Page 50 of Better Than Baby
“Sorry, sorry. Hang on.”Shit, shit, shit.First things first…I bribed Murphy with a few more snacks than usual, found his leash, and excused myself. “I’ll be back in one minute or less. Curt will um…offer you a drink.”
“Uh…yeah, of course.”
I didn’t stick around to make sure Curt could handle my guest. I also didn’t bother with a jacket. Yeah, it was fuckingfreezing outside, but Todd and Jess lived close by and this was an emergency.
“Matt! Hi, I was just going to pop by to?—”
“I can’t talk,” I intercepted, shoving Murphy’s leash at Jess. “The inspector showed up early, Murph destroyed the house, and it’s a whole situation.”
“Go…and good luck.”
I raced up the path to my house, slid on a patch of ice, and accidentally tripped and landed in a snowbank.
Oh, for fuck’s sake!
I brushed my cold, red palms on my wet jeans, skidded onto the porch, and turned the knob. It was locked.
Well, this probably didn’t look good, but I had no choice but to knock on my own door.
Curt answered. “Oh, hi, honey.”
“Very funny,” I hissed. “Where is he?”
“In the kitchen. I gave him water and—oh, damn. Is that Aaron?”
I swiveled on my heels toward the driveway where Aaron was getting out of a car I sort of recognized. Maybe his mom’s. I waited for him ’cause yeah, I was definitely going to have to explain the fuckery unraveling inside.
Shit.
“What are you doing here?” I squeaked.
“The inspector is on his way, and Gabby said we should both be at the house.” He gave a tired smile. “I tried calling you, but—you’re wet. What happened?”
“Uh…I’m…yes. And Murphy had zoomies, but he’s with Jess and Todd and—” I blew out a deep breath and squinted. “Where’s Mia?”
“My mom stayed at the hospital so I could come home for this. I didn’t have my car. Dad dropped me off, and—hi, Curt.”Aaron narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why are you blocking the door? What are we waiting for?”
Aaron didn’t wait for an answer. He moved around Curt and me, and gasped. One of those full-stop, hand on your heart gasps.
Curt and I shared a panicked look before braving the chaos within…the strewn pillows and toys everywhere.
Deon, a middle-aged man in his fifties with dark skin and gray hair, was at the island sipping water, his sharp eyes cataloging the aftermath of Murphy’s mayhem while Aaron gaped.
Great. We weren’t off to an ideal start, but the ball was rolling and there’d be no redo.
I cleared my throat and stepped forward, offering Deon my hand. “Hi, again. I didn’t have a chance to introduce myself properly. I’m Matt.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Deon and your hand is freezing,” he replied, his eyes crinkling with humor.
“Sorry. I fell in the snow.”
“Happens to the best of us.” Deon motioned to Curt. “And this is your husband?”
“Gross, no,” we said in unison.
“I’m Aaron, Matt’s husband,” Aaron interjected, skewering us with a stern stare that under different circumstances would have been hot as hell. “Something tells me that you may have met Murphy.”
“A furry ball of energy about yea high?” Deon stooped to give an approximate measurement of the red menace.