Page 56 of Home With You

She stares at me, her arms crossed. "You want more than that. You know you do. Saying you don't is a lie."

"Okay, yeah, I would like more than that. I'd like to take you out. Go on a date. But I'll take what I can get. And if all I can get is time with you in the alley—a few minutes, an hour—I'll take it."

"No." She turns and starts walking back.

"No?" I keep pace with her. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I don't want to see you anymore. I want you to leave me alone. No more dropping by. No more gifts. No more food. Just leave me alone." She stops when she reaches the alley. "Just go. And don't come back."

Those are her words but her eyes tell a different story. They tell me she wants me to stay. So why is she telling me to go?

I don't want to leave. Just being around her, even when she's mad at me, makes my damn day. Work was shit and I hated every second I spent there. The only thing keeping me going was knowing I was going to see Raine tonight.

"Miles," Gladys calls out.

I look behind Raine and see Gladys waving at me. I walk over to her.

"How was the mac and cheese?" I ask, noticing she already ate it all.

"Heavenly," she says in a dreamy tone, her hands clasped over her chest. "The best meal I've had in a long time. Probably not since George was alive."

"Was George your husband?" I ask, sitting beside her.

"Yes." She smiles. "My sweet George. My love. Oh, how I miss him."

"Tell me about him," I say, turning to her.

She smiles even more. "Where do I start? There's so much to tell."

"I've got time." I glance at Raine and see her walking toward me.

"He doesn't have time," she says to Gladys.

"And how would you know?" I ask.

"You have to work at night. That's why you're always at the coffee shop with your laptop."

I turn back to Gladys, lowering my voice. "Don't tell her, but I don't go to the coffee shop to work. I go to see a certain girl. Dark hair. Dark eyes. Menacing stare."

Gladys winks at me. "I think I know who you're talking about."

"Do you have any tips to get her to talk to me?"

"Real funny, Miles." Raine stands in front of me. "Just go. It's getting late and I'm sure you have law stuff to do."

"The law stuff can wait," I say, although it really can't. I open the sack of food. "Ham or three cheese?"

"What?" Raine asks, confused.

"That's what's left. I'll take whatever you don't want. Gladys had the bacon."

"Which was scrumptious," she says, clapping her hands together.

"I'm not hungry," Raine says, walking to the tent. She goes inside and zips it shut.

"Guess I'll have the ham," I say to Gladys, taking it out.

She leans over to me and lowers her voice. "Give her time. She's been through a lot."

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