My stomach does cartwheels.
It did occur to me that he might make the two-hour journey back from Indy, but I didn’t want to think on it too much. I’d convinced myself that I probably wouldn’t see him again this summer, even though I’m now staying.
He looks up slowly at the sound of my footsteps, his expression bleak as he watches me approach.
“Hi,” I say as I reach him.
His eyes have widened slightly, but other than that, his features remain unchanged.
“You’re still here,” he notes in a low voice, staring up at me with his flawed green eyes.
I nod, feeling as though his look has somehow entered my bloodstream, warming me up,wakingme up. It’s an effort to find my voice.
“I’m so sorry about your dad.” I offer up the peaches. “These are for him.”
He stares at the basket for a couple of seconds before reaching out and taking it from me. He does this unhurriedly, as though his brain is taking a while to instruct his limbs.
“Thank you,” he replies in a gruff voice, placing it on the doorstep behind him.
There’s an open bottle of beer at his side.
“Where’s Jonas?” I ask.
His temple twitches as he swipes the bottle. “I have no idea,” he mutters. “Somewhere out there.” He nods past me at the vast green fields and glugs down a few mouthfuls of his beer.
“And your mum?”
“Bed. She was up half the night.”
I hesitate before asking, “Do you want some company?” I’m reluctant to leave him like this.
He doesn’t answer, doesn’t nod or shake his head, but then his broad shoulders lift in a half shrug and he edges over a few inches.
I sit on the step beside him, feeling strangely wound up.The sky is mottled in shades of gray and white. It’s only seven o’clock—sunset is still about two hours away—but the thick cloud cover makes it seem later.
“Weren’t you supposed to fly home yesterday?” he asks.
“My boss said I could stay longer and work remotely.”
“You don’t have anything else to get back to?”
“My mum is in the UK, but she’s glad I’m staying.”
He glances at me, baffled by the admission.
“She’s not glad to see the back of me,” I clarify. “She wants me to take some more time for myself. I’ve just come out of a relationship.” I wasn’t planning on going into detail, but the more I say, the more I feel I have to explain.
Anders nods and lifts up his bottle to inspect the level of beer inside. “You want a beer?” he asks, getting to his feet and picking up the basket.
He’s wearing a petrol-blue T-shirt and his black jeans are dusty from where he’s been sitting on the step. My black dress will suffer the same fate.
“Sure.”
He exhales heavily as he opens the mesh screen door and lets it fall shut behind him with a clatter. I sit there nervously until he returns, passing me a beer and sitting back down. I resist the urge to knock my bottle against his out of habit. It’s not really the occasion for “cheers.”
“This is going to stress Jonas out even more, isn’t it?” I murmur empathetically.
He nods and swigs from his beer.
