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“Should we host a séance?” he asked, just as Henry Dale came to inspect their handiwork.
The old man ran a hand over the walls and offered an approving nod. “Looks good. I like gray and white.” He turned a hard look on Eli. “But no mucking about with spirits, you hear me? No candles. No table rapping. No asking if anybody’s here. Even if theyarehere, there’s no point getting them stirred up, is there?”
Iris tilted her head, visibly surprised. “I didn’t know you believed in such things.”
Henry Dale cleared his throat. “Believemight be a strong word, but I’ve lived a long time and seen some odd things. Not everything can orshouldbe explained, Miz Collins.”
“I actually agree with that,” Eli said.
Iris smiled. “Neither of you needs to worry. I’m not planning to bother Great-Aunt Gertie, even if she walks among us.” With that, she grabbed her keys from the bowl on the table near the front door. “I’m off to pick up some cheap couch covers I found online. Only forty minutes away!”
Both he and Henry Dale hurried after her. Henry Dale objected first. “You can’t just randomly go to some stranger’s house! There’s no telling what’ll happen.”
“I don’t need a bodyguard,” she said, but her steps slowed, as if she was considering the validity of their concern.
“Eh, actually I agree with Henry Dale,” Eli put in. “There have been killers who used online ads to—”
“Iknowthat. But with couch covers…?”
Henry Dale scowled, his white brows contracting. “Could be bait. Don’t risk it.”
She sighed, but Eli noticed that her eyes twinkled a bit, as if she might be enjoying how protective they both were. “Fine, put your shoes on. We’re all going on a mini road trip.”
Eli complied right away, while Henry Dale’s frown didn’t abate. “Why do I have to be the third wheel? This guy can protect you.”
“No way,” Iris said. “We need your stern energy, and I’m stopping for lunch after.”
Though Henry Dale mumbled complaints all the way to the kitchen and back, Eli could tell that the old man was secretly glad to be included. Outside, he got in the back of Iris’s Sentra, letting Henry Dale ride shotgun. Iris turned the radio on and found an oldies station, again likely for Henry Dale.
“Bunch of nonsense,” the older man muttered.
“You love it,” Iris said. “Anyway, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for being nosy the other day. I hope we’re okay.”
“Are you worried about my feelings?” Henry Dale asked in an incredulous tone.
“Well, yeah,” Iris said, as if that should be obvious.
God, she’s sweet.
Henry Dale cleared his throat. “Hmm. Well, I’m fine. And…if you must know, I never wanted a wife. Or a husband. I neverwanted to be kissinganybody, though I had some wonderful friends back in the day. They’ve all since passed on. My family too. And I guess that’s my one regret—that I’m the last.
“I miss my older brother the most.” Henry Dale took a steadying breath, as if bracing for the next revelation. “After his wife died, I moved in with him. They never had children, and we lived together up until the last two years of his life. His house had to be sold to pay for memory care. I spent my life’s savings looking after him, and then…”
There was nothing left, nobody who could be there for Henry Dale the way he’d been there for his brother.That’s how he ended up with nowhere to go.
Eli reached forward and patted Henry Dale on the shoulder. “You’re not alone anymore. You can make new friends.”
“Youhave,” Iris added.
She met Eli’s gaze briefly in the rearview mirror, and her gray eyes practically glowed. For some reason, tears stung Eli’s eyes and his throat tightened, not just because of Henry Dale. Because of this woman and this moment and that look.
“Well, isn’t that something?” Henry Dale said in a surprisingly deep tone, like he might be getting choked up.
Eli felt the same way.
CHAPTER NINE
As iris had guessed, therewas no problem picking up the couch covers.
