Page 67 of Houston, We Have a Problem
“Can you not be a detective for a minute and let me be happy?”
“Are you happy?”
“Yes.” Okay, well, even I didn’t believe that one, but I’m blaming my lack of confidence on my shoulder. And the fact that my dad is going to be loose again soon, which is dredging up old hurts and fears that I may end up like him. And I’m worried that things might be moving too fast with Darcy but I can’t stop this train now that I’m on it.
“Go outside, Duke,” Chad says after some kids shout something outside in front of the house. The dog trots offimmediately, slipping through his door and disappearing into the darkness of the backyard.
“That is the most well-behaved dog I have ever seen,” I mutter.
Chad chuckles. “If only people responded as easily. I know you don’t want me to do any digging, but people are complicated, Hou. Sometimes it helps to understand where they’re coming from.” The doorbell rings, and he grunts and gets up, grabbing the candy bowl on his way to the door. “Think about it.”
Instead of a chorus of little voices shouting, “Trick or treat!” after the door opens, only silence fills the living room until Chad says, “Oh.”
Not only does that catch my attention, but it pulls the others over too, and we all crowd together to get a glimpse of whoever’s at the door. I can barely see her behind Chad’s bulk, but she looks around Micah’s age, her features soft and delicate. She and Chad definitely know each other, though; they can’t take their eyes off one another.
“Hi,” the girl says quietly.
Chad folds his arms. “Where are the kids?”
Kids? There are kids involved in whatever this is? I glance at Brook, who shrugs before turning her attention back to the door.
“They’re with my aunt,” the girl says. “You left Laketown.”
“I didn’t see a reason to stay.”
“So you just left? Without saying anything?”
“You left first.”
“For two days! I came back.”
This?Thisis the girl Chad is pining over? But she has to be at least a decade younger than him. And if she has kids, that makes this a lot more complicated than Chad probably likes.He’s a simple man, and I always thought he would need a simple relationship and work his way up to the family part.
The girl’s eyes leave Chad’s face for the first time, and she turns bright red when she sees all of us watching.
Chad doesn’t even give us a glance. Stepping out onto the porch, he shuts the door behind him and cuts us off from the rest of the conversation.
“I’m going to the window,” Micah says, but Fischer and I both hold her back.
“I think Chad needs to do this on his own,” I say, surprised by my own self-control. I’m dying of curiosity, just like everyone else.
“Uh, who’s ready to carve pumpkins?” Jordan asks, though I’m pretty sure he is tempted to sneak upstairs and open the window in the hall bathroom so he can listen in on all the drama happening on the porch. He can rarely resist a bit of intrigue.
We all shuffle to the table and start picking out pumpkins from the box in the corner of the dining room. We’re all being exceptionally quiet as if we might hear some of Chad’s conversation. Even Darcy has picked up on the fact that Chad in a new relationship is a big deal, so she’s silent along with the rest of us. I give her a look that says I’ll explain later, and she replies with a smile and a shrug.
Fischer clears his throat, clearly reluctant to break the silence even though he’s probably the least interested in what is happening outside. “Should I grab a—”
“Shh!” Micah hisses and claps her hand over his mouth.
He pulls away. “It’s not like we can hear anything. And we need somewhere to put all the seeds.”
“You’re hopeless,” Micah says with a huff, and they shift into a glaring contest that Fischer is definitively winning. Micah keeps turning redder the longer they stare at each other.
I’m the first one to crack, my laugh escaping in a snort that breaks Brook’s resolve, and then all of us are busting up because this whole thing is ridiculous. Fischer’s right, and we can’t hear a thing outside because Chad would never let us overhear a conversation like this one.
“I’ll grab a bowl,” Brook says to Fischer, and then we dive into carving.
“There’s going to be a contest,” I tell Darcy as I spin my pumpkin, deciding which side has the optimal carving space.
