Page 50 of See You at the Sunset

He looked up and caught her eye.

She lifted her hand and waved.

The others took notice and all waved as well.

“Hi, Henry!”

“Hey there, Hank!”

“Looking good there, handsome!”

Henry’s smile could not be helped, and it completely transformed his face. Jia had seen that smile more and more these days, and she liked it.

Henry walked over to greet the group, taking the shirt and pulling it back on over his head.

Shame.

“Walking Club?” he asked as he reached them.

“Yup, and we’re late. Are we leaving anytime soon?” Gerty growled.

“Shush, you big grouch. Not like we’re in some kind of race or anything.”

“Wanna join us?” Jia asked.

“I’m almost done with my run. I should go take a shower and get some breakfast ready for Dennis,” he said.

Jia nodded. “Hey, ask Dennis if he wants to join Walking Club next week.” She bent her head toward a couple of the folks with their walkers, trying to put Henry’s worries at ease if Dennis could keep up or not. She knew he was super protective.

“I’ll bring it up to him,” he said.

Jia’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. She hadn’t expected it to be that easy.

“Hey.” Henry took a step toward her.

“Watch out, Henry, there’s some dog—”

Jia looked down just as Henry stepped in a fresh pile of...

“Poop right there.”

“What the heck? Right here? In the middle of the sidewalk? Why don’t people pick up after their dogs? I thought that was common practice and courtesy,” Henry said.

“Sorry, Henry, it was probably Chewbacca here. He’s had some stomach issues the last couple days,” Harold said.

“Yeah, well, if you knew that, you should have prepared to pick up after him,” Henry replied.

“Hey, I get it. It’s disgusting,” Jia replied.

Henry was scraping the side of his shoe on the curb.

“But maybe just consider that some of the residents here aren’t as mobile as others and might not be physically able to bend down and pick up after their dogs. We’re a little more flexiblewith the rules here. Andcommon courtesymeans different things sometimes,” she said. She tempered her voice not to show her own frustration at Henry’s outburst. Not in front of the crowd.

She understood. In fact, she felt the same way when she’d first arrived. But as she paid attention and noticed limitations and best intentions, she’d stopped harping over things that weren’t that big of a deal. Not in the grand scheme of life here at The Sunset. She could relate to needing some extra grace and empathy more than she admitted.

Henry closed his eyes and shook his head trying to gather his composure.

Jia didn’t know why she bothered. She liked him. But he could be so uptight.