Settling me on my feet, he leans back and looks me over once more. “You’ll have to make time to come to my house for dinner. I’m sure Joe would like to see you.”
“Joe?” I ask, and his face softens further.
“Joanne’s my wife… A lot has changed since you’ve been gone.”
“You got married?” I’m not able to hide the disbelief in my tone. Paul was always single; even my dad said he would never get married, never settle down.
“Married and got a boy and three girls.” He grins, causing the beard covering his face to shift. “Den, come over here, boy,” he calls, and the young kid I saw out the window earlier saunters over, wearing dark jeans, a thin vest open wide, showing off a tight black Henley that accentuates his muscular teenage boy body. “Den, this is Shelby, Hunter’s mom.” He pats his son’s shoulder and I smile, thinking that even for probably fourteen or fifteen, he’s handsome with a strong jaw, full lips, dark hair, and brown eyes.
“Nice to meet you.” He smiles, showing off a dimple, and I smile back then look over at Aubrey, but find her eyes to the ground and her cheeks pink.
Hmm.
“So you met my son?” I question, and Paul nods.
“I did. You got a good boy,” he compliments.
“I really do,” I agree glancing at Hunter, watching him smile and his eyes light in a way I don’t see often enough, but want to see much more.
“And you’re back with Zach. Funny world we live in, don’t ya think?” My head swings back towards him and my heart rate kicks into overdrive.
“N-no, I’m not with Zach.” He scans my face and his smile turns into a grin as his eyes move over my head for a moment before coming back to me once more dancing.
“Whatever, I’m just glad you’re back.”
Letting out a long breath, I repeat, “Me too.” Silently wondering why my stomach feels the way it does.
“Zach has my cell.” He steps back, pulling a set of keys from his pocket. “Get it from him and we’ll make plans for you all to come over to dinner one night. I live in a nuthouse surrounded by mostly women, but it’s clean and smells good. Plus, they’re always cooking something that nine times out of ten taste good, so I can’t complain too much.”
I smile at that. My dad would love knowing his friend is married with girls. He would definitely think it’s some kind of karma for the way Paul used to get around.
“I will definitely call and set something up,” I agree, giving him one more smile.
“We better go before the bear wakes. We’ll catch up soon.” He lifts his chin to someone behind me then turns away, taking a step back I watch him and the boys start to load into the truck then turn to look for Aubrey coming face to face with Zach.
“We’ll be back soon,” His eyes drop the length of my body and his voice softens. “Get inside, baby, and take care of my girl.”
“Don’t call me baby.” I narrow my eyes, watching his lips twitch before he pulls his gaze from mine. “Stay with Shel, gorgeous.”
“I will, Dad,” Aubrey agrees, as I feel his fingers slide over mine briefly before he turns and starts to walk away.
“Make sure the boys stay away from that Bear Zach Watters.” I call out to his back as he heads for the truck.
“Will do baby.” He mutters back without looking at me and I huff in annoyance hearing Aubrey giggle behind me.
Turning I smile at Aubrey wrap my arm around her shoulders and lead her towards my house. As soon as we reach the steps and I know no one can hear us, I dip my face to her ear, and whisper, “Den is super cute.”
“I know,” she w
hispers back, and with that, I open the door, smiling at my feet, then get to work cleaning up the mess the bear left behind.
“Mom!” Hunter yells into the house, before the front door closes loudly and the sound of his feet hit the hardwood in the hall.
“In the kitchen!” I yell back, tying up the garbage bag Aubrey and I filled with smashed dishes from the table and opened boxes of food from the cupboards. Zach was right; the house wasn’t too bad considering there was a bear in it. Most of the damage was in the kitchen, where the bear decided to have the breakfast we left on the table before going through the cupboards, where it had obviously smelled food.
“Aubrey, your dad said to tell you him and Steven are home,” Hunter says, coming into the kitchen.
“Okay,” she replies, then looks at me. “Do you want me to help you with anything else before I go?”
“No, honey.” I smile, handing over the garbage bag to Hunter so he can take it out the back door to dumpster at the back of the house. “Thanks for helping me with everything.”
“It was fun.” She smiles and makes her way over to the sink to wash her hands.
“Well, next time, I say we do something a little more fun when we hang out, like make cookies or bake a cake.”
“Really?” she breathes, as her hands pause under the water and her eyes lock on mine.
“Absolutely,” I reply softly, studying her. Wondering why she seems so surprised. “I really enjoyed spending time with you today.”
“Me too.” She takes her eyes from mine then turns off the sink and ducks her head as she moves past me toward the front door. I don’t know what’s wrong, but something about her reaction isn’t sitting well with me.
“Aubrey,” I call gently, while I watch as she shoves her feet into her sneakers that she had taken off before we mopped.
“Yeah?” she answers to the floor. I feel myself frown, not sure what to do, because it seems like she’s trying to get away from me as quickly as possible.
“Thanks again, honey.”
“Sure.” She stands, opens the door, and steps out onto the porch without looking at me. When she’s down the front steps, I bite my lip then call her name again. Her eyes come to me, and the pain I see there makes my stomach hurt.