Chapter 3 #2
He straightens up and retrieves the bag of groceries from the floor.
I can’t help but notice that his worn T-shirt and frayed blue jeans are a far cry from what my husband was wearing today.
“Next door, huh? Are you the one who keeps leaving us notes about our car being parked wrong? Or are you the one who makes cookies on YouTube?”
I laugh. “Cookies.”
A smile spreads across his lips as he deposits the groceries on the kitchen counter. “Well, then it’s nice to meet you, April.”
Sean’s dark blue eyes meet mine as he sticks out a hand for me to shake. I can’t help but notice that his palm is rough and calloused compared with my husband’s. Hmm, Elliot might not be the hottest husband on the block anymore.
“Sean was planning to take Owen to the park to practice soccer,” Maria explains.
My ears perk up. “Bobby adores soccer. Does Owen play a lot?”
“God, yes,” Maria says. “He loves every sport, but especially soccer. Sean used to coach back at his old school.”
“Oh yeah?” I shouldn’t be surprised. Sean looks like a natural athlete. “That’s great. What coach do you have here?”
Sean pauses in the middle of sorting the groceries. “Unfortunately, we were too late to get Owen on the team. I put him on the waiting list, but we’re not hopeful.”
I feel my eyes light up. I love helping people out with problems. “I’m really good friends with Mark Tanner, Bobby’s coach. I could talk to Mark about putting Owen on the team.”
Sean beams at me. “You think you could do that?”
“Definitely.” I grin at the Coopers. “I’ll just make him up a batch of chocolate cupcakes. Nobody says no to chocolate cupcakes.”
“Thanks so much, April.” Sean puts the last of the groceries—a dozen eggs—in the refrigerator and then pours himself a cup of that terrible coffee. He takes a swig of it black. “Hey, would Bobby like to come to the park with us to practice now?”
That is a very tempting offer. Bobby loves playing soccer, but Elliot never has time to play with him during the weekend.
But at the same time, I’m still shaken about Bobby going missing. Even though I found him after less than fifteen minutes and he was perfectly safe the whole time, the thought of sending my little boy off with a man I literally met two minutes ago leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
“April is a little shaken up,” Maria explains to her husband. “Bobby wandered over here without telling her and gave her quite a scare.”
“Oh?” Sean looks at me with interest.
I shrug and try to play it off. I didn’t even tell them about the creepy text message. “It was a bit scary when I didn’t see him in the backyard.”
Sean places a hand on his chest. “I promise, I will guard him with my life, April.”
He isn’t being facetious. I can tell he would keep a close eye on the boys. And probably protect them better than I ever could. I have a feeling if his son went missing, he wouldn’t shrug it off and say he “probably went to the neighbors.”
But even so, I don’t quite feel comfortable yet. And anyway, I need to have a talk with Bobby about running off without letting me know. I still can’t believe he did that. He definitely needs to be punished.
“Next time,” I promise.
Sean grins at me. “Sure. Owen and I are usually kicking the ball around in the backyard, so Bobby is always welcome to join us.”
“Or you could come to our backyard,” I add. “Ours is much bigger, so there’s more room to run around.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret them. These people don’t want me to point out that our house is twice the size of theirs. It’s obnoxious. I didn’t mean it that way anyway… I just meant that we have more space. That’s all.
Sean doesn’t seem offended, thank goodness. But now that he’s home, Owen is overeager to get to the park. I expect Bobby to beg to go with him, but he seems agreeable to heading back home. That’s good, because I don’t feel like fighting with him right now.
“I’ll see you at school drop-off tomorrow,” I tell Maria as I herd Bobby out the front door.
She waves at me. “Looking forward to it!”
Bobby is skipping all the way home, and to be honest, I feel like skipping too. Maria is amazing. I finally have somebody I can be friends with on the block who isn’t super judgmental and bossy. And Bobby has a new best friend too. Also, Sean seems really nice. Really really nice.
“Maybe me and Dad can play against Owen and his dad at the park,” Bobby says.
My stomach drops. Bobby doesn’t know his father already went to work. Then again, you’d think by now he would expect it. But he still keeps hoping his father will stick around and take him out to play.
“Actually,” I say carefully, “your dad had to go to work today.”
Bobby’s lower lip juts out, and his face turns pink. “But that’s not fair! He always goes to work on the weekend!”
Secretly, I agree with my son. But Elliot and I have to maintain a unified front. “You know your dad has a super important job.”
A tear escapes from Bobby’s left eye. He’s still young enough that his response to anything unfair in life is to start crying. I wonder when that will change. “But I want to go to the park!”
“Listen.” My voice takes on a firm tone. “I told you Dad needs to work. And anyway, you’re being punished now. I’ve told you a hundred times not to leave the backyard without my permission. I’m very angry with you.”
Bobby’s blue eyes widen. He looks so much like his father right now. It’s so strange to catch these little glimpses of Elliot in my son. “But I didn’t leave without your permission! You said I could!”
I snort. “I most certainly did not!”
“Yes! Owen’s mom said you told her it was okay!”
I shake my head. I can’t believe how good of a liar my seven-year-old son has become. It’s getting to be a problem. I’m going to have to watch out for this one. “That’s not true.”
“It is! She came to the fence and told me you said it was okay for me to come over!”
I think back to the text message and get an uneasy feeling in my chest. Is it possible Maria would send me that text message and then lure my son out of the backyard just to scare me?
There are a lot of cruel people out there. After all, someone sent me that text message…
I shake my head. No. No way. Maria was genuinely shocked when she found out Bobby was there without permission—she couldn’t fake that.
And why would she do something so evil? Not that there aren’t people in this town that dislike me, but I only just met the woman.
The more logical explanation is somebody simply saw him leave my yard and wanted to give me a warning.
“Even if that were true…” Which it isn’t. “You still should have gotten permission from me directly. You are never supposed to leave the backyard without asking me if it’s okay. Do you understand?”
Bobby lowers his eyes. “Yes,” he mumbles.
“What? I didn’t hear you.”
“Ugh!” Bobby does not like rules. He also doesn’t like apologizing. He’d rather rip off his right arm than say sorry. “I told you, yes!”
He’s saying yes, but I don’t entirely trust him.
I’m going to have to dole out some sort of punishment, like no TV for the rest of the week.
He’ll kick up a fuss about that one, but it needs to be done.
I still can’t believe he would just leave the backyard without telling me.
And then to lie about it… Does he think I’m stupid?