Page 25 of Bar Down Baby!
I think if I committed sororicide, I would be justified. At some point when I was in the bathroom, Barry had pulled off his hoodie to reveal a black tee shirt, also new, with the team’s little raptor logo in the middle of his chest.
“Kate lives nearby,” I explained, then pointed at the dog. “And this is Greg Senior.”
“Great to meet you, Kate and Greg Senior.” Barry padded over to the dog and scratched his head, much like he had Junior. Greg didn’t seem to mind, already snoring lightly.
Kate breezed into the kitchen to set up the movie night snacks. Popcorn and apple slices. “Barry, are you joining us for movie night? How do you feel about slashers? Monster movies?”
“I didn’t mean to butt in on your plans,” Barry said. “I was actually just about to pick up some dinner and groceries.”
Kate paused at this. Her left eye was probably twitching at the thought of Barry buying me groceries in case he was going to get unpasteurized milk or cheese without knowing pregnant women supposedly weren’t allowed to have it. Soda, too, but she doesn’t bother me about that if I eat the probiotic yogurts.
“Maybe burritos? I could grab you something, too,” Barry said. Kate thought a moment longer before nodding, because she couldn’t pass up that offer. I nodded, too, because I likewise would never say no to a burrito.
“Bacon with red chili for me, sausage for Kate,” I said, walking with Barry toward the door. I didn’t want to seem like I was ushering him out of the house in a hurry, but I didn’t know how to even begin processing the last half hour, and him being in my space was not helping.
“No cheese on Hannah’s,” Kate called from the kitchen.
Barry looked at me for approval, and I shook my head.
“Please cheese,” I whispered, and he sent a quick thumbs up.
“You got it,” he whispered back, then louder, “Be back soon!”
As soon as the front door closed, Kate and I rushed to the front window. Crouching, we watched as he got into his car parked on the curb, a sharp, deep green crossover.
“Nice car,” Kate said.
“Yeah.”
“He is tall.”
“I know,” I said. “In an almost weird way, right? Like too tall?”
Barry’s car drove down the street and disappeared behind the little adobe church on the corner.
“No, most hockey players are tall, I think. You’re being weird.” Kate looked around the room, her eyes stopping first on his duffle, then on his suitcase. “Should we look in his bag?”
“Absolutely not,” I said, though I wanted to.
“What if he brought a gun? Or drugs?”
“Stop that.” I pushed her toward the hall. I couldn’t be certain that he didn’t have either of those things, but I was going to follow my gut on that one.
“So this is happening then? For real?”
I looked at his suitcase and thought about the basement room. No way would he be warm enough or comfortable on that tiny ass bed. He’d need a king-sized bed for those limbs, and also a space heater. I know it’s technically not safe to run a space heater all night, but sometimes I do because I really like being warm. He could use the little one in the living room, maybe.
“I think so,” I said. “Just for a week.”
The reality of this struck me then. Barry would be staying in my house, walking barefoot on my floor, using my shower, cooking in my kitchen. He’d probably sit on the couch and see the unopened letters and book club books on my coffee table. There were diaries on my bookshelf, used mugs in every room, coffee rings on the wood, my old vision board sitting behind the TV, and he’d have access to all of it.
“We need to clean,” I said.
If Barry was going to the closest Smith’s and then to get burritos, he’d probably be about forty minutes. Unless he was a slow shopper, which I doubted. Or he accidentally went to the burrito spot that only serves burritos in the mornings and switched to burgers after noon. That gave me less than an hour to make the house less embarrassing and more presentable.
“What about the movie?” Kate said.
“What about it?”
