Oh right. The cat.
The black cat is standing at my feet, looking up at me. See, no good deed goes unpunished. I was just trying to be a nice person and feed a hungry cat, and now I’ve got a houseguest I don’t want. I need this cat out of my house.Now.
But at least this feels manageable. First thing, I need to get rid of the cat. Then I need to deal with my car. Then I need to call a company to put alarms on all my doors. And cameras. Actually, maybe that one should be first. But getting rid of the cat feels like something I can do right now, instead of waiting until business hours.
“Okay,” I say to the cat. “It’s time to go outside.”
The cat just looks at me. Damn it.
I’m trying to figure out how to coax this cat out of my house when I hear the doorbell ring. I look down at my watch—it’s nearly nine o’clock. Who could be ringing my doorbell this late?
Oh God, is it the police again? Did they find some other piece of evidence linking me to the murders? I’ve got to put Patricia on speed dial.
I hurry over to the front door and check the peephole. I take a step back when I see who’s standing there. It’sBrady. What the hell? I was certain I was never going to see him again. I undo the deadbolt and crack open the door.
“Hey, Nora.” His mild brown eyes meet mine for a moment, then he looks away. “How are you doing?”
“Been better.” I tug at the collar of my scrub top, wishing I were wearing something more attractive. “What are you doing here?”
He holds up a key. “I got your car fixed.”
“You did?” I look over his shoulder, and sure enough, there is my Camry, parked on the street. I want to kiss his feet. “Thank yousomuch. You didn’t have to…”
He shrugs. “No worries. I had the time to do it today, so…”
I wait for him to smile at me and ask to come inside, but he’s surprisingly flat. “How much do I owe you?”
He doesn’t hesitate: “Seven-hundred-fifty dollars.”
“Let me get my checkbook.” I pause with my hand on the door. “Do you want to come in or…?”
He shuffles between his sneakers. “I… I think I’ll just stay out here.”
“Right. Of course.”
It’s a slap in the face, after the way he’s acted around me before, but I try not to show it. I understand how he must be feeling. This is why I was always too scared to tell anybody about who I really am. If I stayed in a relationship long enough, I would have to tell the other person the truth. And then they would start looking at me the way he’s looking at me now.
I fetch my checkbook and write out a check for him. It occurs to me as I’m scribbling down my signature that this might very well be the last time I ever see him. I’m never going back to Christopher’s. And I have a feeling he’s not coming back here either. And the thought of that… It makes me sadder than I could have imagined. I wish…
Well, there’s nothing I could have done differently. My life is what it is. But I wish sometimes that I had a different life. Different parents. That I were a different sort of person. Somebody who could have spent years curled up on the couch with Brady, watching scary movies, because it’sfunand not because I’m a sociopath who needs therapy. I wish I were the sort of person who could’ve spent the night at his place just one freaking time.
I return to the door with the check. I hold it out to him. “Here you go. Thanks again.”
He grabs the slip of paper from me, and his fingertips brush slightly against mine. My fingers tingle at his touch. We linger there for a moment, staring at each other. Brady and I have a connection. He knows it as well as I do. I don’t want this to be the last time I ever see him. I really, really don’t.
“Nora.” His voice cracks slightly. “Look, I can’t do this. I can’t be involved with… I mean, my daughter—”
“No, it’s fine.”
“I’m sorry…”
“I said it’sfine.”
Except it’s not fine. I don’t know why this rejection hurts so damn much. I rejected him first. I’m the one who ran out of his apartment twice.
I clear my throat. “Do you need a ride? I mean, I’m assuming you drove here in my car.”
“I already called for a ride.” He jerks his head at a white SUV that’s just pulled up on the curb. “So I’m going to take off.”
