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She winces. “Yeah? I feel kind of guilty even though I know I shouldn’t.”
“This is a decent street and he’s got no respect for the effort his neighbors put in to making it nice. Lack of respect and poor judgement, those are the deal breakers.”
“Poor judgement?”
“Holly.”
She nods. “I wish I snapped a picture of her face as she handed over that cash.”
We share another laugh but then the air between us grows heavy again. I’m sure she feels it too because she starts grasping at straws, looking to distract and lighten the mood. “You didn’t need to take the bedding. I don’t think there’s enough bleach in the world to sanitize it. He was crashing on my sheets buck naked. It’s beyond gross.”
“They’ll be fine once they’re run through the wash. No need to throw out perfectly good stuff.”
She nods, bites her lip and looks out the window.
“I want you to stay in the pool house for the rest of the summer. Is that all right?”
“I told you I have an appointment—”
“With a realtor, I know. But think about it. You’d be paying a security deposit for what? A six-week rental? That’s if you can even find a landlord who’ll rent to you for only six weeks. I don’t know much about real estate, but I’d say that’s unlikely.”
“It won’t work. I’d be in the way.”
We pull up outside the house and I turn to face her. “I’m just going to the say this so we can clear the air—”
She unclips her seat belt and gets out of the car while I’m mid-sentence. It’s the grown-up version of covering your ears while screaming, I can’thearyou!
I notice she doesn’t take anything from the trunk before heading inside. I already know how she’s going to play this, and I’m so grateful that Olivia is still across the street with Maureen right now because I‘m about to blow.
When I follow her inside, she acts like she’s scrolling through her messages. Like the imaginary real estate agent is blowing up her phone, wondering why she’s missed all those apartment showings they had lined up for today.
I’m sure she knows I’ve been standing in place, arms crossed, just watching her for the past few minutes. She’s strategizing, working it out, trying to solve this unsolvable problem on her own.
Her eyes are still glued to her phone when she finally speaks. “You’ll say it’s no problem, that I won’t be in the way, but I will.” She talks right over me, stopping me when I go to protest. “You’re allowed a social life, Leo. We said we were going back to where we were. I’ve done that. I’m fine, so don’t go thinking you have to explain last night away. Lexi seems all right, not that my opinion matters, but if you like her company and she makes you happy then I’m happy for you.” She stops rambling for a nanosecond to take a breath before adding, “I’m glad you’re putting yourself out there.”
“Putting myself out there?”
Her eyes are soft when she finally looks to me. “It’s been nearly four years since your wife passed away. Again, it’s not my business, but you’re young and you’re a good person. You deserve to be happy.”
“Yeah, you keep saying that.”
“So that’s why I don’t think the pool house is a good idea.” She shrugs and give me a pasted-on smile. “You should be able to entertain guests. How are you going to do that if I’m always around?”
“Could you please stop talking for a minute?”
“I just don’t see—”
“Shut up!”
And she does just that. I may be a grumpy ass sometimes, but I’ve never raised my voice or spoken to her this way before. And I probably look like a lunatic to boot. I can feel the vein in my neck ticking and my hands are fisted in my hair.
“Do you have any idea what it was like to find you in that car last night? To know you were in trouble and you didn’t feel like you could come to me…That you couldn’t trust me?”
“I trust you. It’s not that.”
“You put yourself in danger…The past three nights and every night you slept in that house with those assholes. I still can’t believe you’d do something so stupid.”
“I’m not listening to this.” Going for the door, she says, “I’m not your kid, Leo, and you’re not my daddy. Got it? I don’t need anything from you.”
