Want to Know a Secret? (7)

“What sort of work does he do?” I wonder if he’s a lawyer like Elliot and Julie’s husband. There are a lot of lawyers on this block. And bankers. Most of them commute into the city—I’m lucky Elliot has an office out on the island.

“He has a contracting business.” She lifts her chin. “He started it from scratch. And in the last couple of years, it’s taken off.”

As if on cue, the front door lock turns. I jerk my head around just in time to see a guy with light brown hair and a well-trimmed beard lumber into the living room holding a bag of groceries. That must be Sean.

“Daddy!” Owen screams.

He abandons his Lego creation and propels himself at his father. What follows is several minutes of pretty adorable roughhousing between father and son. Owen loves it. Bobby looks on with a crease between his eyebrows, which makes me realize that this is something Elliot never does with him.

When Sean finally disentangles himself from Owen, he looks up and his eyes widen at the sight of me sitting in his kitchen. He clears his throat.

“Sean,” Maria says, “this is April and her son Bobby. They live next door.”

He straightens up and retrieves the bag of groceries from the floor. I can’t help but notice his worn T-shirt and frayed blue jeans are a far cry from what my husband was wearing today. “Next door, huh? Are you the one who keeps leaving us notes about our car being parked wrong? Or are you the one who makes cookies on YouTube?”

I laugh. “Cookies.”

A smile spreads across his lips as he deposits the groceries on the kitchen counter. “Well, then it’s nice to meet you, April.”

Sean’s dark blue eyes meet mine as he sticks out a hand for me to shake. I can’t help but notice that his palm is rough and calloused compared with my husband’s. Hmm, Elliot might not be the hottest husband on the block anymore.

“Sean was planning to take Owen to the park to practice soccer,” Maria explains.

My ears perk up. “Bobby adores soccer. Does Owen play a lot?”

“God, yes,” Maria says. “He loves every sport, but especially soccer. Sean used to coach back at his old school.”

“Oh yeah?” I shouldn’t be surprised. Sean looks like a natural athlete. “That’s great. What coach do you have here?

Sean pauses in the middle of sorting the groceries. “Unfortunately, we were too late to get Owen on the team. I put him on the waiting list, but we’re not hopeful.”

I feel my eyes light up. I love helping people out with problems. “I’m really good friends with Mark Tanner, Bobby’s coach. I could talk to Mark about putting Owen on the team.”

Sean beams at me. “You think you could do that?”

“Definitely.” I grin at the Coopers. “I’ll just make him up a batch of chocolate cupcakes. Nobody says no to chocolate cupcakes.”

“Thanks so much, April.” Sean puts the last of the groceries—a dozen eggs—in the refrigerator and then pours himself a cup of that terrible coffee. He takes a swig of it black. “Hey, would Bobby like to come to the park with us to practice now?”

That is a very tempting offer. Bobby loves playing soccer, but Elliot never has time to play with him during the weekend.

But at the same time, I’m still shaken about Bobby going missing. Even though I found him after less than fifteen minutes and he was perfectly safe the whole time, the thought of sending my little boy off with a man I literally met two minutes ago leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

“April is a little shaken up,” Maria explains to her husband. “Bobby wandered over here without telling her, and gave her quite a scare.”

“Oh?” Sean looks at me with interest.

I shrug and try to play it off. I didn’t even tell them about the creepy text message. “It was a bit scary when I didn’t see him in the backyard.”

Sean places a hand on his chest. “I promise, I will guard him with my life, April.”

He isn’t being facetious. I can tell he would keep a close eye on the boys. And probably protect them better than I ever could. I have a feeling if his son went missing, he wouldn’t shrug it off and say he “probably went to the neighbors.”

But even so, I don’t quite feel comfortable yet. And anyway, I need to have a talk with Bobby about running off without letting me know. I still can’t believe he did that. He definitely needs to be punished.

“Next time,” I promise.

Sean grins at me. “Sure. Owen and I are usually kicking the ball around in the backyard, so Bobby is always welcome to join us.”

“Or you could come to our backyard,” I add. “Ours is much bigger, so there’s more room to run around.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret them. These people don’t want me to point out that our house is twice the size of theirs. It’s obnoxious. I didn’t mean it that way anyway… I just meant that we have more space. That’s all.

Sean doesn’t seem offended, thank goodness. But now that he’s home, Owen is overeager to get to the park. I expect Bobby to beg to go with him, but he seems agreeable to heading back home. That’s good, because I don’t feel like fighting with him right now.

“I’ll see you at school drop off tomorrow,” I tell Maria as I herd Bobby out the front door.