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She furrows her brow. “You sound annoyed.”
I shrug. “It was nicer when I didn’t.”
“You’re an interesting case, Henry,” she says, settling into her desk. “I’d like to figure you out some time.”
I don’t really want to be her case. And I’d prefer it if she said she’d like togo out, not figure me out. I’m not sure how to respond, even though she wears an expectant expression, like she’s waiting for me to say something.Think, you knob.
Nothing comes to mind.
She turns to her work, and I can tell I’m already forgotten.Smooth as ever,Hill.
You have to work really hard to be this bad at women.
I try not to squirm for the next two hours as we work. I even attempt a couple of conversation openers. “So how are your classes going this semester?”
“Same as usual,” she says, her tone distracted and her eyes not budging from her screen. “It’s always the same as usual.”
I’m not sure how human sexuality can be boring, but I’ll sound perverse if I ask, so I let it drop. A half hour later, I try a different approach. “Looking forward to the Thanksgiving break?”
This time she looks at me like she’s trying to jog her brain into recognizing I’m there. “I don’t know yet,” she answers. “I’m supposed to go skiing, but it doesn’t look like they’ll get the snowfall they need at the resort.”
“That sounds fun.” I sound like a vapid sophomore.
She looks at me strangely. “Again, only if they get the snow.”
“Right.” She goes back to her work, and I don’t blame her. I’m making the kind of small talk I hate.
After another twenty minutes of trying and failing to think of anything intelligent to say, I decide to give up and go home. At least there I can work without distraction. I scowl. Maybe. That depends on what the neighbors are up to.
Their yard is blessedly still when I pull in, and the afternoon passes quietly for a few more hours until the growing sound of babble comes from the sidewalk, passes my house, and turns up the walkway to the one next door.
After a few minutes, the noise emerges from the house again, the girl’s voice punctuating whatever they’re doing with excitement. It sounds less shrill than usual, so that’s something, I suppose. But when I hear hammering, I can’t ignore it. They’re supposed to be taking stuff down, not putting up more.
This is exactly why I liked not having a neighbor. You don’t have to politely ask them to stop doing things they’re impolite to be doing in the first place.
I try to ignore it for several minutes, but every time I think it’s stopped, it starts up again.
I move to see out the side window. Snippy Neighbor is standing on the porch railing, wrapping lights around the top of one of the support columns while her daughter feeds her more from what looks to be an endless reel.
It already has lights. Why more lights?
I could have held my peace if they were doing yard work or something to materially improve the exterior of the house. But this is not that. Nascent thoughts of truce evaporate.
I walk out of the house at a no-nonsense pace so Paige doesn’t think we’re on friendly terms after our trash can run-in.Boundaries and expectations, I recite to myself silently.
I stop halfway up their walk. “Excuse me.”
Paige makes a squeaking sound and teeters backward before she grabs the column in a bear hug. Her momentum knocks her feet from beneath her, and she wraps them around the column too. She is now a koala. An extremely annoyed-looking koala.
I shove out the errant thought that I would like to be a porch post.
“Are you all right?” I hurry toward her in case she needs . . . I have no idea what. Catching?
“Fine,” she says, and the word is ground so fine between her clenched teeth, it’s a wonder it doesn’t emerge as a puff of powder. Gingerly, she stretches one foot down until she’s sure she’s found the railing. Then she maneuvers around with some kind of shimmy motion, plants her other foot, and straightens, still standing on the railing, her hand against the column for support.
“Hi, Mr. Henry,” Evie says, her face brightening now that her mom is fine.
“Hello.” I shift my gaze to Paige. “Ms. Redmond, may I speak with you, please?”
