Chapter Four
The weather outside is beautiful as the sun begins setting in the distance. It's August so in Tennessee that means the weather is perfect temperature for outdoor activities. There's a slight breeze that's blowing through my hair but isn't making me cold, just refreshed.
Sadie loves going on walks and I think I love them just as much. It's an opportunity for the two of us to get out and do something with the outside world. I get so caught up in daily things that I often forget to appreciate the beauty of consistency. The sun rising and setting everyday is beauty in itself and there are times when stopping to realize that can impact your life.
We get to the end of my street and a kid I recognize see's me. It's a boy I used to babysit two years ago. He's grown up a lot since then and if I'm doing my math correctly it's because he's twelve now. I used to babysit a ten year old version of him with a crooked smile and goofy brown hair that flipped over his eyes.
"Emma?" he questions from his mailbox and a grin grows on his face.
"Hey, Drew. You've gotten older." I say dumbly and he laughs.
"That typically happens as time passes."
He's surprised to see me. I never got to say goodbye to him personally, just his mother when I told her I wouldn't be available anymore.
I was fourteen when I babysat him and we were only four years apart so we became close. He grew to be a friend of mine even though he was the goofy ten year old down my street. He's a sweet kid and if there's anything I'll never forget about Drew it's his kindness.
"Why are you back in town? Mom said you moved to California."
"I moved to live with my dad for a little while." he nods in understanding and I like how he already knows where I'm coming from without me having to explain myself. He was there when my parents filed a divorce and he helped talk me through it. He was mature for a ten year old and he was also very understanding. His parents are still happily married but he was able to put himself in my shoes long enough to be supportive and help. He wasn't just a kid I babysat but a friend.
It's good having an old friend to talk to. I've been moving so much recently that not many of those still exist and it sucks. I took my friends for granted and never realized how much they meant until they were thirty two hours away.
Sadie brings us out of our catching up by barking at something. I bend down to pet her and try to calm her down but it doesn't work. She bolts forward and manages to get free of my hold.
I wasn't expecting her to try and run off like that so my grip on the leash wasn't tight enough to stop her.
"I'll help you find her." Drew says quickly and I shake my head.
His parents won't know where he went and although I don't babysit him anymore I do still try to look out for him. His mother would freak if she couldn't find him anymore, especially since she's the overprotective type who barely lets him cross the parking lot without holding his hand.
Drew knows what I'm not saying and he nods once to let me know he'll stay behind.
I dart across the street in the direction Sadie went. My feet pound against the concrete and I feel like if I go any faster I would become a blur to people sitting on their porches.
Even going as fast as I possibly can, Sadie is still undoubtedly faster and I know it.
As I run, there's a blaring noise that floats through the quiet streets. The farther I run, the louder it gets. Sadie must've heard it from Drew's house but it wasn't loud enough for the human ear to pick it up.
I know my dog well enough to know that's exactly where she's headed.
I follow the noise and end up outside a red, brick house. It's two story but doesn't look necessarily big, just homey. It looks big enough for a nice family to live here and maybe own a fish or two. It isn't the mansion house you'd see on the cover of Better Homes and Garden magazine.
The front door is open wide and I'm already having my suspicions. The alarm keeps blaring and I take a breath and slowly make my way up the front porch. There's a light smoky smell coming from the inside.
"Hello?" I call inside the open door. The house is a cute, modern house. I can tell kids live here just from looking at the walls. There are photos of artwork decorating the walls and for some reason that eases my thoughts. You can't a serial killer but have pictures of purples cats on your wall can you?
I open my mouth to call out for my dog but instead of saying anything, I hear a bark. Sadie's bark to be exact. It's coming from inside the house and her bark alone was enough motivation to make me run inside a strangers house.
My feet quickly wander to the livingroom and I'm suddenly not afraid of who I might find anymore. Sadie is standing beside the staircase with a little boy and girl petting her and laughing.
My eyes continue to roam the room and it's only now that I realize the mess taking place in their livingroom. There's a pillow on one side of the room and a couch cushion thrown onto the recliner. A stack of paper has been scattered across the floor and an empty plate is setting on the edge of the coffee table.
Sadie is the first to see me and she barks in my direction.
"I assume the dog belongs to you." a deep voice says and I turn towards the kitchen to find Trace standing there holding the smoke detector.
He takes the batteries out and it finally stops it's constant beeping.
Of course the house my dog happens to run into and trash belongs to a guy I have to see everyday at school. It couldn't have been a young women who I could clean up for and leave like nothing ever happened, it had to be Trace.
"Um, yea."
He touches a pan on the counter once quickly, then rests his finger on it for another moment to make sure it's really cool. Satisfied, he picks it up and dumps an entire pan of cookies into the trash can. From my spot at least five feet away I can see the extra... crispiness that they hold. They're all a deep shade of brown and I'm suddenly very aware as to why the smoke detector was blaring through the neighborhood.
"They're all ruined?" the little girl pouts and Trace's eyes soften.
"I'm sorry, we can go get ice cream after we get the house back in order."
"I'm so sorry. I'll clean up everything and pay for anything broken."
His eyes scan the living room and he takes in the complete disaster in front of him. He sees the papers covering the floor, a pillow setting beside the coffee table, a couch cushion missing from the couch and finally his eyes land on the plate. A frown takes over his face, "She ate my sandwich?" he whines like an eight year old and I try to remember that this isn't the appropriate time to laugh.
He walks around the counter and crosses his arms when he gets to me.
I gulp and wait for him to start his yelling because that's what would make sense, right? He should be angry at me for allowing my dog to get into his house and wreck it. But his eyes tell me something completely different. He isn't angry with me, a little annoyed maybe but not angry.
His eyes search my face for a short moment, "Olivia if you could get the pillows that'd be great. Dylan," his eyes move to the little boy, "get the dishes and anything else that seems out of place."
The two kids nod and begin doing what their was asked of them. Trace bends down and begins picking up the lose papers and I do the same, stacking them neatly on the coffee table.
Their house has a lived-in feel to it and I love that feeling. I hate walking into a house where everything has a place and everything is in it's place. Houses that have an odd feeling of perfection scare me.
I like when counters have mail and walls have pictures showing proof of residence instead of an old flower painting that was bought at the store. I like houses like this one where you can tell happy people live here and play.
"Sadie seems to really love them," I gesture to my dog following Dylan around the house wagging her tail.
Dylan looks about ten or eleven and Olivia looks around nine. Whatever their ages are, they're adorable.
Trace lets out a small laugh, "Yea, they're pretty hard not to love."
The way he talks about them lets me know he really cares for the two kids walking around his house. I'm not certain if they're his sibling or not but their similarities let me know they have some type of relation.
They don't share hair or eye color but Dylan has the same face shape and Olivia has the same nose and smile.
The living room gets cleaned up pretty fast when four people work together on it. I grab Sadie's leash that she's been dragging around with her.
Dylan and Olivia rush up to tell my dog bye, petting her head and back furiously.
"Do you need a ride home?" Trace asks me and grabs his keys from the counter.
My dog just trashed his house and he's offering me a ride? They're about to get ice cream so my house would be on the way but I don't want to feel like I'm intruding more that I already have.
"No," I look down at Sadie, "she still needs the exercise so we'll just walk home."
I mentally face palm when I see his eyebrows furrow at my lame excuse. Luckily, he doesn't say anything about it as he nods slowly.
Sadie and I walk out of the already opened front door and Trace follows, closing the door behind him. He makes his way to his truck and my dog and I begin walking across the dark yard and heading home.
Authors Note:
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