Ibraced myself as I pushed the door open and stepped into the apartment for thefirst time by myself. “Yeah, I'm fine,” I muttered, peering across the livingroom and into the kitchen, not knowing exactly what I expected to see.
“Whathave you been up to?”
“Wentand saw Goose after work,” I said, closing the door. The sound seemed to echooff the walls. “Ate some wings and shot the shit for a while. What about you?”
Shesighed into the phone, a sad, lonely sound. “I just did some laundry and hungout with Jamie.”
“Hey,what does Jamie look like?” I asked, walking quickly to the bathroom.
“Um...” Andy hesitated, allowing several seconds to go by before answering,“She's, um ... Well, she's got dark eyes and hair and skin. Um, I mean, she's akid, so she looks like a kid, I guess.”
“Akid?” I narrowed my eyes as I stood in front of the toilet and unzipped mypants. “You hang out with kids?”
“She,um, she lives in the neighborhood and I've been babysitting her for a longtime. So, she's really attached to me.”
“Oh.”I nodded, trying to remember if she ever mentioned being a babysitter. “Okay.That's sweet.”
Andywas silent for a moment, until she asked, “Why do you ask?”
“Oh,Goose just mentioned tonight that he saw you at the bar a few weeks ago with afriend. So, I was just wondering—”
“Itold you, I bumped into an old friend after that show and I went out with herafterward. Remember?”
Therewas a hint of defensiveness in her tone that I found slightly irritating andcurious. But I took a deep breath and considered that maybe it was simplybecause I had forgotten something that she'd clearly told me.
“Oh,right,” I said, nodding to myself. “I forgot.”
“Iwent to Goose's place because it was the first bar I thought of. I wasn'thiding anything from you.”
Narrowingmy eyes at the frantic sound in her voice, I said, “Sweetheart, you don't haveto explain anything to me. I was just wonderin'.”
Shetook a deep breath and exhaled against the phone. “Okay. I'm sorry. It's just...” She sighed again. “It's just been a long day.”
“Tellme about it,” I muttered sympathetically. I felt my shoulders sag and relax asI left the bathroom and hurried past my father's room, foolishly afraid thatthe door could swing open at any second. I had never been afraid of ghosts, andI was never afraid when Andy was here. But now, I was absolutely petrified. “Imiss you.”
“Iknow, I miss you, too. But I'll see you tomorrow.”
“Willyou stay here tomorrow?”
Andywas quiet and I feared she'd say no. “Vinnie, I have stuff I really need to getdone here. I'll try to do as much as I can tonight, but I might have to stayhome tomorrow, too.”
Iclosed my door behind me and raked my fingers through my hair. I wouldn't begher and sound as weak as I felt. But dammit, I was slipping and the one personI had to hold onto wasn't here. She was only an hour away, but right now, thathour felt like an eternity.
“MaybeI should come and stay with you. You know, to christen your bed,” I threw in,keeping my tone coy and rough. Acting as though sex was my motive instead ofthe temptation to silence the little devil on my shoulder.
“Iwish,” she muttered. “My parents would kill me.”
Desperate,I groaned out of frustration. “Andy, you're like, thirty fuckin' years old.”
“Right.But I still live under my parents' roof. You can't tell me you don't understandthat.”
Idid understand it. And fuck, I missed my dad.
“No,I know.”
“I'msorry,” she added quietly, as if she knew.
“It'sall good, sweetheart.”
