation skills are sorely lacking, looks like I’ll be finishing the beer and getting to work.”
“Sounds good,” I say, going around him to the table where the answering machine sits. Miller still uses an answering machine, the kind with the tiny tapes. The red light isn’t blinking, which means there aren’t any messages. I was wondering, or maybe hoping, that Sage would call. I know I just saw her but I thought she might call and ask if she could come over earlier tonight, in which case the answer would be yes.
I shouldn’t do that. I shouldn’t be wishing she’d call, but damn, I can’t stop thinking about her, and thinking about her makes me want to see her.
“I suppose I could sit for a minute or two,” Hank says, taking a seat in the recliner.
What the hell? I can’t rid of this guy.
I stand beside him. “I’m kinda busy so…”
He looks up at me. “You don’tlookbusy.”
“Well, I am. I have a lot to do.”
“What exactly do you do?” He takes a swig of his beer.
“I write.” I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m a writer. And I’m on a deadline. So I really need you to leave so I can work.”
