The Girl He Knows by Kristi Rose

Author:Kristi Rose [Rose, Kristi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 978-1-61650-560-8, humor, girl, next, door, best, friend's, brother, military, divorce, second, chance, hometown, Navy, Florida, friendship, friends, to, lovers, American, new, adult, romance
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

I arrive at Gigi’s to find kids running around the front yard. The neighbor parent is standing around chatting with a different neighbor. There’s no sign of Gigi. I know John’s home because his government car is parked in the driveway, crooked.

“Hey, Pete,” I call out. “Where’s your mom?”

“Inside, wrestling with Pop,” he yells, without breaking stride as he chases his neighbor, Eddie, around the yard. I watch him take aim, throw the ball, and bounce it squarely off the back of Eddie’s head.

I walk through the garage and bang on the door. Does Pete mean fighting? Could John be roughing Gigi up? The thought stops me in my tracks, but I shake it off. If John was manhandling Gigi in any sort of fashion, Hank would pound him onto the dirt. I figure Pete must mean they’re arguing. If I’m right and they are, as I think they often do, I don’t want any part of it. I had my rumble for the day.

No one comes to the door. I knock harder, waiting a few beats before I pull it open.

“Yoo-hoo,” I say.

Gigi comes running around the corner looking flushed and unkempt. How do these people fight? Is it really a wrestling match in the Matthewses’ household? I’m not about to ask.

“Sorry, Paisley.” She’s out of breath. “I’ll be ready in a minute. You’ll have to move your car ’cause John has to go to work. We’ll take mine.”

She leans out the kitchen door and hollers, “Pete, get your backpack. We’re leaving in five minutes.”

She bustles off toward her room, and John comes around the corner with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. A holster wraps around his shoulder and tucks under his arm. It’s weighed down with a gun. I see what Gigi likes about him. Physically, I mean. Back in the day when they were dating, he was pretty fun for the quiet sort. Of course, they dated for only six months before they married. Everyone’s fun the first six months. But how can a girl like the guy who obviously makes her best friend miserable?

I move my SUV onto the side of the road, load Pete into Gigi’s SUV, and honk the horn. She comes running out, loaded down with bags and presents. Looking at her now makes me wonder how she manages a household. She’s always been the organized and methodical one, but today she’s disheveled and appears weary, or simply beat down, not giving off good vibes about the whole marriage-and-kid thing. I suppose it’s harder when a single parent runs the house. John’s an FBI agent with the Tampa office and stays busy. Before they had a child, it didn’t seem to be such a big deal if he was gone for few weeks at a time or the occasional overnight. Now Gigi voices her concerns about Pete being without his dad for extended periods and her role as both parents. I want to point out perhaps drinking while doing housework isn’t

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