Page 45 of River Wild

This guy is all bark and no bite.

I’ve seen this from him tonight.

He heads for the front door.

He stops when I speak, “You know … I actually think you’re a nice guy, not the jerk you like people to think you are.”

The look he gives me could freeze the whole of Texas. Which would be quite nice in the current climate.

“I’m not nice, Red.”

“If you say so,” I say airily. “But I’ll think what I think, and I think you’re nice.”

“I don’t know how I’ll ever get over it,” he says dryly.

Then, he’s out the front door, shutting it behind him, and I’m laughing to myself.

For the first time in a really long time, I’m actually laughing.

And the shocker is, it’s because of my grumpy neighbor.