Page 360 of Top Dog

“Where’d you guys head off to?”

None of your damn business.

“Lily’s grandmother’s place.”

“Your mother or in-laws?” she asked.

“My in-laws. Technically.”

“You separated or something? I can sympathize. I’ve been separated twice.”

I looked over at Nicole, and she held her hands up. I watched her backtrack onto the porch and catch Lily just as she was heading out the door.

Nicole was trying to convince Lily to go inside with her so they could start cooking dinner, which I knew would result in Nicole simply ordering pizza.

“Or something,” I said.

I watched my neighbor nod her head as she took one last look at my car. She was new to the neighborhood. At least, new to me. I grew up here. My life with Bradley bounced me around to all sorts of places around the country.

Base life wasn’t the most glamorous thing, but we always talked about how we wanted to raise Lily near family. I grew up in Bend, Oregon, a town of ninety-one thousand people but the feel of small-town living. It was where I’d made my life. It was where I’d first met Bradley. It was the place I’d dreamed of getting back to whenever we wanted to settle our family down.

One more deployment.

All we had to do was get through one more deployment.

“You okay?”

My neighbor’s voice pulled me from my trance as I met her gaze.

“Oh yes I’m fine, thank you,” I said. “If you don’t mind, I’m gonna go inside and make up some dinner.”

“You mean order pizza.”

I eyed the woman carefully as I took a step back from her.

“Your friend stepped out on the porch and asked you what kind of pizza you wanted. Went back in when you didn’t answer. You okay?” she asked again.

“Uh-huh,” I said. “Well, then yes. Pizza. I should probably go.”

“Sure. One thing, though. Your car was humming down the street. You should probably get it looked at. It’s going to kick up a fuss with the neighborhood if you don’t.”

I had a feeling the only person who would kick up a fuss was her.

“Yeah. I’ll, uh, keep that in mind.”

I stumbled up the porch steps and shoved into the house. Nicole rushed to my side, locking the door behind me as Lily sat at the table. She was playing with her dolls and talking about how much pizza she was going to eat, and I was glad she was distracted.

I was still very unsettled by my neighbor’s intrusion.

“Okay, I love you. So I’m going to say this with all my heart. You need a damn security system up in the place, girl.”

“You gonna pay for it?” I asked.

“You need to protect yourself and your daughter. Look, I know you guys have only been back in town for a couple of months, but that woman isn’t right. She’s way too nosey for her own good. No wonder she’s had so many divorces. They probably couldn’t shut her up.”

I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to argue about the security system in front of Lily. She didn’t need to hear anything that would cause her worry.

“Can I ask you a question?”