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“Good, thanks.” Hannah offered a smile, though Tabitha sensed that same sadness deep inside her that she’d felt while massaging Candy. On the upside, Candy had opened up more when Tabitha had given her a second session yesterday, the mama dog’s body relaxing so much she’d even fallen asleep.
“I can’t believe you convinced your brother to foster George and Gracie. They’re definitely quite the pair.”
“They like him better than me,” Hannah admitted with a rueful smile. “Gracie seeks him out, which is funny because he really wants nothing to do with her.” Hannah shook her head quickly. “He’s not unkind. He just...” She trailed off. “Isn’t a dog person. But Gracie adores him. We can’t figure out why.”
Tabitha glanced at the golden puppy by Hobbs’s side. She’d nodded off, her hairless cat tight in a ball against her belly. Hobbs was deep in conversation with Sean, the two men talking story about some kind of auto theft Sean had worked on recently. They were total contrasts in personality, Sean being gruff and no-nonsense, Hobbs smiling, even now, his voice animated and hands doing half the talking.
“Do you miss home?” Tabitha immediately regretted her question, remembering what Hobbs had said about an abusive boyfriend, but there was no putting the words back once they were out.
“I miss my mom,” Hannah said. “And Victor. He’s my other brother.”
“I met him. He came into Delaney’s motorcycle shop, where I work. He needed new gloves.”
Hannah nodded and poked her food around her plate. “That’s Victor. Always riding.”
“Do you ride motorcycles, also?”
Hannah’s eyes crinkled up. “No, thank you. I’m as tame as they come.”
“I’ve never ridden, either.” Tabitha watched Hobbs go for a second grilled cheese. “But riding one is on my Badass List.”
“What’s that?”
“Just this birthday list I made.” Tabitha waved it off. No use talking about a list she still hadn’t made more specific and attainable. “Hey, do you want to do a massage soon? My log is almost complete for the semester but I need a couple more sessions. You’d be helping me out.” Tabitha recalled the strategy Red had used on her the first time she’d offered Tabitha a massage. She’d told Tabitha she could be a guinea pig for new massage techniques, and whether or not that had been true, Tabitha never figured out. But she’d yet to pay Red for a massage. Now Red considered their massages professional “swaps,” even though Tabitha was nowhere near a pro.
“Definitely. As soon as you want. Just let me know when you’re free.” Hannah leaned back in her chair and patted her midsection. “That sandwich was so good. My brother’s food is so plain. Always just chicken and broccoli and protein shakes. Healthy, but it gets boring. I miss my mother’s junk food. Good old-fashioned bread and cheese.”
Tabitha laughed. She hadn’t peeked in Hobbs’s cupboards, obviously, but she didn’t imagine he ate a lot of junk food with that six-pack of his. “I heard your dad died recently. That must’ve been hard.” Tabitha glanced at Hobbs, but he was deep in conversation with Reverend Stokes about football.
Hannah faced her with a seriousness in her gaze that her brother never seemed to have. “I didn’t know him very well. He’s been in jail up until recently. And when he got out, it was just so he could die humanely. He had dementia really bad, along with other health problems from years and years of drinking and just poor living.”
Tabitha let that roll around in her mind and found that it didn’t really surprise her. She already knew that Hobbs hid from his past. She already knew that he didn’t have a good relationship with his father. Now the man who had ended their massage when Tabitha had got too close to who he really was, deep down, made a whole lot more sense.
The doorbell rang. Everyone paused and looked at each other. Tabitha shrugged. “I don’t have enough grilled cheese for the neighborhood,” she joked as she pushed back her chair and headed for the door.
After she opened it, she stood there, blinking in shock.
“Surprise!” Thaddeus grinned over the large bouquet of fall flowers he clutched against his chest. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
Hobbs had to admit, the guy was perfect. Maybe not his name. Hobbs stuck to his guns on that one—who named a kid Thaddeus?—but everything else about him. Handsome. A lawyer. Impressed everyone with his manners and occupation. Had a history with Tabitha, which the guy was not shy about cashing in on. All during dessert, he’d slide an arm around Tabitha’s waist or bring up something from their past.Remember that time we skipped prom and read books on my living room sofa instead? We sat in our nice clothes and drank hot cocoa, you readMoby Dickand I read prelaw while all the other idiots got drunk?
Hobbs didn’t realize how much he’d been staring, wondering who the real idiots were in that scenario—the people readingMoby Dickin expensive clothing or the inebriated morons vomiting in the bushes, of which Hobbs was one—until Tabitha caught his eye. She gave Hobbs a smile and brushed Thaddeus’s hand from her hip.
“Where do you work, Thaddeus?” Hobbs polished off his pecan pie and took a slice of chocolate cream. “Is that what people call you, by the way? Thaddeus? Or do people call you Tad? Taddy?”Tabby and Taddybounced through his mind.
“Just Thaddeus.” He pressed his fork into his pumpkin pie and took a bite that was almost delicate. “I work for Sneldon and Schultz.”
Hobbs had heard those names before. He racked his brain until it came to him, early mornings in the kitchen while he fixed himself some bulletproof coffee and hadGood Morning Footballplaying in the background. The commercials during that show were always about waterproof goo, invincible cookware and ambulance chasers. “Are they personal injury lawyers? I’ve seen their ad on TV.” Hobbs made his voice sound like a commercial narrator. “If you or a loved one have had problems with your hernia mesh, Sneldon and Schultz are here to help!”
Thaddeus smiled indulgently. He dipped the tines of his fork in his whipped cream and licked it off. “Yes, that’s us. We do a lot of malpractice litigation for our clients who have suffered from bad surgical mesh. The effects can be quite devastating. It’s no laughing matter.”
“I wasn’t laughing about it,” Hobbs insisted. “I just have the ads in my head, you know? Like a jingle? Hard to get out.” Hobbs looked around the room. Delaney shook her head. Sean looked away, fist over his mouth, a smile spreading beneath. Hannah and the reverend were outside in the fenced yard, playing with the dogs.
Nora laughed outright and toyed with the cigarette behind her ear. “What the hell’s a surgical mesh, anyway?” she said.
Tabitha quickly changed the topic. “I am so sleepy. I’m going to need a nap.”
“Maybe you’re working out too hard,” Thaddeus said, settling his empty plate next to the sink. He’d eaten his hastily assembled grilled cheese without complaint, but also hadn’t offered to help Tabitha when she’d raced to make it. “There are more injuries at your type of gym than any other.”
