“What?” I asked.
“Did it look put together? Nothing was weird or out of place?” Paul asked.
“Um, no? I mean, I was only in the front hall for a minute or two once.”
“Are you sure? You don’t sound too sure,” he said.
“Paul, you need to take a breath,” I said. “I’m not sure where all this is coming from, but I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“I only want to make sure you and Lily aren’t stepping into a situation that could be dangerous. A new guy in town with no friends or family that I’ve heard about could be dangerous.”
“Graham’s not dan-jed-ous,” Lily said. “He’s fun. He helped me when I hurt myself.”
“You hurt yourself?” Paul asked. “What happened? Why didn’t you call me?”
“Enough,” I said breathlessly. “Paul, I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me. But now that we’re back in town, you can cool it a bit. It was only a scraped knee. She was fine.”
“You know you can call me if something ever happens.”
“I know, Paul. I know.”
The three of us ate lunch, and the silence was a little awkward. I didn’t feel like talking to Paul anymore, and for the first time, I really just wanted him to go away. He had been acting awfully strange lately.
I was relieved when we rolled into my driveway after lunch.
“Look! Graham!”
Lily flew out of Paul’s car and took off for the man.
“Lily! Slow down,” I said.
I watched as Lily threw her arms around Graham’s leg. He looked down at my daughter as he rifled through his mail. He stopped in his tracks and let Lily hug him, seemingly unfazed at the small girl attached to his hip.
“Lily. Honey. Let’s give Graham some space,” I said. “You don’t have to run up to him every time you see him.”
“That’s sound advice, actually,” Paul said.
I saw Graham’s eyes slowly pan up to meet Paul’s. I pulled Lily from Graham’s leg and brought her next to me. Both men were silent for a while, Graham with a curious stare and Paul with one that seemed more aggressive.
What in the world had gotten into him?
“I’m sorry for her running up to you like that, Graham,” I said.
“No big deal,” he said.
But his eyes didn’t waver from Paul.
“Um, thanks for lunch, Paul. I appreciate it. I’m going to go see if Lily will go down for a nap.”
“Sure. I’ll be in there in a second,” he said.
“No, you can go on home. It’s fine. I’m going to take a nap myself,” I said.
I watched Paul bristle, but for what reason, I had no idea.
I took Lily inside and laid her down, much to her protest. Though she was a little old for naps now, I knew she was tired from her play in the yard and needed to rest. She turned into a little monster when she was overtired, and I didn’t want to have to deal with that later on. I was exhausted by the time I got her laid down and quiet, and I went over to the window to see what was going on.
I was shocked to see Paul still standing out there with Graham.
It looked like Paul was trying to loom over Graham and intimidate him, which was funny considering Graham was bigger. Graham was standing there, his mail in his hand and his eyes locked on Paul’s face. This was enough. I was getting tired of this. Paul needed to back off whatever had gotten into him.
I walked out of the house and headed back for the guys.
“Hey there, Cindy. How’s Lily?” Graham asked.
Paul whipped his head around and immediately backed away from my neighbor.
“She’s fine. About to go to sleep,” I said. “You guys okay out here?”
“Everything’s fine,” Graham said. “Just getting to know Paul here.”
“Really? Because it looked like Paul was trying to interrogate you for some reason,” I said. “Paul, he’s not a criminal in your interrogation room.”
“You work for law enforcement?” Graham asked.
Paul’s eyes locked with Graham’s again, and I sighed with frustration.
“Paul’s a police officer here in Bend. He was an MP in the military,” I said.
“I’ve got this, Cindy.”
“No, what you have is an inability to take a hint. Thank you for coming over and thank you for taking us to lunch. Lily’s always happy to see you, and when you’re not being overbearing, I enjoy seeing you as well. Now, it’s time for you to go home.”
Paul’s eyes fell to me before he started backing toward his car.
“I’ll see you guys soon, okay?” he asked. “Tell Lily I love her.”
“I’m sure she knows,” I said.
I stood out on the front lawn until Paul’s car was no longer in sight. I went to turn and apologize profusely to Graham, but he was nowhere to be seen. I groaned and allowed my head to fall back as my mind swirled with Paul’s demeanor all day.
He was getting worse with each passing day, and I had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with the promise he made to Bradley. Paul did everything he could to the best of his ability. Whether it was his job or being a friend, he always put one hundred and ten percent of his effort into it. So, because he’d told Bradley he would look after me, he was throwing one hundred and ten percent of himself into the job. Especially when it came to Lily. And I got it. I really did. I was overprotective of Lily too.
But he needed to dial it back a bit because it was starting to weird me out.
CHAPTER 12
GRAHAM
I went by the coffee shop in town before I made my way to the garage. I had a hard time sleeping the night before after my fun little encounter with Paul. He thought he was some badass who had his shit together for Lily and Cindy. I didn’t like the way he bucked up to me, the way he had told me to stay away from the two of them. He didn’t have a claim to them any more than I did. He was a hothead in a pair of tight jeans and a badge. I knew what those guys were all about. Fuck, I used to be one of those guys on occasion.
I stood in line, recounting my moment with him in my yard. He had tried to posture like he was some big dog, but only men who were insecure in who they were postured like that. Real men who knew they could do some harm if needed never bucked up like that.
I never bucked up like that.
He was ridiculous and unnecessary, but I refused to swing a punch. I’d wanted to break his nose for some of the things he said, things he threatened to do to me if I came around Cindy and Lily too much. I debated on telling Cindy about it, about how he felt he owned the two of them or some shit.
But it really wasn’t my place. I could tell by her exasperated attitude that she was tired of him anyway. Not to mention, I was trying my best not to get too involved in their lives. Though that was a daily struggle I often felt I was losing.
“I’ll have a nonfat caramel macchiato, please.”
“Hot or iced?” the cashier said.
“Iced,” a familiar voice said.
Cindy looked back at me, and a smile crossed her face. I had been so preoccupied with thoughts of strangling that no-dick asshole friend of hers that I hadn’t even realized she’d been standing in front of me the whole time. She nodded her head, turned to finish her order, and then stepped off to the side so I could place mine.
But she didn’t walk away.
“A large black coffee. With room for sugar.”
“Cream?” the cashier asked.
“Nope. Just sugar,” I said.
“A simple man. I like it,” Cindy said.
“Make sure you drink that coffee before you leave,” I said.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I’m leaving now, and I don’t want you running into me again.”
The giggle that fell from her lips was music to my ears. It had been a long time since I’d enjoyed a nice joke with a woman. I felt that idiotic grin trying to cross my cheeks again, and I swallowed it down, trying to keep some semblance of a wall between us.
I could feel myself being pulled into her and I was torturing myself over it. While it was nice to share some human interaction with someone, it also went against everything I’d believed in since my family was taken from me. “Heading into work?” Cindy asked.
“I am. You?” I asked.