The Apple Tree (Sunday Morning #2)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

JODY WATLEY, “LOOKING FOR A NEW LOVE”

Eve

“Hey, Josh,” I said, peeking my head into his bedroom as he played with his Matchbox cars on the floor. The walls were pink and white polka dot wallpaper from the previous owner, but Josh had a gray bedspread with blue race cars and a stuffed koala by his pillow.

“You can have the yellow Corvette.” He held up the car.

I smiled and sat cross-legged beside him. He was adorable.

“Do you know where you lived before here?”

He made duck lips for a second. “In a house.”

I laughed at myself for asking the question. Josh was five, and his answer was age appropriate.

“Was it just you and your dad, or did anyone else live with you?” I drove the car behind his, and he giggled when I drove over his car.

“Me and Dad,” he said, focusing on the cars he drove up the ramp made from books.

“Will you be in kindergarten?”

He nodded.

I stopped asking questions and played cars with him for half an hour before calling my mom from the kitchen phone.

“If you want to check up on me, then you should come soon because Josh will be brushing his teeth in thirty minutes, then I’m reading him bedtime stories. If you show up later than that, you could wake him.”

Or catch me getting into Erin’s car at the end of the drive.

“I don’t have to come over. I trust you,” she said.

“You do? I mean, thanks. There’s no reason not to trust me.”

“Did Kyle think he’d be out past ten?” she asked.

“He said somewhere between ten and eleven. I said that’s fine since it’s a short walk home, and I don’t have to be at work until nine tomorrow.” I played it super cool.

“Okay, call me if you need anything. I think I’m going to take a hot bath. I’ve had a slight headache all day,” she said.

“Well, I hope the bath helps.”

“Me too. Bye, hun.”

I hung up the phone for two seconds before picking it up again and calling Erin.

“Hello?” her mom answered.

“Hi. Is Erin there?”

“Oh, hi, Eve. Yes, I’ll get her.”

A few seconds later, Erin picked up. “Hey.”

“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to call you since yesterday. You have to come get me at eight fifteen. Pick me up at the end of the Tallmans’ driveway.”

“I thought you were grounded.”

“I am. But the guy who bought the Tallmans’ house has a five-year-old son, and I’m sort of babysitting tonight, but my parents don’t think I’ll be home until ten or eleven, and Kyle, the dad, will be back at eight. And oh my gosh, Erin! I have so much to tell you.”

“I can’t go out tonight. We were visiting my grandparents yesterday and we just got home a few hours ago, but I have a sore throat and a fever, so there’s no way my mom’s letting me leave.”

“Nooo. Are you being serious? Ugh! I’m so desperate to go out. My parents watch my every move, but tonight, I have a decoy.”

“Sorry. Call Nicole.”

I frowned because I didn’t want to go out with Nicole. All she ever wanted to do was eat at McDonald’s and shop at Claire’s for earrings. And I didn’t have my ears pierced.

“It’s fine,” I grumbled in a less-than-fine tone. “Sorry you’re not feeling well. Get better, and I’ll call you tomorrow to tell you everything .”

“Tell me now.”

“No. I have to get Josh ready for bed.”

“Fine. Tomorrow. See ya.” She hung up, and I jogged up the stairs.

“Josh, time to brush your teeth.”

He made up for the clogged toilet incident by getting ready for bed without dilly-dallying or uttering a single complaint. I probably could have learned a few things from him.

By the time I got halfway through one book, he was asleep. I shut off the light and partially closed his door. Feeling extra snoopy, I tiptoed into Kyle’s bedroom, but before I could find the light switch, I heard a door creak, so I hurried down the stairs, composing myself while turning the corner into the kitchen.

“Hey,” I said with my hands folded behind my back, going for the most innocent pose I could find. “You know, there are brown bears here in southern Missouri. You must be careful hanging out alone at night by the creek.”

“I wasn’t alone.” He set his blanket and flashlight on the counter and deposited his empty beer cans into the sink.

“Oh?”

“I was with my friends, Smith she said it was because he was a grump. I guess we know what this says about you.”

“That I have normal tastebuds?” He spat out the apple and chucked the rest of it behind us like a baseball.

“Josh loved my applesauce. Granted, I put a little cinnamon and sugar on it, but it was still tart, and he gobbled it up because he’s so sweet.”

“ Respectfully ,” Kyle said, “your grandma’s theory is flawed.”

I moseyed toward the fence, savoring every bite of the apple. Then I held it with my teeth and climbed the wood rails, straddling the top one. “Nothing about my grandma is flawed.”

His eyes widened as I ate the entire apple core.

“Why all the guns? Do you hunt?”

Kyle rested his arms on the rail in front of me. “Yes. But I like bow hunting best.”

“What about fishing? I like to fish.”

He nodded. “I have a fishing boat in the barn. Josh loves fishing.”

“I asked Josh where you lived before you moved here, but he just said you lived in a house.”

Kyle laughed. “He’s not wrong. We lived in Crested Butte, Colorado.”

“Why did you move?”

He gazed at my house. “We needed a change, but I still wanted to live in a small town, so when my brother suggested Devil’s Head, and there happened to be a job opening at the school, I figured why not try here.”

I nodded, but I was out of questions that didn’t involve quizzing him on the whereabouts and circumstances surrounding Josh’s mom. Yet, I wasn’t ready to go inside and call it a night.

“I don’t know if you bring your lunch to school, but the only decent meal they serve is chicken noodle soup with cinnamon rolls. Stay away from shrimp shapes. I don’t think they contain actual shrimp. And don’t be fooled by the beef burger. It’s a rubbery patty with a funky taste. Everything else is just a version of hot dogs. The fruit is canned in heavy syrup, the cookies are concrete, and the milk is sour. But sometimes they have chocolate milk, and it’s acceptable.”

Kyle eyed me, trying to restrain his grin. He was so handsome. I couldn’t believe he was my neighbor. I never wanted him to move.

“Thanks for the tip,” he said.

“Oh, also, don’t shake hands with Mr. Dillinger.”

“The principal?” He squinted.

“Yes. He picks his nose all the time.”

Kyle cringed.

When crickets were the only ones talking, I hopped off the fence. “I’m glad you moved into the Tallmans’ house. We haven’t had good neighbors in a while.”

“What was wrong with the Tallmans?”

“They fought all the time. We could hear them from our house. Mr. Tallman threatened to cut off my hands if I took his apples. And they had a mean dog who chased me up a tree on more than one occasion.”

Kyle chuckled. “So the bar for being a good neighbor has been set low.”

“The lowest.”

“I’ll take that as a backhanded compliment.”

I smirked while walking away. “You can take it however your pretty little head wants.”

“Touché, Eve. Good night.”

I waited until I felt certain he was on his way home, then I peered over my shoulder. But he wasn’t walking home; he was still at the fence, watching me. When I slowed my stride, he grinned, shook his head, and turned to head home.

I was obsessed.