And, because I could never not be a mom, I went into fix-it mode. “It’s okay, Mason.” I spoke calmly and soothingly, lowering my register. Men responded to deeper vocal tones faster than to hysterical-wife tones, the counselor had told me. I didn’t approach him. That was another trick I’d learned. Don’t close in if he already felt threatened.
Mason’s eyes finally landed on me, and he seemed to come to himself. “I heard a scream.”
“I-I saw a mouse.”
He completely relaxed. I watched in fascination as his muscles uncoiled like springs. Angry that I’d been sucked in again, I set my jaw and repeated my question. After all, he seemed subdued, so I might as well get to the bottom of the predicament I now found myself in. “What are you doing here?”
“I live here.” He pointed to the house.
“With Walt?” Maybe they rented him a room.
He closed his eyes as if steeling himself to say something unpleasant. My hackles rose.
“Walt’s my neighbor. I had to work yesterday and asked him to give you the keys.”
I took a moment to consider his words. Then I turned, picked up the closest box, and made my way down the driveway to my van. “This isn’t going to work,” I said over my shoulder. “I’ll take my deposit check back if you don’t mind.”
Mason cursed and hurried after me, easily catching up. I tried not to think about how great his legs probably were. If the top half looked that good…I focused on not looking down at his bare feet. What was it about being shoeless that seemed so intimate?
He caught me by the elbow and tugged me to a stop. My skin burned where our flesh met, and he yanked his hand away. Had he felt that too? I shifted the box and rubbed my arm against my side to try and get rid of the feeling.
He tucked his gun into the back of his waistband and his toothbrush into his back pocket so that he could hold up both hands. “You texted me first.”
I slid the box into the back of my van and put my hands on my hips. “I didn’t know it was you.” I was going to kill Lilly. “If I had—”
“You wouldn’t have asked,” he finished for me, his shoulders falling.
Had I wounded the great Mason McKnight? No, he didn’t have feelings. Well, he did before he enlisted. Back in high school, he’d been kind where Adam was brassy and bold and a daredevil. It was Mason who told me I looked beautiful in my dress on prom night while Adam tossed in a “Yeah, babe,” afterward.
I pressed the bridge of my nose to clear my mind. I didn’t want to think about the things Adam had lacked. He’d been a good provider and a decent husband—when he was home. Even holding his absences against him seemed wrong when he was fighting to keep the country safe. I knew all of this stuff, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t battled with resentment from the moment Parker was born to the second I saw the officers on my porch the day he died.
“Look, we both know we don’t mix.” I tried being logical. Mason had always kept his distance from me, never making me feel like I was truly accepted by him. Always making me feel like I didn’t deserve Adam. “Living together would be a bad idea—for both of us.”
“If we were actually living together.” He kicked the grass.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you live up there and I live over there. We don’t have to see each other—or even speak. I have weird hours and you work nights.”
I chewed on his words for a moment. He did have a point. If I knew that he’d be around—since this was his house—then seeing him wouldn’t startle me so much. Maybe we could come up with a schedule. I did love organization, and this would be the perfect excuse to dust off my printer. If we knew when the other person was going to be gone, we might be able to make this work. I could get used to a glimpse of him every now and again. “And I’ll be starting school on Tuesday, so I’ll hardly be here at all.”
He broke into a grin. “You are? That’s awesome. Nursing, right?”
He remembered? “Yeah.” I tucked one of my tendrils behind my ear.
“I’m really happy for you. My sister Penny is a nurse, and she loves it.”
“She is?” I’d seen Penny at the awards ceremony a few weeks back. She looked amazing in a black dress. “Doesn’t she have a kid?”
“Yeah, only the cutest little girl in the world.”
I found myself smiling at the thought that that little girl in a princess dress had her uncle firmly wrapped around her little finger.
“Look. I don’t know why you’re here, or what led you to need a place to live, but you should consider staying. You can mail me the rent check, and I swear I’ll never knock on your door.” He glanced down at his chest as if he’d suddenly realized he was half-naked. “Or come running out half-dressed and brushing my teeth.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and for a moment, there was a spark of something in Mason’s eyes.
Not wanting to share a moment with him quite yet, I moved my gaze over to the window of Parker’s room. He’d asked why we were moving, and one mention of termites had him grabbing a box and starting to pack. He didn’t want to live in a house with bugs. I shivered. Neither did I. And I really didn’t have time to find another apartment. It was Labor Day weekend, who would even be around to show me a place? The helplessness of it all threatened to crash in on me.
“Okay.”
Mason paused before he cautiously stretched out his hand. “Okay?” he asked as if he needed to be sure.
We shook on it, and my arm tingled like I’d been filled with static electricity.
“Mom?” Parker called from the bottom step.
“Over here.” I reached for the box to pull it out of the van, but just as I did, my arm brushed Mason’s. It seemed as if Mason had moved at the same time, like he was going take the box for me. But I stopped him with a don’t-you-dare look. Five seconds in, and he was already pushing the boundaries of our agreement.
“Sorry.” He ran his hand through his hair, and my tongue glued to the top of my mouth. Oh those arms! “Blame my mom for raising a gentleman.”
I hefted the box and turned. “If I see her, I’ll be sure to give her a piece of my mind.”
He chuckled, the sound deep and rumbly like a hot tub.
“Whoa!” Parker stopped in his tracks and stared at Mason. “Sheriff McKnight?”
I chided myself. My son’s love of all things Marvel probably had visions of shields and hammers dancing through his head. It didn’t help that Mason had literally pulled him from a burning vehicle moments before it exploded.
“He lives in the big house,” I said by way of explanation.
“Wanna play hoops? I got a new ball.” Parker was poised, ready to run up the driveway and the stairs to retrieve his basketball.
Mason pressed his lips together. “Sorry, kid. I gotta get ready for…church.”
He walked around Parker, patting him on the shoulder as he did, and then headed inside. Parker’s mouth fell open as Mason passed, no doubt thinking the same thing I was at that moment. There was no way this guy didn’t have a super suit hanging in his closet.
That was just great. My son had a case of hero worship. I braced myself for Sheriff McKnight stories and questions for the rest of the day.