Page 20 of Grumpy

Kelly nodded. “Is this okay?” she asked, indicating his foot in her hands. “I don’t want to push too hard.”

“I’ll say ‘ow’ if you do,” he deadpanned.

Kelly stuck her tongue out at him. “Yes, that’s when she fell. I think that was the first time I realized you were my neighbor. Imagine my near heart attack when I’m standing there in an old t-shirt and pajama shorts and you’re there in all your muscley glory looking like a fucking god—ow!” She jumped when he pinched the bottom of her foot.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I push too hard?”

Kelly’s eyes narrowed on the man. “You know, your club’s wrong about you. Under that surly attitude is a sarcastic jerk.”

Grumpy pouted before lifting the bottom of her foot up to his mouth and kissing it. “Better?”

“Much.” Kelly started up her own massage on his foot again. “Anyway, combine the two, and you basically have unpredictable flares and struggling mobility. She keeps herself occupied making candles and soaps all day. Which is good, because it keeps her entertained while I’m at work. But her sales could be better and don’t contribute enough to the overall bills to actually make a difference. Not to mention that I have to box and ship everything when I get home.” Kelly made a face. “It sounds negative when I put it all together like that. Honestly, I wish she’d ask for more help than she does. I don’t like leaving her alone, but one of us has to work to pay for Bubbe’s care. Not to mention our cost of living. Honestly, if my mom hadn’t paid off the house with the settlement she got when Daddy died, we’d be in a lot worse shape.” Kelly looked pointedly at Grumpy as she added, “And yet the maintenance and upkeep for a house as old as ours seems to have declined over the past decade instead of increasing.”

“Weird.” The man’s expression didn’t even flinch!

“Yeah. Weird. Like I swear we had a loose railing, then it mysteriously repaired itself. Any idea how that happened?”

He continued to massage her foot. “Nope.”

“Uh huh. And my mom’s garden? I certainly haven’t been weeding it like I’m supposed to.”

“It is a mystery.”

She should not find him lying to her face so endearing. “And my roof?”

“I hear those are self-repairing nowadays.”

Kelly snorted. “How about how no snow ever seems to land on my driveway, sidewalk, or car?”

“Self-melting snow.”

“And my car that runs in perfect condition?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it perfect, but it certainly runs better than any other Yugo ever built.”

Kelly shook her head, unable to keep the smile off her lips. Yugoslav cars were notorious for manufacturer failures. A decade ago, she’d been hard pressed to figure out how she could work her finances to afford a new car. Then, slowly, day after day, her Yugo started working a little bit more, like a watching a transplant patient gain strength now that they had a working organ.

She tapped his chest very gently with the toes of the foot he wasn’t massaging. “Thank you.”

He met her eyes, his steady. They really had done a great job matching the light brown of his prosthetic to his real one. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to do more over the past six months.”

“How have you been doing anything at all?” Kelly questioned. “I thought I was going insane, or questioning if I had another stalker.”

The dark look on his face made Kelly question if he didn’t approve of her calling him a stalker or her wondering if another man had romantic interest in her. “Prospects,” he said shortly. “Told them to stay silent and invisible, but to ensure you were taken care of.”

Kelly’s hands froze on his foot. “Really? Even after I walked out on you?”

“You leaving changed nothing. Not my feelings for you or my desire to take care of you.”

Her chin trembled as she looked away, shamed. “I should have done a better job taking care of you.”

“No, you shouldn’t. You’re human, Kells. Trust me when I say there was a part of me that was grateful you left.”

Her head snapped up, anger replacing her shame. “What the hell does that mean?”

He nudged her with his foot as she had done him. “It means I’m human, too—and vain enough that I didn’t want the woman I’ve been in love with for the past ten years to see me with a tube up my dick or my jaw screwed shut.” He waved a hand in front of his left eye. “Not to mention all this.”

“I didn’t leave because of that,” she reminded him softly.