The Push: A Sequel to The Pull by Sara V. Zook Page A

manners and should know when he was interfering, but he was obviously too stupid to come to this conclusion on his own. “She’s sad,” I stated bluntly. “In case you haven’t heard, her husband died yesterday.” I know I sounded like an asshole, but I didn’t care. I was tired and grumpy myself.
    “Yeah, I heard. That’s why I brought her this.” His eyes went to the countertop.
    “Is that a pie?” I questioned him.
    He frowned. “Yeah.”
    Okay then…
    “Did you make that yourself?”
    His eyes shot up to mine and glared. “Yeah. Why?”
    I shrugged as I reached up to open a cupboard, looking for cereal. Maybe there wasn’t any here. Maybe I was the only weirdo that was an adult and still ate cereal in the morning. “Just wondering,” I mumbled. I thought it was kind of strange he brought a pie, but I guess some people did do those sorts of things. I wasn’t exactly an expert on the normal things to take to a person’s house after they lost a loved one.
    “Sean?”
    I turned toward Livvy as she entered the kitchen. She had dark circles under her eyes. Her hair was still wet as she patted it with a towel. She was wearing a long blue robe and looked taken back by the visitor. See, I knew she wasn’t up for seeing this dude.
    “Hi,” the guy said, giving her a warm smile. He hadn’t smiled at me that way. He walked uneasily over to her and gave her an equally awkward hug.
    Livvy’s eyes shifted to me as she put the towel on the back of a chair and crossed her arms in front of her chest as if she were naked instead of wearing that robe. “What are you doing here?”
    Sean swallowed, hard. “I…I heard what happened. I just wanted to come and check in on you, make sure you’re all right. I made you a pie.” He pointed proudly to the pan sitting on the countertop. “Still should be warm if you want a piece. It’s cherry.”
    Liv nodded as she smiled, trying to be polite. Even I could see a mile away how forced that smile was. I was going to have to get this guy out of here.
    “Thanks, Sean.” She uneasily squeezed at the edges of her damp hair. “I wanted to thank you for the other night, too. What you did for me…taking me to the hospital and sitting with me…”
    Sean put up his hand, motioning that she didn’t have to go on. He grinned that goofy grin of his again. “I told you, it was really no problem. I saw a neighbor who needed help. You would’ve done the same for me.”
    Liv nodded again, her eyes going to the floor. She was distant, not in the mood for this meaningless conversation right now.
    “Hey, man, thanks for the pie. I’m sure it’s delicious,” I said, trying to wrap things up so he’d just go.
    She was so out of it, she hadn’t even commented on the smell of burnt egg/pan, or saw that the window was open.
    The guy got my hint, but he didn’t seem happy about it. What more did this guy want? He’d been able to see Livvy and tell her about his pie. I walked over to him, meaning to chauffeur him to the door. He dodged around me and made his way back in front of Liv. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Livvy,” he said in a low tone as if not wanting me to hear, “if you need anything—anything—just let me know. I live right down the road in the white brick house with a small windmill in the front yard. You may not understand why this is all happening now, but things happen for a reason, and you know I’ve been through it, so I’m speaking honestly from experience. Your heart hurts now, but in time, it’ll fade. I’m here for you, Livvy, as a friend…as whatever you need,” he added in there.
    I lowered my eyes in disgust. What the hell did that mean?
    “Don’t shut everyone out around you,” he continued. “You may come to realize we need each other as companions of similar circumstance.”
    “We have a lot of things to do today,” I interrupted him. “So…”
    He slowly removed his hand from her shoulder. Livvy looked up at him and only nodded