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“Have you seen Dillan?”
“I think he’s camping. And going to a concert—not sure. I’ll see you on Sunday.”
“Bye, Hazel. Charley will miss you.”
“I’ll miss him too.”
And then, for the first time ever, I had my house to myself with a man staying over. Except, he wasn’t talking to me.
Charley and I found him in the side yard, inspecting the new lock on the gate. He glanced up at me and his eyebrows pinched together.
“Hey,” I said. “Your dinner’s in the backyard, on a table.”
“Yeah. All right.” He walked away, toward a camera on the fence.
I followed him. Charley pulled out the line of his retractable leash, the nylon string zipping out as he dashed for a lump of grass.
“Hank. We need to talk.”
Shoulders tight, he swung around. “Right now?”
“Yeah, I think so. Whoops, just a minute. Charley’s squatting.”
He stalked past me toward the backyard. I waited while Charley finished his business, then blessed Hazel’s heart for tying a plastic bag to the leash. Ah, the indignities of being adog person. Charley and I jogged to the garbage can then into the backyard.
“Just a minute while I wash my hands.” I attempted a smile at Hank, but he didn’t see a thing because he was too busy glaring at the pool. There was hand soap by one of the outdoor spigots.
I put Charley back in his dog area with his water and toys. He went for the rubber ferret, chewing on the squeaky thing while I sat at a table across from Hank.
“Pretty good security, right?”
He rubbed his face. “Yeah. It’s all well done.”
I picked up my glass of wine and took a sip. “I don’t like to beat around the bush. You said you’ve had enough. I think I’ve had enough too.”
His head jerked toward me. “Oh really.”
I held my hands up. “You’re angry with me most of the time.”
He pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. “Because you’re a goddamned sociopath. Sally cares about Sally and that’s about it.”
I stood up too. “That’s who you think I am?”
He put a hand over his face. “You’re pretty fucking detached.”
Charley barked a little frantically from inside his dog pen. “And you’re pretty damn angry. I’ve been honest with you, but it hasn’t gone the way you wanted. Go home and move on. You’re not going to forgive me. I’m done.”
“What, you can’t wait to go fuck someone else?”
I stepped away from him. “I want you to leave.”
“No. I’ll leave in the morning, after you call in your security.”
I laughed, a harsh grating sound. “You’ll leave early in the morning at the latest.”
“Jesus.” He turned away from me. He gasped, his shoulders shaking.
I blinked. “Take your things to the downstairs couch. Everyone else is gone.”
