Page 110 of Forced Proximity
The exasperation and anger in Dru’s voice didn’t surprise me.
All that Dru had shared about her sister hadn’t been good.
It was hours later when they finally released the house back to me.
It was pretty cut and dry, seeing as I had the whole thing on video.
The hardest part of the entire day was dealing with Dru’s parents.
Romeo had taken it okay, despite the fact that he was stuck in a prison with no way to comfort his family.
Dru’s parents, however, had lost their absolute shit, crying about their “baby” being dead and “how were they supposed to go on without her.”
They had conveniently forgotten that Dru was still here, very much alive, and hadn’t caused them a lick of trouble.
Needless to say, we’d left them after hearing fifteen minutes of non-stop crying about their lives being over.
We’d gone to see Romeo right after, and by the time we were done with Romeo, they’d called to tell us we were allowed to use the front door again.
I’d had cleaners come, and the entire front walk was scrubbed down almost completely. The only hint of something having happened there was the permanent reminder in our brains.
“There’s a man on your front porch,” Dru murmured as we pulled into my driveway.
I groaned. “That’s Mr. Worth, the resident HOA president. I’m sure he’s going to fine me for what happened earlier.”
“I don’t think that a double murder and suicide is in your HOA bylaws,” Dru joked.
I winked at her, happy that she was in a better mood than when we left.
“I don’t think so either,” I admitted.
“While you deal with him,” she murmured, “I really want to get a good look at all these Christmas lights that are up. I’m going to go for a little walk. You can catch up when you’re done with that.”
She referenced Mr. Worth with a sweep of her hand, and I grumbled, “I’ll catch up.”
She left, sending Mr. Worth a surreptitious look as she moved down the length of the driveway.
He said something to her, but she only smiled and kept walking.
I waited until Mr. Worth joined me at the entrance front walk before I said, “What can I help you with?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and said, “I’m sorry to hear what happened with those three people this morning.”
That surprised me. I for sure thought he was about to rip me a new asshole.
“I am, too,” I replied honestly.
He smiled. “I would like to thank you, too.”
My brows literally hit my hairline. “What?”
“You broke the norm.” He gestured toward the decorations in my yard. The huge Yeti had blown over at some point, but the rest of it was lookin’ pretty good. “And now everyone has a lot of Christmas cheer.” He cleared his throat. “My wife would’ve been upset with me about how I was policing this subdivision. She loved Christmas and would’ve adored your yard.”
I smiled. “Sounds like you had a good one.”
“I did.” He hugged himself. “I miss her something crazy.” He looked down the street where we could see Dru bouncing in the street as she checked out everyone’s Christmas lights. “Don’t let her go.”
I had no plan to. “I won’t.”
