Iwanted to read that letter. More than anything else in the world, but he had mentioned specifics for a reason. A good reason.
So, I changed into a black and pink floral dress and black booties, and took my laptop out to the porch, headphones in, readying myself for a day of writing.
I needed something to distract myself from all of it. Just a moment to take a breather before I confronted all of this head on.
Not an hour had passed before Lucy stood, catching my attention.
She was snarling, her ears pinned to her skull, and I looked up to find Wade walking towards the steps, hands up, a smile on hisface.
“Lus,” I said, pushing my headphones around my neck. “Guard.”
She went silent but remained threatening as Wade walked up the steps. “Morning,” he greeted. “Saw you sitting out here, wanted to say hi.”
Maybe it was the conversation this morning, or the anxiety running through me about the meeting Everett was in right now, but I was on edge. I didn’t want Wade getting on this side of Lucy, not until I knew that he wasn’t a real threat because if there was one thing I learned from writing my books, it was that dirty cops were everywhere, and they would be your friends until they decided they could use you for something.
“Hey,” I greeted. “What’s up?”
He shrugged. “I know it’s not normal for you city-folk, but out here, getting to know your neighbors is normal.”
I rolled my eyes, causing him to laugh which made me uneasy for some unknown reason.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop the easy shots. May I?”
I glanced to the seat beside me where he was gesturing and shook my head, nodding towards the banister instead. “Lus, step back.”
She huffed, backing up to my legs as he walked slowly over to the banister and took a seat. “You would think she’s an ex-cop,” he smiled, gesturing to her. “How old is she again?”
“3,” I answered, glancing to my dog. I studied her for a second before taking a breath and turning back to Wade. I had to play nice. I needed to play nice if I wanted to be accepted here. “Definitely not a k9 but I trained her well. You don’t work today?” I asked, shutting my laptop. “I assumed police were never off-duty.”
He chuckled. “Got my radio,” he tapped his hip where I saw the black radio clipped. “Technically we all have days off, but Ilike to be available just in case. You working on another book?”
“Um, sort of.” I thrummed my fingers, glancing towards the street. When I wasn’t forced to have conversations with people as Abigail Ross or Olivia Lemont, things became pretty awkward pretty fast, especially when the person I was having a conversation with was some strange neighbor who moved in just before me. “How are you liking the neighborhood?” I finally asked, finding his eyes again.
He shrugged, glanced around. “Pretty nice. Everyone is really kind.”
I frowned, following his gaze. “Really? I haven’t seen anyone else yet.”
His smile grew as if he had waited his whole life for me to actually engage in conversation. “That’s because you have to make an effort to make friends.”
I frowned at the condescension in his voice. I knew how to make friends, but being exposed my entire life and then metaphorically caged kind of fucked everything up for me. It was just difficult, that was all. Making friends was difficult.
“One of them, Mr. Berry, she came by yesterday to say hi, but you weren’t around.”
Guilt filled me. “Oh, sorry. I was…” Learning how to shoot a gun before being hunted down and then fucked in the woods. “Busy.”
“That’s alright, I’m sure she’ll try again soon. She’s the most friendly of them,” he cocked his head. “I never noticed that before,” he gestured towards the collar. “Or the…” he gestured to his cheek. “And that bandage is new.” His brows furrowed. “Boyfriend?”
“Oh, um…” My hand drifted up, wrapping around the chess piece. Boyfriend? No, that seemed so demeaning compared to what he was. So much less. And honestly, I wasn’t sure if we could be classified as ‘together’. I hadn’t read the letter yet. “No,I bought it myself. Trying something new,” I decided, lowering my hand. “The scars are from an accident some time back, he’s out of the picture, and this,” I pointed to the bandage. “A tree.” I rolled my eyes. “Us city folk apparently don’t do well in the woods.” I tried at a joke, but it ended up sounding jagged and out of place.
He studied me carefully before a smile gently touched his lips. “The collar is cute, I like it. Fits you.”
I was taken off-guard by the compliment. “It does?”
He nodded. “Hmm-mm. Makes you look a little younger. Not a boyfriend then? Because I’ve seen a few people coming in and out of your house. Figured you were dating one of them.”
My gut churned a warning. “Family,” I told him, Evelyn’s words falling through me in waves. “Parents, sibling. We’re close.” The lie came out easily. Far easier than I thought it would.
“Single then,” he noted, looking me over. “How about a drink sometime, eh? You and me. There’s nothing better than having a cop at your disposal. I’m buying.”
