“See you soon,” June says, then gets out of my truck and shuts the door. I watch her as she walks past two houses, then turns into her own driveway, and I can’t help feeling deeply wrong at not walking her to her front door.
I watch her until she’s inside, and then I turn around and go back home.Chapter NineteenJuneThere’s no one in the living room when I enter my parents’ house, and I breathe a sigh of relief. To be honest, my mom didn’t sound at all convinced when I told her that I’d decided to take a long walk by myself very early this morning, and I had visions of her and my dad, waiting just inside the door, ready to start shouting questions the moment I came in.
But instead there’s no one here, just the sound of running water and dishes clinking together from the kitchen.
I might actually get away with this.
For the record, my parents are very accepting of the fact that I’m an adult who does adult things sometimes, but it’s a very don’t ask, don’t tell situation. Besides, I really can’t fathom telling them hey, Levi Loveless came by at twelve-thirty last night and offered to seduce me, so I’ve been over there, what are your weekend plans like?
I shut the door softly behind myself. I tread quietly across the living room, heading for the staircase. If I’m quiet enough, I think I can get upstairs without alerting my parents in the kitchen, which means I can change and get a little breathing room before I have to explain—
“How was your walk?” a voice asks.
I stop cold in my tracks. It’s not one of my parents.
It’s Silas, the very last person in the world I’d like to talk about my ‘walk’ right now.
“June?” he says, something clanking in the kitchen sink.
I give the stairs one last longing look, then turn to the kitchen doorway.
“It was great!” I say. “Finally starting to cool off a little in the morning.”
“Where’d you go?” he asks, pulling out the sprayer and dousing the skillet he’s just finished washing.
I clear my throat and walk into the kitchen, open the fridge door to give myself a few extra seconds.
“Just down to Fox Run,” I say. “I couldn’t sleep very well, so I went down there and read for a while, then headed back.”
I remember I don’t have a book with me.
“On my phone. I’ve got some books on my phone, it’s very convenient,” I say, and finally grab the creamer from the fridge. “Is there any coffee left?”
“Nah, but you can make some more,” he says, and shuts off the water, carefully balancing the skillet atop an impressive mound of other pots and pans in the drying rack. “I’ll take some if you do.”
“Will you?” I deadpan. “Is that why you’re still here, just so I’ll make some more coffee?”
“Yeah, I decided it was easier to wash all the breakfast dishes and wait for you to get back instead of just making more coffee myself,” he says, wiping his hands with a dish towel and then leaning back against the sink.
“Suspected as much,” I say, and reach into the cabinet for the filters and the coffee. I put a new filter in the machine, eyeball the amount of grounds — not to brag, but I’m very good at that — and then when I go to fill the pot with water, I realize Silas is still just watching me.
“What?” I ask, defensive, unnerved. My hand tightens on the handle of the pot.
He knows, I think to myself. I have no idea how but he does and it hasn’t been a day but I’m already ruining their relationship.
“Are you all right?” he asks, his voice suddenly gentle.
“What?” I finally answer, too surprised to say anything else.
“Look, I’m not trying to pry or anything, but you’ve been acting different lately,” he says, arms folded over his chest as he looks away, toward the kitchen table. “I know that between the breakup and the job hunt and how much you always hated it here, you’ve been having a hard time. I got kind of worried when Mom said you’d gone on a walk this morning.”
I swallow hard, guilt settling deep in the pit of my stomach.
“I’m fine,” I say, shaking my head and shutting off the water. “I mean, yeah, things have been kind of rough lately but I’m really fine, I just wanted to go for a walk, get out of the house, go be by myself for a little while.”
I’m pretty sure I’m blushing, and I definitely can’t bring myself to look Silas in the eye right now, so I turn away from him and pour the water into the coffee maker.
Behind me, he takes a deep breath, clears his throat.
“You know you can always talk to me,” he says.