Page 6 of The Neighborly Thing To Do
Cassidy’s beat-up old clunker of a car pulled into her driveway fifteen minutes ago, which I know because I watched through the window like a creep. I give her a few minutes to settle in, and then I march across the yard like I’m on a mission.
She opens the door with a mistrustful look that marginally eases when she sees it’s only me. She’s changed since she got home, standing in her doorway in a tank top and denim shorts that show off most of her toned thighs, and I feel bad for a moment about intruding on her peace.
I’ve been vibrating with a nervous sort of energy, sure my plan is simultaneously brilliant and the worst I’ve ever had. It would work, but would she go for it? What if I make things worse for her?
“Hi,” she says, looking up and blinking her big brown eyes at me.
“I think I know how to solve your problem,” I tell her, then wince.Shit. There’s hating small-talk, and then there’s rushing into a conversation bound to freak her out, and that’s what I did here.
She quirks an eyebrow. “Oh?” Her dark ponytail swishes over her shoulder when she turns, tilting her head to take me in.
How to put this delicately? I’m well aware I’m over six and a half feet tall, three times wider than she is, with horns and giant wings and too-sharp teeth you can see on the rare occasions Ismile. I’m ten years older than her and terrible at conversation. Nothing about who I am and who she is says this is a good idea.
“Your mother,” I say, and she winces. I stop, unsure what I stumbled on, but she straightens, expression wiped from her face.
“What about my mother?”
“She was allowed to live here.”
“Yeah, until the divorce.” She nods. Her eyes drift away from me, like she’s already done with this conversation. I have to make my point.
“So, therefore, if you were married to someone from town…” I trail off, watching her connect the dots.
She nods slowly, walking back into her house and motioning me inside.
I glance around subtly. I haven’t been here since I was a very young child and my cousins still lived here. Cassidy has clearly gone out of her way to make it homey. There are a few high bird perches scattered around, and I’m pretty sure the couch is made of fire retardant material. It’s more signs that she raised a half witch, half shifter kid here. There’s something sweet about Cassidy going out of her way to accommodate the ways Georgia is different from her. Not that I ever had any doubt that Cassidy was an amazing big sister and guardian.
The homey living room has a staircase to the upstairs on one side, and past that is an open arch to the kitchen and dining room. The walls are all soft, clean colors. I don’t know if Cassidypainted it or if it was like that before she moved in, but the soft blues of this room and the green of the kitchen suit her, I think.
“Sure, I guess,” she allows, standing over by her couch and squeezing her left hand in her right. “But I’m not seeing anyone, Finn.”
Anyone? She doesn’t realize that this is an offer. A clumsy one, maybe, but an offer nonetheless.
Marrying Cassidy would be no hardship. She doesn’t seem like a difficult person to get along with. I’m not sure I’d be any good at it—there’s a reason I’ve never been married, after all—but if it kept her in town, I don’t think she’d quibble about the details.
What does it say that she didn’t even think of that? Is she too honest to think of blatant deception, or am I that unappealing?
There are a lot of differences between us, I remind myself. Age, species—no wonder she didn’t immediately jump to that conclusion.
I take a deep breath. If she freaks out when I offer, then no harm, no foul. We’ll part ways. At least I’ll have tried to keep her in town.
“Sure,” I agree. “But they don’t know that.”
She turns away from the photos. “Finn, what are you saying?”
I swallow. This is it. “Cassidy—what do you say we get married?”
Chapter 5
Cassidy
I’m left gaping at him, sure I’d heard wrong.
Married. Finn wants tomarryme.
Well. Finn iswillingto marry me so I can stay in town. I suppose there’s a difference.
“Finn…” I trail off, unsure where to even start.
