AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Arlow
Do you like catfish?
Me
Love it.
Arlow
Good, would you mind driving?
Me
Not at all. I’m ready when you are.
He shows up a minute later, and we head to my car. He catches me grinning as I watch him slide the passenger seat asfar back as it will go, so he can fit comfortably. “Are you laughing at me?”
“I’d never.”
“Uh-huh. Let’s go shorty.”
“Excuse me. Five foot seven is almost tall for a woman. Just because you have to duck when a plane flies over doesn’t mean I’m short.”
Laughing, he looks over at me. “Have you been saving that one?”
“Maybe.” I’ve missed us teasing each other. “Where am I going?”
“Do you know Hatty’s Seafood Shack?”
I turn out onto our road. “I know where it is, but I’ve never been there. Is your friend meeting us?”
“Earl is seventy-five and doesn’t leave his house much. We’ll pick up dinner and take it to his place.”
His friend is a seventy-five-year-old man? “How did you meet him?”
“He sold me my hives a few years ago and taught me how to care for them. When I went to pick them up, his property was overgrown, and it was obvious he couldn’t keep up with it anymore, so I cut it for him. He doesn’t have much family or many visitors. I bring him dinner once a week to check in on him. Just a heads up, he’s absolutely going to ask you all about yourself and try to get you to play cards.”
How in the hell am I supposed to stop myself from falling for this man?
After we pick up the food, Arlow leads me through a winding back road to a small house tucked into the woods. “That’s Harvey,” he says, as a dog circles the car, tail wagging. “He’s friendly.”
“He’s adorable!” I exclaim, kneeling down to scratch the mutt behind the ears while Arlow carries our food.
His knock on the door is instantly met with a gruff voice calling out. “I already found Jesus! It ain’t my fault if you keep losing him!”
“I brought company, old man. Behave yourself.”
“Now you know that ain’t happening,” Earl says, opening the door and grinning at me as we enter. “Where did you find this pretty thing? Did you come with him voluntarily? Blink twice if you need help.”
“No worries, I could take him down if I needed to.”
Earl cackles, throwing back his head, and Arlow snorts while we walk to the kitchen. “As long as I’m not carrying a cave cricket?”
“Well, that’s just cheating.”
Arlow sets the bags down and gestures to me. “Calli, meet Earl, Earl, this is Calli.”
“You’re the one who moved into the cabin next door to him,” Earl says, as Arlow retrieves plates and glasses from the man’s cabinet.
