Page 66 of The Man Next Door
I played with the little jacket on one of the teddy bears on her bed, a gift from one of her many admirers. “Uh… I didn’t want to interrupt your Christmas dinner.”
“You wouldn’t be interrupting, silly.” She kicked me on the shin. “You know you’re like part of the family.”
I smiled. “You sound like your mother.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Oh… please don’t ever say that.”
“What? Your mom is cool.”
Just as we were talking about her, Adele made her appearance. She looked pretty in black pants and a red sweater, complete with Christmas tree brooch. Small Christmas trees dangled from her ears.
“Can I sit down?” she asked sweetly.
I was quick to make room for her while Izzie couldn’t have been any less accommodating.
“So what’s new?” Adele asked with a sweet smile. “You got a boyfriend yet, Abby?”
I thought of Gavin and stifled a grin. “Nope. All the boys I know are stupid.”
She laughed. “Oh… that will change.”
No, it won’t.
Her smile faded. “So another bad night at home?”
I nodded and stared down at the pretty quilt on Izzie’s bed. I didn’t want to talk about it. I couldn’t. I wanted to, but how could I explain without sharing too many details. If only Izzie hadn’t been there, I might have confided in her mother. “My dad got mad at me like he always does,” I simply said.
“Why was he mad?” Izzie broke in. “What was it this time?”
“Oh…” I scrambled for a story. “Me and Nick fighting… the usual. Anyway, he hurled insults at me. Called me a little bitch.” I had easily replaced the word ‘slut’ with ‘bitch’. They seemed equally incriminating.
Adele’s jaw dropped. “God… that man,” was all she said. “Well, you can stay with us if you’d like. You can sleep over if you want.”
I knew that would make my father even more livid. “No, it’s okay. I should get back soon. But thank you.”
Her mouth twisted into a sudden grin. “Well, we did get you some gifts, Izzie and I. And even Abe.”
I smiled, surprised. “Abe got me something? I didn’t get him anything.”
“Oh, Abe is a giver. He loves giving gifts.”
“We were going to give them to you tomorrow morning,” Izzie explained. “But you want them now?”
I laughed. “No, I can wait. I’ll be back tomorrow. I have some gifts for you too. I’ll have to scrounge up something for Abe… maybe I can steal something from Nick or Jake.”
Adele leaned in and wrapped her arms around me. The kind gesture almost brought me to tears. “We’re always here for you, Abby.”
My nose stung and my eyes brimmed. “I know.”
