Page 373 of Top Dog

He was the one everyone was talking about, and the more I heard him mentioned, the more skewed the rumors became. New ones seemed to pop up every single day about him, and his silent and cold attitude wasn’t helping things. But I had seen something in his eyes that told a different story than the one the set of his jaw did.

It made me hold my breath when he’d dropped that package off on my porch the other day. There was so much more behind those eyes than a cold, hard man. He definitely had a wall up, but it wasn’t because he was angry.

It was because he had been utterly devastated. I knew that look firsthand.

I waved at him, trying to be as friendly as possible. He stopped in the middle of his driveway, his hand clenching his mail in his fist. His eyes connected with mine, and for a moment, I felt let in again. I caught the slightest glimpse of pain before his eyes hardened again, and he continued up his driveway.

He didn’t bother to wave back, and I didn’t hold that against him.

I watched him all the way back to his house. Lily was back to riding her bike up and down the road, but my attention wasn’t on her. I studied my neighbor’s rigid stance as he made his way back into his house, slamming the door behind him on the way in.

He did put up a good act, but he wasn’t fooling me.

“Cindy!”

I whipped my head around at the sound of my name as a car made its way into my driveway.

“Uncle Paul!”

Lily dropped her bike into the grass and went running for the man stepping out of the car.

“Oh, how’s my little Lilypad?” Paul asked. “Have you grown? You look four inches taller.”

“No,” Lily said with a giggle. “I’m only half an inch taller.”

“Half an inch! If you don’t stop growing, you’ll be as big as a beanstalk!” Paul said.

I stood on the porch and watched as Paul tickled my daughter’s stomach. I’d known he would be by eventually. Paul and Bradley had gone through basic together. Paul became a military police officer, and Bradley found his niche with cyber security and coding. They were the best of friends when I’d met Bradley. Paul had been his wingman at the bar we’d met at that night. When we had Lily, it was a no-brainer as to who we wanted to be her godfather, and through every struggle we battled with her, Paul was there to help.

Paul even came back from a deployment early to help me arrange Bradley’s funeral. Now he was back for good, having run out his time in the military and taken a job with the Bend Police Department.

“Glad to see you back,” Paul said.

He wrapped me up in his arms, and I hugged him close.

; “It’s good to be back, however bittersweet it might be,” I said.

“How are you doing? How’s Lily getting along with things?”

“I’m getting along. Got a part-time job that’s keeping me busy for now. Lily’s… Lily. She asks passing questions after her dad from time to time, but she’s loving school.”

I released Paul, but his hand stayed around my body. He was rubbing my back, which was probably an innocent gesture, but ever since Bradley’s passing, I’d shied away from physical contact with any man. Even one who had been our closest friend. I took a step away from him and smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Did you just get off work?” I asked.

“I took today off. I usually have Sundays and Mondays off, but a long weekend seemed like a good idea after three full weeks of working nonstop,” Paul said.

“The police department keeping you busy enough?” I asked.

“Not as busy as the military, but the change of pace is nice.”

“You’ve been out how long now?” I asked.

“A little over a year.”

“I’m sorry. A lot of things blurred together over the past couple of years.”