I see you, though.
I wished I could stop thinking about him, but it was a losing battle. When I got home, I entered through the back door, and the house was quiet. Like usual, I dropped my bag on the floor, pulled a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. I downed a gulp when I heard a voice from the living room say, “There are two sides to every story.”
“Be that as it may, your mother is a lovely woman, and she doesn’t deserve to be spoken to that way.” This sounded like Irene.
I frowned and put the glass down. When I walked into the living room, Irene sat next to Sylvia, who was in her wheelchair. Noah sat on the armchair by the window, facing them both, a mocking slant to his mouth as he leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. The TV was off, so the room was completely silent. I looked from Noah to Irene, the tension unmistakable.
“Ah, you’re home. Good. I’ve been waiting for you,” Noah said as he stood and moved toward me.
Before I could react, he took my hand and pulled me into the hallway. I didn’t allow myself a single moment to contemplate the feel of his palm against mine as I yanked my hand from his grasp. “What are you doing?”
“Taking you out.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You’d rather stick around here?”
“I’d rather you tell me what was going on in there between you and Irene.”
“A difference of opinion. Nothing to concern yourself with. Come with me.”
I studied him a moment, suspicious. “Come with you where?”
“I need to see a man about a dog.”
I folded my arms. “And why do you need me there?”
He hesitated. “For appearances.”
I frowned, not getting him at all. In fact, Noah said a lot of things I didn’t get. “Fat chance. I have homework.”
When I turned to walk back down the hall, he caught me by the elbow. “Now, now, don’t be so hasty. What if I paid you?”
This was getting weirder and weirder, but … well, money was something I was always in need of. “How much?”
“A fiver.”
“Twenty.”
He smirked at my highball offer. “Fifteen.”
I sighed. “Okay. Just let me go change out of my uniform first.”
I made it one step before he pulled me back. “No. Keep it on.”
I was about to tell him how odd he was being but instead shook my head and played along. “Fine.”
When we got outside, he pulled the keys to Veronica’s car from his pocket.
“Vee will be mad when she sees you took her car.”
“My sister just finished polishing off a bottle of vodka. She’ll be staring into the abyss for the next hour or two at least,” he replied.
I eyed him speculatively as he approached the passenger side, opened the door and gestured for me to get in. I walked around him, lowered myself into the seat, then asked, “Doesn’t it concern you?”
“Doesn’t what concern me?”
“That your sister is a day drinker.”
He cast me a quick side glance. “She’s a night drinker, too.” At this, he slammed the door shut and walked around to the driver’s side.
I narrowed my gaze at him, my lips firming at he lowered himself into the seat next to me. “You should be more worried about her.”
“Who says I’m not?”
“You don’t seem like you are,” I said just as a memory of yesterday entered my head. I remembered how he’d looked standing in the kitchen after his argument with Vee about her weight. He’d seemed sad, regretful of how he’d gone about things. Maybe I was being too harsh on him. After all, it wasn’t like I’d done a whole lot to stop Vee’s drinking either. She hadn’t done much to warrant my help, sure, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t give it. After all, the Bible taught me it was more blessed to give than to receive.
Noah cast me a side glance. “What are you thinking about?”
“I was just wondering why Vee never mentioned you. I didn’t even know she had a brother until the day before you arrived,” I said. It wasn’t what I’d been thinking, but I suspected Noah wouldn’t appreciate me quoting the Bible at him.
His hands flexed on the steering wheel. “That’s because I’m the dark horse of the family.”
“I still think you would’ve gotten a mention. At least once.”
“It’s easier to pretend I never existed,” he said, and I frowned, watching as he slotted the key in, the engine humming to life as he put it in first and pulled out of the driveway. The house was on Bowery Street, which ran along the coast. There was an old Victorian stairway that allowed you to bypass the road and go directly to the other side, where you could climb down some stone steps to the beach.