Читать книгу Pretend I'm Yours - Jessa James - Страница 12

It’s late Monday afternoon as I pull my ancient Toyota Camry up behind my house. It’s the start of my weekend, as I am off Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

It’s been a remarkably long week at the library, with the (head boss) insisting that we become more efficient rather than hiring for the two empty positions we have. I spent the whole week just holding my breath and trying not to be noticed.

So as I get home and unlock my front door, I’m particularly glad to be here. Doubly so when I’m greeted by my menagerie.

“Hi!!” I sing to Morris, who happens to be the first to shove his nose under my hand. “Hi, guys!”

Zack pushes Morris out of the way, and Sadie crowds in too. I close the door and put my purse on its hook, then slide my flats off and into the corner.

“Who wants a treat?” I say.

Zack and Morris go nuts, which makes Sadie go crazy. I grin as I go through the living room and into the kitchen, making a beeline for the treat jar on the kitchen counter.

I make everyone sit, making sure to tap the floor with my commands so that Sadie gets to participate too. While the dogs are eating their treats, I pull out Muffin’s treat bag.

The mere sound of me opening it has Muffin rubbing against my legs, purring. I give her a treat, then rub her behind the ears as she chows down.

I head back into my living room, collapsing on the low couch. I pick a thread off of my bubblegum pink dress, sighing. It’s nice to be home.

I hear the door close with a muffled bang next door, I bite my lip. I’m so curious about what Charlie and Sarah have been up to in the past few days; I’ve barely seen or heard anything from them since they moved in.

I think about Charlie, with his oversized frame and piercing green eyes, and I get a chill. I don’t know exactly what it is about him that I find so intriguing. Maybe it’s his stoicism, or maybe it’s something about the way he looks at Sarah. Protective, but also a little disconnected emotionally.

Then there is the fact that a few of the rusting machines in the back yard keep turning up on the porch, cleaned and working anew. I can only guess that he’s the one behind it, but I’m not sure why.

I don’t know. But either way, it makes him a big puzzle that I can’t wait to put together. I’ve got to get the gist of him, so that I can find something else to worry about.

Standing up, I head into the kitchen. I’ve got a huge pitcher of sun tea that I’ve been steeping in the window since dawn.

If I were a really good neighbor, I would pop next door with that tea, I tell myself.

Peeling off my white cardigan, I grab the pitcher of tea and three plastic cups, then head next door. I take a deep breath as I stand in front of his door.

I can do this.

I knock. I hear Sarah running for the front door before Charlie opens it partway, so Sarah can’t get out. He squints out at me, a little confused.

“Yes?” he says.

“Hey,” I say, showcasing my pitcher of tea. “I just… I made some tea. I wanted to make sure you were settling in alright. You know, being neighborly.”

Sarah shrieks at the top of her lungs, and Charlie opens the door to let her see what’s going on.

“Laken!” she shouts. “Juice?”

“Yeah, it looks like she brought juice,” Charlie says, stepping back. “Come on in, Larkin.”

“Right,” I say, stepping inside. “Ooof.”

Sarah throws her entire body at my legs, hugging me. “Laken!”

I smile down at her, but Charlie carefully tries to disengage her.

“Come on, Sarah,” he says. “Come in the kitchen so Larkin can pour you some tea.”

He picks Sarah up, carrying her toward the kitchen. I close the door and follow him, and set the pitcher down on the kitchen counter. As I pour the tea, I look around.

“It’s a little eerie how similar my side of the house is,” I say.

Charlie glances at me, his brow furrowing a bit. He accepts a plastic cup from me, taking a sip before passing it to Sarah.

“Be careful,” he warns Sarah, who takes a big gulp and then sets the cup on the floor. Then silence stretches.

Silence makes me beyond nervous.

“So, um…” I say, swirling the tea around in the bottom of my cup. “Why did you two move here, again?”

He squints at me, and for a second I think he’s about to throw me out of his side of the house. Then he shrugs.

“We have family here,” he says.

I’m so curious about where they came from… and who they’re NOT bringing up… especially Sarah’s mom. I bite my bottom lip, hoping that he will give me a little more.

“Good juice,” Sarah says, pointing to her cup.

Charlie glances at her, smiling faintly. It’s the first time I’ve seen any kind of positive feeling from him, that’s for sure.

“So, you’re trying to… like, reconnect with your family?” I ask.

There’s that pause again, that furrowing of Charlie’s brow. “I guess so. Sarah’s never really spent any time around this side of the family.”

So that meant that she had spent time around the other side? My brain does gymnastics, trying to figure out what their story is.

Sarah tips the cup over on the floor, and makes a comically sad face. Charlie is already moving to grab a bunch of paper towels to wipe up the tea.

“Mine juice!” Sarah moans, grabbing the cup and managing to spread the tea around.

“Hold on,” Charlie says, squatting beside her and trying to sop up the mess.

“Come here, Sarah,” I say, beckoning her. “You can have some of mine, okay?”

Sarah drops her cup and runs the few steps to me, clasping her arms around my legs. “Fankku!”

I’m guessing that’s ‘thank you’ in two year old. “You’re welcome.”

I kneel down so I’m closer to her height, carefully allowing Sarah to have a few sips of my tea. I notice Charlie stealing glances at us as he cleans the last of the tea, then rises to throw the sodden paper towels away. I can’t decide if it’s good or bad that he doesn’t want to get caught looking openly.

I can see that he just wants to be left alone. If Sarah didn’t exist, maybe I would leave him be. But I have the sense that while Charlie wants to hide and be by himself, Sarah wants to meet new people and do new things.

I want to help her do those things. And the fact that her father is a sexy mystery man? Just a bonus, the cherry on top of the sundae.

There is nothing that I love more than a puzzle.

In order to bond more with Sarah and slowly find out more about Charlie though, I’m going to have to prolong this interaction. I need to ask him for a favor, have him do something.

My mind flashes to the cleaned and fixed machines from the backyard. The words are out of my mouth before I’ve really thought them through.

“Hey, would you look at my dishwasher?” I blurt out.

He gives me a look that is nearly disgruntled. “Your dishwasher?”

“Yeah,” I say, growing nervous. I can feel my palms start to sweat and my face start to heat. “I noticed that you cleaned and fixed up the machines in the back yard…”

I jerk my thumb over my shoulder, as if my explanation makes anything clearer.

His mouth turns down, but he doesn’t say no. “Yeah, all right.”

“Do you mind if I carry Ms. Sarah?” I say, turning to her. She starts chattering at me, her words mostly baby babble.

Charlie hesitates, then nods. “Okay.”

As I scoop Sarah up, I can’t help but feel like I’ve unknowingly passed some kind of test. Charlie doesn’t seem to trust or like many people, but he allows me to carry Sarah next door without issue.

I let us in through the stained glass front door, and Sarah is immediately delighted by my collection of animals. Morris and Zack are right at my feet, sniffing Sarah and Charlie carefully. The dogs seem enthusiastic enough, though, because they wag their tails after a second.

“Doggy!!” she squawks, reaching down to Zack and Morris’s curious noses. She looks at Charlie. “Daddy, doggy?”

Charlie looks to me, unsure. “Are they okay with a two year old?”

“Definitely. But just to be safe, I will hold Sarah the whole time,” I promise. Sadie presses her nose under my hand, and I pet her. “This is Sadie. She can’t see or hear. And that’s Morris, and that’s Zack. They’re all special needs.”

Sarah holds her hand out to Sadie, who sniffs her. Sarah lets out a peal of laughter, and snatches her hand back.

“So… about the dishwasher?” Charlie reminds me.

“Oh! Right. Come on through to the kitchen.”

I carry Sarah through the living room and around the U-shaped kitchen counter. I point to the dishwasher.

“Right there,” I say with a sigh. “I’ve been using it as a dish rack since I moved back here.”

Charlie looks at the dishwasher, which is probably at least as old as me. He crouches down with a frown, pulling the door open, and pulling the bottom rack out. I can’t help but notice how enormous he is when he’s next to the counter; he’s easily a head above the countertop, even crouched.

I bounce Sarah on my hip, trying to hold her carefully, but she doesn’t want to be held. She has figured out that Sadie will let Sarah pet her indefinitely, so she wants to be put down.

Charlie glances at us while he sticks his arm inside the dishwasher, pulling out several plastic pieces. I see the gears inside his head turning as he feels around in there.

“Ah,” he says, nodding. “Yeah, yours is broken. It’s a super cheap, simple fix. You’ll just have to order the part off of Amazon or wherever.”

“Want down!” Sarah insists, kicking her legs and banging her tiny fists on my chest and arm. “Doggy!!”

She’s turning red with the force of her sudden anger.

“You can let her down,” Charlie says, using his hand to indicate down. He stands up, dusting his hands off. “She’s about to have a meltdown otherwise.”

I put her down, and she goes tearing off after Morris, who is drinking from his water bowl on the other side of the kitchen. I am right there behind her, ready to defend her from the dogs. Luckily, though Sarah grabs Morris’s side hair, Morris just pants and tries to lick her.

“Your dogs are good with kids,” Charlie says. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Well, Sarah’s not the first kid they’ve met.” I lean down and pet Morris as I talk. “Zack and Morris are actually certified therapy dogs. I take them to the library sometimes, to listen to the kids read. It’s Sadie that I was worried about, even though she’s met kids a little older than Sarah and been fine.”

He nods, watching Sarah keenly.

“So you adopt dogs that need help?” he says, leaning on the kitchen counter.

“And cats! I have a cat around here somewhere, but she’s super shy.”

“I imagine Sadie needs a lot of your time,” he says, nodding to her.

“In the beginning, yes. I got Sadie when she was just a puppy, from a breeder that didn’t know what to do with her. But once Sadie got the commands down…” I pause, double tapping my foot on the floor. Sadie immediately sits. “Pet her, will you?” As I look on, Charlie affectionately rubs her behind the ears. I smile. “Anyway, now that she knows the signals, we live a pretty easy life. Don’t we?”

Zack has come over, jealous of the attention that Morris is getting from Sarah. Sarah is about as happy as any two year old can be, petting one dog with each hand and grinning.

I watch Charlie as he watches her, making note of their physical characteristics that are alike. Their cheekbones are similar, and their bright green eyes. I can’t help but wonder about the missing piece, the mother whose coloring Sarah so clearly has.

Sarah pats the dogs, happy. I see that Charlie is almost smiling again, his face smooth and free of the wrinkles that come from worry. I wonder if he realizes that he’s a thousand times more handsome when he’s almost happy.

I should know better than to find Charlie so attractive. I really should. On my part, I am supposed to be passing through Pacific Pines, fixing up my mom’s house and then getting out of here.

And Charlie… whatever strange problem he has that robbed him of his companion and left him a dark, withdrawn mess…

Yeah, I should want nothing to do with that. But I can’t help myself, I have to at least know why he and Sarah are here on their own.

“Do you mind if I ask a personal question?” I say. Charlie’s attention snaps to me and his frown returns.

“Depends,” he says, low enough that it’s almost a growl.

“Where is Sarah’s… M-O-M?” I say, spelling it for Sarah’s benefit.

Instantly his expression goes black. “We should be going.”

He sweeps Sarah off her feet, looking murderous. The answer to my question must be really bad, then. Charlie starts to leave, heading for the living room.

“See you later?” I ask, following them.

“Yeah,” he says, stalking to my front door.

He opens it, and then they’re gone, the door slamming behind them.

I lean against the living room wall, uncertain what exactly I’ve done.