Relief floods me. “Not fucking around with me like that, you aren’t.”
“It’s the sex, genius. My legs are wobbly.” She picks up my T-shirt and wanders out the bedroom door.
While she showers, I make coffee, then pull out a couple of go cups. She’s right about us being better parents. I decide to start right now. I look around the kitchen. No Oscar. I guess I’ll be a better parent when I see him.
When Selkie enters, she’s wearing her freshly laundered clothes. “What are people gonna think?” she says as she takes the mug I proffer. “Wearing the same clothes two days in a row. It’s just not done.”
My eyes drink her in as I take a sip of coffee. “Who’s gonna notice? That’s pretty much your uniform.”
She looks down at her tee and frowns. “I should probably mix it up a bit. Get something with lace.”
As if that would ever happen. “I think lace is out of fashion these days.” I head to the garage.
“Really? Well, you are the fashion expert,” she replies as she follows.
When we’re on the road, I head toward the clubhouse, but she shakes her head. “We gotta get my car out of impound.”
“It’s gonna cost us more to get it out than it’s worth.”
“Not us, me,” she says as she crosses her arms and juts her chin.
“Okay, you,” I correct.
“First, it’s my only means of transportation, and second, I might need to borrow some cash until I get my check… in the mail.”
“How about we go to the clubhouse first, grab the kids, take them for food, then get the car.” I think back to how long it’s been since I’ve eaten. “I’m starving.”
“Then the impound will be closed and I won’t be able to get it until tomorrow.”
I groan. “How does that matter?”
“I don’t know,” she exclaims. “I just don’t know.”
I take the small victory and drive to the clubhouse. Inside, it’s so quiet even the crickets aren’t chirping. “Where’s everyone?” I say to no one.
Selkie seems to think the remark is addressed to her. “I don’t know. Maybe your boss took them on a job. It seems like something he would do.”
“Right. I forgot. You’re Hangman’s daughter.”
She laughs. “Sure, if he fathered me when he was 10.”
“It’s possible.” I do the math in my head. “How old are you exactly?”
She frowns. “Thirty. Two years ago. I’m still coming to terms with it.”
She’s older than me by three years. But does that matter? I decide it doesn’t.
“And you are?”
“Younger,” I tell her.
“Younger as in I’ll have to get Henri to call me Selkie when you’re around?”
I grin. “Younger as in I’ll turn 30 in a couple of months.”
Haley distracts us from our discussion as she comes out from the kitchen, her kids following her. “Hi!” she says in her usual upbeat manner. “How’re you guys?”
Guess she hasn’t been updated by the events of last night. “Where’s everyone?” I ask.
