“An optimist. What a wonderful club to be a part of.”
I pulled my hat over my ears and considered it as I walked back out into the cold. Maybe I used to be in the club, but it sure hadn’t been true lately.
Murray ran over to walk me to my car, but right as I reached out to pet him he alerted then dashed away, barking his head off.
No, no, no, no. It was Andrew, blazing up the driveway.
I quickly weighed my options. The driveway was too narrow for two cars so I couldn’t make a clean getaway, plus Gerard was at the midpoint of it with a chain saw. And it would be weird to ignore Andrew, especially if Patricia happened to glance out the window at us. I pretended to fiddle with my phone as he pulled up next to my car.
Andrew climbed out looking like he was settling into his role as “hot lumberjack” after his win at the fall festival. The brown and orange flannel matched the leaves as if he’d planned it, and the black beanie and thicker beard gave him a longshoreman vibe.
“No jacket?” I asked as my greeting.
He frowned at me as he patted Murray. “I’ll be sweating in about five minutes.”
His eyes swept up me and I realized that I looked like a kindergartner in the oversized coat and ridiculous hat. But I was dressed for warmth, not to impress him.
“How were the goats?” Andrew asked.
“Good. Really good. We’re making progress.” I figured animals were the only safe topic for us. “How’s Dude?”
He shifted and looked down at Murray. “We, uh, we had an incident. The other day he took off after Myrtle again on the way into Crush and was missing for an hour.”
I opened my mouth to lecture him about being off leash, but something in his face stopped me. He looked... embarrassed. And he could’ve kept the incident to himself, but he’dchosento tell me.
“That must’ve been scary. I’m sorry to hear it.”
It struck me that Andrew needed my help but didn’t know how to ask for it. The last thing I wanted was for something tohappen to Dude, so I bottled my feelings for the human end of the nonexistent leash and made the offer.
“We should probably get back to training him. I have a few slots open on my calendar.”
The tension in his forehead relaxed and relief spread across his face. “Seriously? I’d really appreciate that. I can pay you instead of doing the trade. I mean, I’m guessing that you don’t want to come to Crush anymore—”
“Oh no, I’m definitely coming back,” I replied quickly, surprising even myself. “We made a deal, three for three. I’m getting my swole on whether you like it or not.”
He grimaced. “Never say that word again. I’m begging you.”
“What? You don’t think I can be part of the swole patrol?” I puffed up my chest. “I might surprise you with my massive trapezoids.”
His eyes crinkled as laughter tumbled out of him. “Please stop. It’s called thetrapezius.”
“Whatever.” I shrugged. “Just know that I’m going to get shredded.”
“In three sessions? Doubtful.”
We both seemed to realize at the same moment that we were veering into uncomfortable territory, and any more discussion of my body could lead us back to our fight. Murray trotted off, leaving us without a distraction between us.
“So, you can text me when you have a chance to look at your schedule,” I offered. “And good luck with the branch trimming.”
“Thanks.”
I opened my car door and slid in as Andrew turned to head down to where his dad was firing up the chain saw.
“Hey, Chels?”
He was standing in the middle of the driveway with the bright sun backlighting him. It was incomprehensible to me that I could see swirls of steam coming off his shoulders despite the fact that I was shivering from the cold. But then again, I knew firsthand that Andrew ran warm.
“Yeah?”
