“Austin, behave,” Chloe reprimanded.
Austin rolled his eyes.
I ignored the irritating younger man and focused on Chloe. “I’m sorry to disturb you again, but I think I left my glasses on your sofa.”
“Oh. Let me get them for you.” Chloe turned for the lounge, almost toppling when her foot dragged on the carpet.
I leaped forward to steady her, but Austin beat me to it, effectively blocking the doorway. He grasped Chloe’s elbow and pinned me with a glare. “You stay there.” He steered Chloe into the lounge and returned seconds later without her. “Here.” He held my glasses out for me to take. “Now go.”
I studied Austin’s cool blue eyes. The man was truly beginning to grate on my nerves. The spiteful part of me wondered if he’d be acting this way had he known I was Chloe’s son. That same part wanted to enlighten him just to fuck with his day, but Chloe’s ongoing silence in the other room stayed my hand. This wasn’t my fight, and I didn’t want to make things harder for Chloe. But I wasn’t going to be just herded out of there either.
“Thank you.” I schooled my expression to a calm determination. I’d dealt with many jerks like Austin in my lifetime, and a lot worse. “But I’m not leaving without saying goodbye to Chloe.”
Austin opened his mouth to protest, but I simply pushed past him and headed for the small lounge. I opened the door just enough to stand in the gap, careful to block any view from behind. Austin’s furious glare burned fiery holes in my back. Like I could give a fuck.
“Chloe.”
She looked up in surprise; her frown caught somewhere between confusion and frustration.
“I’m heading off,” I told her. “I just wanted to check that you’re okay.” I flicked my gaze sideways, indicating Austin standing somewhere behind me to make my point.
Chloe gave a tight smile and nodded, but her expression told another story. “Yes, thank you. I’m perfectly fine.” Her gaze flicked over my shoulder, then back to me. She rolled her eyes and tapped her cell phone very deliberately with one finger.Call me later.
I got the message. “That’s good. We’ll talk again sometime.”
“That’s enough.” Austin sounded suddenly very close and I turned to find him almost on top of me. “I’ll see you to your car.” He stood back and waved me toward the front door. “After you.”
I stayed where I was for a couple of beats, making it clear he didn’t intimidate me. When his eyes slid away from mine, unable to hold my gaze, I tried not to smile and made my way slowly out the door and back along the path. Petty? Maybe. But it felt really fucking good. When I reached the rental car, I turned to face him again. “You obviously have a problem with us. Care to enlighten me?”
Austin frowned at my bluntness, looking a little less sure of himself than he’d been a few minutes earlier. He glanced over his shoulder to the house, then back to me, maybe weighing how much I might’ve overheard before I knocked. Some of the meanness left his expression, replaced by something more like concern.
“Look, I appreciate you wanting to visit and all that,” he began, “but Chloe’s not doing so good and we’re worried. I won’t have her harassed or pressured in any way, even if you mean well.”
“We were hardly?—”
“How do I know what you were doing? I have no idea who you are,” he talked over me. “For all I know, you could be trying to scam her, and I won’t have her taken advantage of.”
I blinked.What the hell?Trying to measure my response, I took a breath and replied calmly, “Chloetoldyou who I am. Sheknowsme. And she seemed perfectly able to decide for herself whether she wanted to see me or not. I appreciate that you’re protective. I would be exactly the same in your shoes. But whatever is wrong with Chloe, she was alert and in good spirits today. She knew exactly who I was—”She asked me to come, you arsehole. “—and we had a lovely walk down memory lane.”
Austin sneered, his eyes narrowing. “So, you’re an expert now on Chloe, are you? Well, for your information, she has Parkinson’s. Her brain and her memory are affected and it’s only getting worse. Some days she can seem almost okay, like today. But those days are getting fewer and farther between. Not long ago her neighbour called to tell me he’d seen her wandering down the street in her dressing gown. And it wasn’t the first time. I’ve had to go looking for her three or four times.”
“Why don’t you have her wear a locator?”
Austin ignored my question. “Regardless of what Chloe told you, sheisn’twell, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t contact her again. When her routine gets upset, it only makes things worse. It will take her days to recover from your visit.”
There was a lot I wanted to say to that, but I held my tongue. Our visit had rattled Austin for sure, but I wasn’t convinced that it was only due to concern for Chloe. Then again, maybe I was reading too much into it. Wouldn’t I feel exactly the same way in his position?
Austin continued, “With that in mind, I’d appreciate it if you left Chloe alone. Otherwise, I might need to involve the authorities. Do I make myself clear?”
Whoa. The authorities?Mads caught my eye through the driver’s window, his eyebrows in his hairline. So, it wasn’t just me.
I answered carefully. “You’ve made yourself more than clear.”Doesn’t mean I’m going to comply, dipshit.
Austin’s shoulders relaxed a little. “Good. Now, I’d appreciate it if you left. This driveway is private property.”
Call me stubborn, but I didn’t move or answer, simply held Austin’s gaze until his cheeks blazed and he spun on his heels and headed back to the house, slamming the front door behind him. Standing in the bay window, Chloe opened her hands in an apologetic what-can-you-do manner and blew me a kiss. I returned it without thinking, then settled myself in the passenger seat and breathed out a heavy sigh.
“What the hell stick is up his arse?” Mads glared past me to the townhouse. “What a jerk.”
