She hesitated. “Aren’t you leaving, too?”

I gestured toward Magnus. “I feel like I should keep an eye on him and explain the situation. When did Noah say he would be back?”

“Six.” She took her keys out but had that knowing look I hated. “And you’re, what, going to wait for Noah to come home? Because you miss him and want to see him again?”

My stomach flipped over lightly that she could read me so easily. “It’s not like that.”

“Oh, I think it is.”

“You’re entitled to your delusions,” I told her.

“You say delusion, I say complete and total fact.”

“See you at home,” I repeated so she would take the hint.

“Or not,” she responded, waggling her eyebrows at me. “Dealer’s choice.”

“Just go,” I said with a laugh.

She waved and gave Magnus a wide berth as she headed for the door. I heard it close and then realized I was hungry. Noah was supposed to be home in an hour. I could probably wait until then. I considered going into his kitchen but decided that was rude and possibly invasive, although technically I was doing him a favor, and feeding me was, like, the least he could do.

I messed around on my phone for a while but it started getting low on battery, so I put it away. Magnus came in carrying his food bowl in his mouth.

“Are you hungry, boy?” I asked, taking it from him. “Me too. But let’s get you taken care of first. Where’s your food?” I followed him to a skinny pantry and found a massive bag of kibble. I filled up his bowl and put it down for him. “Here you go.”

And that was the most exciting thing that happened to me for the next few hours as five turned to six and then seven and eight and finally, a bit after nine o’clock, I heard the keys in the front door. Magnus ran to greet Noah, barking loudly.

No part of me was excited that he was home. I was sitting at the kitchen table, drumming my fingers, and I was so thoroughly annoyed with him. Plus, I was now starving. Why did he say he’d be back by six when he wasn’t? Maybe six meant something different where he was from. But we’d both been born in Southern California, so that couldn’t be it, either. Maybe it was because he never went to a real school and was just really bad at counting.

I heard him telling Magnus hello and I couldn’t resist calling out, “About time!”

“Juliet? You sound pleasant.” There was muffled movement, like he was taking a jacket off and hanging it up in a closet.