Page 52 of Finding a Melody
After making sure I had everything I needed from my house on Sunday morning, I headed for the door. As soon as I opened it, the new alarm system beeped at me.
Damn. This was taking time to get used to. I ran over to it and quickly put in my code, then rushed through the front door to lock it, scared that the grace period to get my ass out of there would run out before I could leave my house. I was in my car when my phone alerted me that my house was armed. Bryan was making sure what had happened last weekend didn’t happen again and I appreciated it. Really, I did.
But darn, keeping track of the steps for the alarm system was a bit nerve wracking. How did people live like this? I never had a system like this. In the last house, it was a basic alarm system to scream at us when someone broke in. That was it. We only had a code to turn the alarm on and off.
I was just shoving my bag into the back seat when there was a bark. Bebe came over and started trying to sniff my butt.
“No,” I said, covering my butt and turning to face him. He made a whining noise before licking my hands.
Seth chuckled as he came over. “He’s happy to see you.”
“Didn’t I just see him yesterday? And the day before?”
Shrugging, Seth came over and helped calm Bebe down. “He really likes you. You’re good for him.”
“Seems to be the theme around here,” I said, trying to sound like I was joking, but even I noticed the flatness in my voice.
Seth’s eyebrow rose and he tilted his head to the side. “Is something wrong?”
I thought about it. Was there? I wasn’t even sure why my tone sounded like that.
“Cadence, if something feels like too much, you can tell us to back off. We don’t want you feeling suffocated.”
I played with my keys, staring down at them. Was that what it was? I glanced at his house, noting that it seemed like no one was there, but it was Sunday. That’d change very soon. Then I glanced at my house. It was big, but all the lights were off. There was nothing there to even give a clue that someone lived there. Most of my windows didn’t even have curtains yet. Something I really needed to fix.
“Cadence?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted and waved at his house then at mine, as if that’d be enough to explain whatever it was that I lacked the words for. “Sunday dinner?”
“Like always.” He didn’t smile though, still staring at me. Then he looked into my back seat, where he could see the massive bag in there. “Going somewhere?”
“I am.” I stared at the bag too, still frowning. “Every once in a while, I go to a community center for volunteer work.”
“You volunteer?” Seth sounded impressed.
“When I can. Are you busy today?”
“Nope.”
I bit my lip and glanced at his house again. “Want to come or does the idea of a bunch of kids high on sugar scare you?”
That drew out a laugh from Seth. “I’m game. The others aren’t coming over until later today anyway. Let me prove to you that those kids don’t scare me. Frankly, I’m worse than them.”
Snorting, I said, “No doubt.”
“Let me get Bebe tucked away so I can change. I don’t think they’d appreciate my shirt.”
I looked down at it and agreed instantly. Today, it read, ‘I hug people that I hate so that I know how big to dig the hole in my backyard.’ After sending me a smile that made me feel warm, he took off at a jog back to his place, Bebe more than happy to jump around and join in on the excitement.
By the time Seth came back out, I was waiting in his driveway for him, texting Micah. This time, he wore a white shirt that said, ‘You read my shirt. That’s enough social interaction for the day.’ I absolutely loved it.
“I’m just saying,” I said. “If all your shirts go missing, it wasn’t me.”
Seth smirked at me. “I’ll keep that in mind. Let’s take my truck.” He held out his keys. He peered down at my phone. “Texting the guys?”
“No, Micah.”
“Micah?” The curiosity was heavier in his voice.