“I’m Caleb, by the way.” He holds out a hand to me.
“Halle.” I slip my hand into his. His palm is warm and surprisingly rough for how tidy his nails are. “These two dipshits are Quinn and Casen.” I point to my brothers as they run back through the front yard and up a set of porch steps that groan beneath their weight.
“Halle,” he repeats my name, and I feel it down in my toes. “Haven’t heard that before. Do you need help with anything?” He motions to the small U-Haul in our driveway.
“Nah, it’s okay.” I wave at the white and orange trailer, dismissing his help even if I desperately need it.
The process would certainly go faster and be less painful with help, but I don’t know anyone in town, and getting my brothers to help for more than a few minutes will be a feat. Their attention spans are nonexistent unless they’re playing a video game.
He slips his hands into his pockets and wanders over to the open back of the U-Haul. Then, with an arched brow, he turns back to me. “Looks to me like you need help.”
I press my lips together. The offer is well-meaning, but it’s a trigger for me. The girl who’s always had to do it all.
“It’s really okay.” I inhale deeply. “I can get the boys to help. We’ll be fine.”
Without another word, Caleb walks away. Shit. I didn’t mean to piss him off. Just as I’m ready to call out an apology, he stops beside his car, leaning against its door, and pulls out his cell phone.
“Hey, can you come outside? Our new neighbor needs help unloading her U-Haul.”
He pulls the device away from his ear, taps the screen, and slips it back into his pocket before he eyes me where I’m standing awkwardly in the halfway point between his yard and mine.
“Thayer’s going to come help too.”
Great. I do my best not to let my shoulders slump.
“You really didn’t need to do that. It looks like you just got home from work.” I wave a hand, gesturing to his suit. “I can figure it out.”
He smiles slowly, like he sees right through my stubborn pride. “It’s really not a problem.”
I should probably be jumping for joy. It’s supposed torain tomorrow, but with their help, I can get everything inside tonight. But that nagging part of my brain is still screaming at me to tell him that I’m fine on my own.
I give that internal voice a shove.
“Thanks,” I say instead. “I’m going to check on the boys, and I’ll be right back.”
They’ve disappeared, and I don’t hear them, which is never a good sign. At fourteen, they shouldn’t need my constant supervision, but they prove time and time again that they’re about as trustworthy on their own as a pair of toddlers, when, in reality, they’re full-fledged teenagers.
That thought brings me up short.
They’ll be fifteen in January, which means driver’s ed and learner’s permits and?—
I tamp down on the spiraling thoughts. I’m getting ahead of myself.
“Take your time,” Caleb says as I retreat. “I’m going to change real quick, and Thayer will be a few minutes.”
I give him a thumbs-up and immediately wish the ground would open up and swallow me. A thumbs-up? What am I? Five?
I go in search of my brothers, stepping over the broken fence. The house is still locked, so they must be in the backyard. Unless they know how to pick locks.
My stomach plummets.Crap! Can they pick locks?
I wouldn’t put it past them to learn in their free time.
“Boys?” I call out as I scan the yard. “The neighbors are going to help us unload. You two need to participate as well.”
I push aside an overgrown bush, watching my step sinceI’m a little scared I might encounter a snake. I’m a strong, independent woman until I encounter a snake or a spider.
“Casen? Quinn?”
