She looked at me, confused, and then down to her grandson. Shit. I shouldn’t have said anything. Now she probably thought Jagger was telling her business around town.
“Sorry, I should explain myself. Here, I’m Mr. Collins, but you might know me by my first name,” I explained. I knew Michael had told his parents that the new guy from down the street was watching Jagger while they couldn’t. He’d admitted they weren’t thrilled about the idea but had no choice but to trust him. “I’m Dax, the neighbor who’s watched Jagger while Michael was at work when you were sick.”
Justin choked on his coffee, and the man I assumed was Michael’s father slapped him on the back and asked if he was okay. Justin assured him that he was fine, but he narrowed his eyes on me, once again trying to fit the puzzle pieces together.
“Oh dear, you have no idea how thrilled I am to meet you,” she cooed. Just as she’d done to Justin, she reached up to my face and turned my head from one side to the other as if she’d find something that told her about my intentions if she looked hard enough. I felt my cheeks flush under her scrutiny. “You’ve been a godsend. It was so hard for me to be away from my boys, but Doug insisted I take some time to rest.”
“As well he should,” I said, earning a curt nod and smile from Michael’s father. “And honestly, it’s no hardship at all. It may have kept me from getting some renovations done on my house, but Jagger’s been helping with those.”
“I told Michael last night that he needed to invite you to dinner on Saturday,” she informed me.
I had no clue how to respond to that. As far as she was concerned, she was inviting the new friend who’d helped their family over for a meal to thank him, but that wasn’t at all how it felt to me. And I doubted Michael was comfortable with the idea, either. The two of us had far too much unspoken between us, and I knew from the little I’d heard about this woman that she’d sniff out the truth.
“I’ll have to check my calendar,” I told her. More kids started filing into the room, giving me the reprieve I so desperately needed.
Doug came over and quickly introduced himself. His assessing gaze felt more like a silent interrogation. I felt naked and exposed to everyone in the room, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
“We’ll talk later,” Justin said before excusing himself. And I had no doubt what we’d be talking about. Shit. Living in a small town could suck sometimes.
