Page 16 of When The Rain Falls

"Do you know CPR?" he asks.Jesus.

"No. Doyouknow CPR?"

"How about firearms? Do you own a firearm?" he quips back at me.

"You can frisk me and find out," I tease him.

No, Aimee! Bad girl.

"How much longer are you going to interrogate me?" I ask. "Because I just want to take the girls to the trampoline park." Ruby's mouth falls open at my comment. I don’t think she’s going to ask me to talk to her dad again anytime soon.

"Fine," he finally says and Ruby breathes out a sigh of relief.

"Fine, what? Fine like we can go? Or fine like you're coming after me with a small army of scary suburban dads where it’s pretty much all settled except for where you're going to hide my body?"

"You can take her." He sounds almost defeated.

Aimee: 1

Ruby’s dad: 0

"See how easy that was?" I tsk. "I'll text you a link to the waiver."

I hear a click and the call ends abruptly.

"Holy hell," I say as I stare back at the phone. "Ruby, your dad's a piece of work."

"Yeah," she mutters. "Welcome to my life."

This guy is Alicia’s neighbor? Like, her across the street neighbor? I’m going to stay as far away from this jerk as possible.

Finn

“Viv, I’m running across the street to get Ruby. Dinner in ten,” I call up the stairs as I step into my shoes. Without waiting for an answer, I slip out the door and make the trek across the street.

Ruby and Julie are back from the trampoline park. When I heard a car pull into Alicia's driveway followed by painfully shrill voices, I texted Ruby to come home for dinner. I could have opened the door and yelled across the street, but I didn’t want to deal with Julie’s witch of an aunt again.

As usual, Ruby never answered. So here I am, doing it the old fashioned, neighborly way. I’m trying to forget the conversation I had with Alicia's sister. The one where I asked if she knew CPR. I didn’t like her attitude. I tried to knock her down a peg or two and I'd failed. She matched me snark for snark.

My long strides make quick work of the walk across the street. We live in a nice neighborhood. The houses are dated, but decently sized, and every house on the street sits on at leasta third of an acre. It's the perfect combination of living in a community and having privacy.

When I knock on the door a tall man answers. Greg. A name brand polo shirt drapes his gangly frame. He's wearing pressed khakis. It looks like he's dressed for a game of golf, not lounging around the house.

"Hey, Finn,” he greets me eagerly. “Come in, I want you to try something.” He opens the door wide and waves me in.

"Is Ruby here? She isn't answering her phone."

"Oh yeah. Upstairs," he says dismissively. "But, come in first. You gotta tell me what you think of something."

"Vivian's waiting for me at home," I say, pretending to sound disappointed.

"It'll just take a minute," he promises. He ushers me in and I reluctantly follow. Persistent asshole.

We walk around a pile of delivery boxes stacked by the front door and through his living room. "Ignore the lawn. We have moles.” He gestures out the front window, drawing my attention to a pristine patch of green. I roll my eyes to his back. Humble brag.

Unlike the lawn, the kitchen is a mess. Baby bottles and cups litter every surface. There's an empty baby chair on the counter, full of clothes. Mail is stacked in what was once a neat pile, but is now a messy, toppled one. I feel myself getting twitchy with the need to straighten up the mail and stack dishes in the sink.

We stop in front of the dining table where there’s a circular plate with a rounded glass cover.

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