"You're new in town, aren't you?" he asks.
I nod, try to smile, desperate to be done with this game. "I'm the new librarian at the elementary school. Are you a parent?"
He chuckles. "No. No kids in school. I just…I've seen you around town. Welcome to Roseville."
"Thank you," I offer. He looks at me like he wants to say more, and I get a feeling that I know him somehow. Cass isgiving him the hairy eyeball. "Have we met before? You look sort of familiar."
"Don't think so, but I get that a lot. I just have one of those faces. You settling in okay? Old house on Maple Street, right?"
I'm surprised but not alarmed. At least ninety percent of the town knows I bought that old house. Plus, this guy's vibe couldn't alarm my grandma's old dog Petey, and that dog was afraid of everything. "That's right."
"You doing okay out there? That house has been empty a while."
Ninety percent of the town talks about that too, but it doesn't bother me. "It's a bit of a project, but I'm managing. A friend's been helping me fix it up."
He nods. "That's good. Good to have somebody looking out for you. Small town's safe, but you can never be too careful. You lock your doors at night?"
"She's careful," Cass answers with a snap in her voice.
He seems to notice her for the first time and finds himself, taking a step back. "'Course. Well, good to meet you. I'm--"
The man's gaze shifts behind me, and whatever he sees pales him. I turn to find Grey storming in our direction. He doesn't stop until he's put me behind him.
"Everything okay here?" he asks darkly.
Some assessment hangs between them, like they're sizing each other up.
"Just being neighborly. Welcome wagon and all that."
"I don't recognize you."
I don't know exactly what's happening between them, but they seem to be having an entirely different conversation. Grey is tense, intense. The man is softer, calmer, but not backing down.
I hold up the water bottle, hoping I can break up whatever this is. "He was just returning my water bottle--"
Grey's eyes stay trained on the man, "Appreciate it, sir."
The man nods, but catches my eyes once more. "You take care now. Lock those doors."
Grey watches him walk away like he's looking for a reason to running the guy down.
"Well…that was nice of him," I offer weakly.
"You've never seen him before?"
"I don't know…he's familiar to me, but I can't place him. Small town, right?"
But Grey's still staring after him. I don't know what to say. When he finally looks at me, I know instantly that whatever was wrong before is now much, much worse. And then he utters the single worst sentence in the human language.
"We need to talk."
I feel the weight of that sentence down to my toes. "Okay."
"But not here. Meet you at your house?"
"Okay." My throat is in a vise as I watch him walk away.
And just like that, I understand something else. All the stares, all the talking.
