“All right. See you at noon.” She ended the call and threw the phone onto the table.
“If I didn’t love this internship so much, and need it, I’d tell that big baby to screw himself,” Sara scoffed before standing. “Are you sure you don’t mind taking her for the afternoon?”
“Not at all. Hey, Victoria!” I called into the living room. “Want to visit my comic book store?”
She came barreling back toward me. “You have a comic book store?”
“Well, it’s not mine. But it’s where we go to pick up stuff. We’ll stop by while your mom has to work. Deal?”
“Deal!” She launched herself at me and tackled my neck with a choking hug. I hugged her back just as tight.
“And I could show you the rest of that story!”
“What story?” Sara asked as she studied us with a perplexed gaze.
“I wrote a superhero story for the writer’s program at school. I let Drew see the first part. I would show you, but you wouldn’t get it.”
Sara’s eyebrows shot up as she glared at the both of us. I offered a shrug, holding back the twitch of my lips.
“So, you guys have what, your own comic club?”
“Well, not exactly our own,” I tapped my chin. “If you learn, we could let you in. Right, Victoria?”
“Yeah . . . we could.” I burst out laughing at Victoria’s reluctance.
Sara shook her head before backing away. “I better get ready for work, wouldn’t want to get in your way or anything.”
“Thanks, we appreciate it.” I winked, loving the glower on Sara’s face before she made her way down the hallway.
“Okay, pretty girl. You got your wish. You can watch a movie for a little bit before we go out.”
“We can show Mommy the story. I wouldn’t want her to feel bad. You can read first and tell me if it’s good.” She leaned against the table, fidgeting with the drawstring on her pajama pants.
“If you wrote it, it’s always good.” I kissed her forehead. “Go.”
She rewarded me with an ear-splitting grin and settled herself back in the living room on the couch.
The strangest thing about Victoria’s visit, or about how well we all fit together, was that . . . it wasn’t strange at all.
I spent double what I would normally spend on comics for an afternoon, but I couldn’t help myself. Victoria was so excited it was infectious, and the bewilderment on her face made me buy anything she looked at for more than two minutes. She was easy to spoil, never asking for a single thing but so thankful for everything. That along with her beauty was a trait passed down directly from her mother.
“Hi, there!” One of the McQuaid’s waitresses greeted us at the door. I vaguely remembered her from Valentine’s Day. She was nice, if over-attentive. “You must be Victoria. I’m so honored to meet you. My name is Corinne.” She held out her hand to Victoria.
“Hi.” Victoria took her hand with a sheepish smile. “How do you know my name?”
“Your mom talks about you all the time. And what a pretty girl you are! How about two loaded brownies for both of you? The kitchen is quiet, so it’ll only take me a few minutes!”
“Quiet,” I snickered to myself. That’s why Sara had to come in on her day off. I exhaled the rage building in my system for Victoria’s sake.
“What’s a loaded brownie?”
“A brownie covered in ice cream and fudge.” I raised an eyebrow and laughed at the slow smile stretching her lips. “How about one brownie and we’ll split it? It’s big and we still have dinner later.” I squeezed her shoulder and she nodded without turning around. Wow, when did Phil get here? I was taken aback by the stepfather-like words falling from my lips. I felt . . . responsible for Victoria. I didn’t mind it; it was a tad unnerving how natural it was.
“So, did you have fun? Cool place, right?”
“Yeah. I think my dad has to build an extra shelf in my room. I should tell him and Bri later.”
The happy kid from a few minutes ago seemed to slip away under my radar.
