“I thought I might go out and take a walk around the neighborhood.”
It had taken Lyle the entire dinner and most of the way through loading the dishwasher to get up the nerve to make the declaration. Even then, he only managed to finally muster enough confidence because he could see his window of opportunity slipping away. Sure, he’d have been able to pull his father aside in private somewhere at some point, but he’d be lying if he didn’t acknowledge that he’d wanted to start the conversation where Mrs. Connor was in earshot. She seemed different than the rest of them, more likely to have his back, and Lyle was hoping that if the conversation started to drift north of civil…well, who really knew what she’d do? Maybe sit back and cackle over the chaos. Maybe she’d suddenly decide that Vaug
