Page 21 of Whistle
“I’m sorry?”
“I know my wife gave you the cold shoulder yesterday. Not very neighborly and I wanted to try to patch things up.”
“It was nothing,” Annie said, and then motioning up the steps, said, “Why don’t you come in.”
It took him a moment to climb them. “My knees aren’t what they once were,” he said. When Annie held open the front door for him, he didn’t move and looked dubious about crossing the threshold.
“Why don’t we just sit out here?” he suggested. “Shame not to enjoy the lovely weather.”
“Sure.” She waved a hand toward the wicker chairs.
Daniel delicately set himself into one and Annie dropped into the other. She twisted the cap off the cold bottle in her hand and took a swig.
“So you do like a beer,” Daniel said, grinning, exposing a couple of brown teeth.
“I do indeed,” she said. “And it’s hot enough out to appreciate one.”
“A local brewery. About ten miles from here.”
“Charlie, why don’t you find something to do while I chat with Mr. Patten here.”
“Daniel,” he said. “You can call me Daniel, young man.”
Charlie didn’t look offended in the slightest to be dismissed, but he had a question for Annie before departing. “Can we look for a bike later?”
“We’ll talk about that.”
“You could try Jake’s Hardware in town. They sometimes have bikes,” Daniel said.
“We’ll talk,” Annie said again. Charlie got the message, and vanished.
Daniel said, “Dolores—that’s my missus—isn’t much for socializing. She came in, looked a titch flustered, and then I looked out and saw that you folks had moved in.”
Flustered? Annie didn’t see why saying hello would unsettle anyone. Had she given off some kind of New York vibe that rubbed this man’s wife the wrong way? If so, she couldn’t imagine what it was.
Daniel said, “She’s really more of a homebody. Likes to keep to herself. Doesn’t mean any offense by it. Just the way she is, the way she’s been for some time now. And she moves even slower than me some days and doesn’t like to cross the road. So, what brings you here? You moving in?” He chuckled to himself. “Dumb question.”
Annie explained it was probably only for the summer. “It’s been... kind of a stressful year and I wanted a break from the city for Charlie and myself. We live in Lower Manhattan. The West Village, if you know it.”
“Can’t say that I do. Never been to the Big Apple.”
It always amazed Annie that there were people who had never been to New York City, but then, wasn’t that just what a self-absorbed New Yorker would think?
“So,” Daniel said cautiously, “it’s just you and your boy.”
“My husband passed,” she said.
His face fell in genuine sympathy. He had his own beer open and took a drink, wiped this mouth with the back of his hand. “That’s a shame. I’m so sorry. So, recently, then.”
“Yes.”
“He’d been sick?”
Annie slowly shook her head. “No,” she said simply.
They were both quiet for a moment. Finally, Daniel asked, “What sort of work did he do?”
“He was an animator. You know, like cartoons.” She guessed what he was thinking. Her husband was the provider. He wasn’t going to ask what she did, because she was a woman and was content to run a household. She thought about telling him what she did,then decided she didn’t need to make a point with this man. He seemed nice enough.
