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He’d always been that way and everyone knew it.
“Tate’s a good guy. I met him in college. He grew up in Clifton Park.” Which was less than thirty minutes from Colonie. “He works for a big engineering firm out of Albany.”
“I don’t keep in contact with anyone from high school or college,” she said. “Of course, I only went to community college anyway.”
“There isn’t anything wrong with that,” he said.
“No,” she said. “But I did want to move out of the area. I got my nursing license here and started to work. I’d gone on vacation with a coworker to Georgia. It was so pretty and she got talking about moving there. The two of us looked into getting our licenses and the next thing I know, I’m moving.”
Which was funny, considering he remembered her picking on him for never making plans, yet it sounded as if she’d pulled a move like he would have.
“How long ago was that?” he asked.
“About seven years ago. Betsy lasted a year and moved back home. I should have realized she might not make it, but I liked the area and stayed.”
“But you came back?” he asked.
“Sometimes it’s the only choice you’ve got,” she said.
The doorbell went off and she grabbed her purse off the counter. “Let me get it,” he said.
“No,” she said. “I told you it’s my treat. But if you want to get the plates out of the cabinet, you can.”
She pointed to the wall they were in and he opened one, but found it empty, then another the same. He finally found plates and got them down, then pulled over the napkins on the counter and went to sit at her small two-person table in the big breakfast area.
It seemed out of place, but then so did so many of the things in the house.
The few things there were.
Something wasn’t adding up in his mind. Or maybe he was looking more into it because he was curious.
Liz came back with a box and a bag on top. “I got wings too. You can’t have pizza without wings.”
“No,” he said, “you can’t.”
They sat down and started to eat. He normally didn’t care too much about the silence, but now that they’d walked through the house and talked about that, there wasn’t much more unless they got personal.
“How are Evan and Kaelyn doing?” she asked.
Guess they were going to get personal. Maybe. A little. He was fine with that.
“Great,” he said. “Both married and have kids. Got myself two nieces and a nephew.”
“Good uncles have pictures on their phones,” she said, lifting her eyebrow at him.
He wiped his hands after picking up a few wings and pulled his phone out. “This is Scarlet. She’ll be three next month. River will be one in August. Those are Kaelyn and Harris’s kids.”
“Harris Walker,” she said. “He lives here. I’ve heard. I mean my father told me. He’s a big Mets fan. Actually he put in Harris’s fence several years ago. He was so excited to find out who it was and that your family recommended him.”
He remembered that. Evan had come back and told him Harris was looking for a fence and they wanted to be discreet. Butler Construction had contracted for it to go in. He’d suggested Trevor Sherman because he knew the guy was fast, efficient, and if he found out whose house it was, he’d never say a word. At least back then.
“We do recommend your dad often when people ask after the build,” he said. They contracted with someone to have it part of the build. Trevor just wasn’t big enough and the timing had to be right. Things he was glad he didn’t have to deal with.
“He appreciates it. He likes to stay busy.”
“This is Evan’s daughter, Grace. She’ll be a year old next week.”
“They are all adorable. And then there is you,” she said.
