Page 52 of Unbelonging
She stared at me like I was insane. "He's not homenow," she said. "For God's sake, it's a weekday." She made a sound of disgust. "Not everyone can be gallivanting around town during business hours, you know."
"Well, since I work nights, this is really the only time I can gallivant. So sorry if –" And then the full meaning of her words caught up with me. "Wait a minute. He's not even home?"
"Of course not," she said. "Some people have to work for a living, or did you conveniently forget that?"
"Then what areyoudoing here?" I asked.
"Meeting the electrician, not that it's any of your concern."
"I didn't say that it was."
"Then why'd you ask?"
I was still gripping the steering wheel. I didn't have to look at my hands to know that my knuckles were bone-white. But I couldn’t let that steering wheel go. If I did, I was in serious danger of popping her in the face.
"I give up," I said. "Just tell me what you want me to do, and I'll do it. You want me to park the car, and come up to the house, so you can tell me he's not home? Fine, I'll do it. Whatever."
"Don't be ridiculous," she said.
"Then what exactly is it that you want?" I asked.
"Do I really need to spell it out?" She rolled her eyes. "Alright, I guess I should be used to this by now." She put her hands on her hips and spoke very slowly. "Next time, it would be nice if you made at least a little effort. I mean, really, would it kill you to at least knock on the door, or maybe leave a note?"
She glanced at her watch. "You know what? I don’t have time for this."
Yeah, that made two of us.
"Next time," she continued, "try to think, will you?" And with that, she turned on her heel and marched back toward the house.
"Oh, I'm thinking alright," I muttered as I released my grip on the steering wheel and rolled up the car window.
My heart was hammering. I hated that it was hammering. I wasn't thirteen anymore. I was an adult, a college graduate. That woman had way too much power over me. I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted to bolt out of the car and bitch-slap the crazy right out of her.
It wouldn't get rid of the craziness, but would makemefeel better, at least until the police came.
There was only one problem. And that was Josh. Me, I was a big girl. If Loretta took out her crazy on me, maybe that was a good thing. Maybe there'd be a little less crazy flowing Josh's way. Fortunately, Loretta already liked him noticeably better than she'd ever liked me. But that wasn't saying much.
With a sigh, I threw the car into drive and pulled slowly out of the driveway.
When I pulled into the Parkers' driveway twenty minutes later, I saw a familiar figure sitting on the front steps.
Lawton.
Chapter 30
It had been less than a day since I'd last seen Lawton, but it felt like ages.
When I turned off the engine and pulled out the key, I realized my hands were trembling. Why exactly, I wasn't sure. Nervousness? Excitement? Fear? All of the above?
When I stepped out of the car and shut the door behind me, he slowly got to his feet, his hands in his pockets, and his gaze on me. Silently, he watched me approach, his eyes hollow and his face devoid of expression.
From somewhere inside the house, Chucky was alternating between frantic barks and long, drawn-out whines.
Yeah, I knew exactly how he felt.
Lawton gave me a hard look. "I need to know something."
"Hi to you too," I muttered.
