"Could we make it 11?" A knock on the door caught Nicole's attention. "Just a minute." She yelled across the room, "Call me if there's anything before then, Lou."
Nicole opened the door to find Declan leaning against the railing.
"Mrs Trager."
"Lori's not here."
"Oh." There was an odd troubled sound to Declan's voice.
"Something wrong?"
"No, I just needed to talk to her."
"Well Steven and the kids went to pick up dinner and a couple of movies." She glanced at her wristwatch. "They should be back in a little while. You want to come in a wait?"
"No, it's okay." Declan turned to leave.
Something about his demeanor troubled Nicole. Perhaps it was just her inner therapist, or an overly active Mother complex brought on by having Kyle around. But something in her was setting off an alarm that something was going on.
"Hold it."
Declan stopped in his tracks. "It's nothing, really."
"It's so nothing that you walked all the way over here instead of calling. It's so nothing that you look like someone stole your dog."
"I don't have a dog."
"You know what I mean." Nicole smiled. "I'm a really good listener."
Declan stood thinking for a moment. After a long pause, he nodded and walked inside.
