Page 74 of The Man Next Door
Broad daylight. We’re fine, she told them.
“Fireworks scared him?” Alec James guessed as they pulled away from the curb.
“Yes.”
“You should have sedated him.”
Unrequested advice a day late. “My mom didn’t want to.”
“It doesn’t really hurt them.”
“Oh, so you’re a vet in your spare time?” She sounded snotty. What was she doing talking snotty to Alec James? The last thing she wanted to do was antagonize a man with a temper like his.
He frowned and shut up. The silence in that small, enclosed space made her feel like fire ants were crawling under her skin. What was she doing riding around with him?
He was the first to break it. “Okay, was that what’s called mansplaining?”
Don’t make him mad.“Maybe a little. Man starting to ’splain.”
“Don’t mean to,” he said as they slowly turned a corner. “You’re probably not going to believe this, but I’m not a dog hater. And I wouldn’t ever kick your dog. I’ve never kicked a dog in my whole life. And I’ve had two of my own. You really need to train him though.”
“You did notice my mother’s cast, right?” The response escaped before her common sense could catch it.
He frowned. “Of course I did. But you’re there.”
“Barely. Right now, I’m working two jobs.”
“Yeah? Where?”
“I work at the department of licensing.”
“Where you stand in line until you die,” he cracked.
They were understaffed and overworked. She didn’t laugh.
“Doesn’t sound like a very fun job. What’s your other one?”
“Garage sales.” Okay, that sounded ridiculous. And why did she have to justify her lack of time to train Darling to this man? More to the point, why was she in this truck with him?
His lips lifted in a smile. “Garage sales are a job, huh?”
“They are when you’re looking for things to sell.”
“How come you’ve got to work two jobs?”
No way was she sharing her personal problems. “Why does anyone work two jobs?”
They rounded another corner. “To pay for stuff they shouldn’t have bought in the first place,” he said, his voice hardening.
She felt the shift away from friendly, but she couldn’t let that go. “You know, there’s usually more to people’s lives than you see on the surface.”
“Might be a good thing for you and your mom to remember.”
Was that a scold or a threat? The fire ants were scrambling, and the truck cab was closing in on Zona.
“Just drop me off here,” she said. “I’ll have better luck finding Darling if I’m on foot.”And feel safer.
“Yeah, right,” he scoffed.
