“Nah,” Maddox said. “Now, help me dig, so we can put in the new windows tomorrow.”
I put in my earbuds, turned on my music, and went to work.
After a couple hours, Maddox approached me, so I hit pause on my phone and took an earbud out so that I could hear him better.
“Hey, Addy is going to be home soon, and I have to pick up the boys from day care, so we should probably call it quits.”
I looked at my watch and furrowed my brow. “It’s only three in the afternoon. Don’t you usually pick the kids up at five or something?”
“Yes, but I need to shower and also get ready for dinner since everyone is coming over tonight.”
I still didn’t understand why he needed that much time to get ready. “Do you need any help?”
“Maybe later, but Addison and I have it handled for right now.”
I studied my friend. We’d worked together a long time, and I could tell when something was up. “So, you and Addison are going to be making dinner, huh?”
“Yes.”
“That’s what we’re calling sex these days?”
Maddox shook his head and threw his hands up. “Yes, my wife is coming home a couple hours early, so I can fuck her, okay? You and I have been busy working on the house, she’s been preparing for Olivia’s arrival, and the boys make it really hard to get more than a quickie in.”
I started laughing. “Dude, you don’t have to justify having sex with your wife to me. If I had a wife”—I was going to add like Addison until Maddox narrowed his eyes, so I left that part off—“I would want to have sex with her, too. I mean, why else have a wife?”
Maddox snorted. “That’s why you don’t have a wife. They are not your personal sex worker.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Sex worker?”
“My lovely wife has been keeping me on the up and up and says that I spend too much time in an all-male environment. She said that if I’m going to work in law enforcement, I need to eliminate sexist ideas that many police officers practice. One of those is to stop calling women who work in the sex industry prostitutes and hookers. Sex worker recognizes that that they are workers, and it loses some of the negativity that is associated with the other titles.”
“Wow. That was more of an explanation than I needed.”
He shrugged. “You asked.”
“You’re right; I did. And while I’m glad your wife is educating you, I could have gone with the CliffsNotes version.”
I was happy that Maddox was liking his new career and was actually trying to be a good sheriff, unlike the previous guy. But jealousy turned in my gut. I’d retired from the Navy four months ago, and I still didn’t know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I tried to blame some of my waiting on my knee surgery, but I was just putting off the inevitable. I was going to have to find a job.
First, I’d have to find a place to live. I still lived in my house in Virginia, but being away from there, even for only a few days, had made me realize I couldn’t stay there and not feel homesick for the SEALs. And I didn’t want to return to New York, where I’d grown up. I’d never loved it there, which was one of the reasons I’d joined the military.
At the moment, I felt pretty lost, and I didn’t like it.
“Everything okay?” Maddox asked.
I smiled. “Yeah. But I’d better get going. What time should I be back for dinner? Do I need to bring anything?”
“I’ll pick the boys up around five, so a little after. Addison will be here if I’m not back yet.”
“Okay. I’ll see you then,” I said. I put my earbud back in, hit play on my phone, and headed back to the apartment.
6
Olivia
I pulled up to Addison and Maddox’s house at twenty minutes to five.
I had already done my grocery shopping and unpacked. Since it was almost five o’clock anyway, I had decided to head over to her house.
I had only been there once before, but it looked the same as I remembered.
Maddox’s SUV was in the garage along with Addison’s minivan. In the driveway was Maddox’s work vehicle—an SUV that read Carford County Sheriff on the side.
As I walked up the driveway, I had to wonder if the block had coordinated their lawn mowing to be on the same day. The neighbor right next door and the neighbor across the street were mowing, and then another guy a few houses up was also cutting his yard.
With the garage door open, I decided to enter the house that way since the front door was more formal. Once I was in the garage, I could see through the screen door that the main door was only about three-fourths of the way closed. I was surprised because it was so hot outside. But Addison must have left it open because she knew I was coming over.
While I was sure Addison wouldn’t care if I simply walked into her house, I knocked on the screen door anyway. I heard what sounded like a voice call out, but I couldn’t be sure because at the same time, the next-door neighbor chose that moment to mow the edge of his yard, right next to the garage.
But my friend knew I was coming, so I figured she was calling me in. It felt silly to yell back into the house and ask if she had told me to come in when I could just walk inside.
But within moments of entering the house, I realized Addison had not been yelling for me to enter. And I also knew why she hadn’t wanted me to come early. And more importantly, I understood that I should have listened
