“I had plans for it all, I guess. Sometimes, things don’t go the way you think they will. I’m sure you know that by now, but there’s a difference between knowing that, and being on the other side of those unfulfilled plans.” He pokes a foot at the short end of a wooden plank. “This is all just unfulfilled plans.”
“Do you ever think of fulfilling any of these plans?”
He laughs, a harsh and disbelieving sound. “No, Brynn. Not anymore.”
I focus my efforts on filling a bag with wood chips, rusted screws, and other random crap.
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re running from?”
My hand freezes inside the bag. Slowly I unfurl my fist and listen to the items clatter as they join the contents. We’ve talked about this briefly once before, but he’s asking again. I can’t blame him. I’d be curious about me too.
“You don’t drive, you don’t go anywhere except the few stores that are a couple streets over. You haven’t made friends except the Vale boy. Who I saw you kiss last night, in case you’re wondering.” He gives me a pointed look. “No, I wasn’t spying. I happen to have a front window and eyes. That’s all.”
Despite my upset, I chuckle.
“You’re doing a job that doesn’t suit you. No offense, and it’s not that you’re not a hard worker, but you’re charismatic. That job doesn’t exactly require personality, which you have in spades.”
“You’re more observant than I gave you credit for.” Walt is more than observant. He takes his observations and turns them into conclusions.
He lifts his shoulders and drops them right back down. “I just call it like I see it, and right now, I see you’re dodging my question.”
“It’s hard to explain.” I stand up, dropping the big bag and letting it fall slack against my ankles.
“I’ve found there isn’t much that’s hard to explain. You add one word to another and soon you have a sentence. The hard part is everything the sentence doesn’t say.” Walt slips his hands into his pockets and continues. “When Daisy died, it was easy to thinkShe had cancer and she died.The difficult part was saying the words out loud, for my own ears to hear, because it meant a lot more than those six words. It meant I was alone. That my love was gone. That my reason for waking up had closed her eyes for the last time.”
My heart lurches. I think I would’ve loved Daisy.
Wiping my forehead with the inside of my forearm, I look up at Walt. “We’ve talked about this once already. Something bad happened in Phoenix, and I had a hard time.” I shake my head, thinking of just how hard a time I had. “It became clear I needed to get away for a while. Maybe for forever, and here I am.”
“Are you in trouble?”
I shrug. Possibly yes. Possibly no. I don’t know for certain. The threat of trouble is present, that I know for sure.
“Are you safe?”
“As safe as the next person,” I say, trying to turn it into a joke. In my head, I see Eric Prince’s angry letters, his blunt, capitalized words.
“Alright, I’ll mind my own business. Just let me know if you ever need something.”
I draw in a sudden breath, feigning shock. “Walt, do not tell me I’ve managed to wriggle my way into your heart.”
He flicks out a hand like he’s shooing my words. “Bah. No way. You’re cheap labor and you keep me from having to eat so much cereal.”
“I think you mean I’m free labor,” I tell him, winking.
He laughs, and we work together for another hour. It’s more me working, and Walt arguing about why he needs to hold on to things he can’t remember why he bought.
I leave at four, take a shower, let my hair air-dry, and send an email to Darby, my property manager. Walt’s questions this afternoon made me want to check in with her.
Connor told me to wear my attitude on my chest, so I pick out a shirt that should make him roll his eyes. I wonder if he’ll paint it into the picture. Actually, I wonder what this night will be like at all.
12
Connor
That fucking shirt.Of course she would pick out a shirt that would say that.
“We’re not going straight to my house,” I tell her after I read the shirt.‘I can’t be held responsible for what my face does when you talk.’It’s funny, actually, but Brynn might not want to wear that shirt to meet Anthony and his new girlfriend, Julia.
