Page 10 of Dad Next Door
“You thought?” Quinn prompted.
“Nothing. Sorry. Wow. This is embarrassing.” I rubbed the back of my neck. Would running away make things weirder? Probably. “I just thought you were someone else. But you’re Quinn.”
“I am.” He smiled patiently, his eyes gleaming with something that could be humor. At least one of us was amused by my blundering. “Now that we’ve established that, you are?”
“Sorry, right. Tristan. Tristan Winters.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Tristan.” Quinn held out his hand, ignoring my weirdness. “Quinn Reynolds.”
His grip was strong and firm, but not overly aggressive.
“You too. I just wanted to stop by to say thank you for helping find our cat.”
“I’m just glad I was outside. Is Jinx okay? Leo said he was embarrassed and hid in his house of shame after.” He smirked. “Sounds like he learned his lesson.”
“Here’s hoping,” I said, finally relaxing. Maybe I hadn’t completely made a fool out of myself. “Lydia said you hurt yourself?”
“It’s just a scratch.” He waved his hand dismissively. “I’ll be okay.”
“Are you sure? Was it a nail? When was your last tetanus shot?”
“I’m not sure what it was, but I’m up to date with my vaccines. Kinda have to be in my business.”
“Your business?”
“Contracting.”
“You’re a contractor?”
He nodded. “Can I give you a little professional advice?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“I’d get your dryer vent moved so it’s not under your deck. A lot of builders hide them for aesthetic reasons, but it’s better to have them vent to the open instead of trapping all that hot air in an enclosed space. It’ll add years to the life of your deck too.”
“I didn’t realize that could cause issues.” I smiled, or at least I hoped it looked like a smile and not like I was holding in a fart. “Thanks, I’ll look into that. But you’re sure your back is okay? Did you have someone look at it?”
He shook his head, a smile on his full lips.
“I can take a look if you’d like. I’m a… Well, I’m a doctor, but not that kind of doctor.”
Quinn tilted his head curiously.
“I’m a veterinarian.”
“A vet?” He grinned.
“Yeah.” I scuffed my shoe against the porch. “I swear I’m not usually like this. Well, not this bad. It’s been a long day. I’ll leave you alone now.” I stepped back from the door.
“I guess it won’t hurt to have it looked at,” Quinn said, stopping my backward motion. “Come in.”
I paused. Come in?
“Unless you want to do this on the porch.”
“No, sorry.”
I followed him into the house, my eyes darting around curiously.