“No, I meant baking tools. Like measuring spoons, a rolling pin, a flour sifter. Look,” I invited, and I opened the cupboards to show her what I meant. Then we picked out what we’d need to use tonight and we also collected the ingredients. I’d been thinking about my own mother and how she’d won me over, andI’d already prepared for this moment. I smiled inwardly and congratulated myself on my foresight.
As we stirred and Lyra tested the chocolate chips by eating at least five or ten, she talked to me. “Silas and I don’t bake a lot. Never,” she said.
“I learned from my mom,” I told her. “She let me bake with her, but I wasn’t allowed to touch the oven or stove on my own. Your brother will let you know when you can do this on your own, too.”
“Ok.” She helped me crack the eggs and seemed fascinated by the goo left on her fingers.
“That’s called the white,” I said, and we talked about chickens for a while. She was equally fascinated to learn that I had grown up with them and with other animals as well, and she had all kinds of questions about horses, about cows, and especially about their poop. She definitely stuck out her lip when I explained how dealing with that issue was just part of life.
“Were you a farm girl?” Her face twisted, like it might have been the strangest thing she’d ever heard.
I managed not to laugh or even smile, and I only nodded seriously. “I was. I can dig holes, take care of plants, and do lots of other stuff outside. I’ll tell you a secret.” I was going to say that there were places around here with animals like chickens and cows, and that I would have been happy to visit them with her.
But when Lyra heard those words, I lost her. She had been sitting relaxed, even leaning a little toward me, but she stiffenedand pulled away. “No, I don’t keep secrets,” she said. “I tell Silas everything.”
“This isn’t really a secret,” I explained, but she was shaking her head and I let it drop. We finished the cookies but it wasn’t the wonderful bonding experience that I’d imagined, and after she eaten a few, she went up to bed. I walked by the bathroom, just casually, and did see that she actually used her toothbrush. She closed her bedroom door firmly as I said goodnight, but when I checked a while later, she was totally asleep. The moonlight that gently lit her room showed a very little girl curled in the big bed, and I didn’t give into the urge to go and straighten her sheet.
Silas was done at two, which I knew from the night that I’d fallen asleep at Château Moderne while I waited for him. I sat on the couch to wait again and I drank a cup of black tea while I did. I fell asleep anyway.
“Camille, do you want to stay down here? I’ve been on that couch before and it’s like lying on a rock slab. Camille. If you’re like me, your back’s going to hurt in the morning. Camille?”
I opened my eyes and blinked at the lights that I’d left on. They hadn’t kept me awake either. “I don’t want to sleep,” I explained. “I was staying up to talk to you.”
“Ok, let’s talk.” He moved to sit on the couch where my legs already occupied the space, and I quickly bent them so I wouldn’t be injured. “How’s Lyra?”
“She’s ok. We made cookies.”
“Oh, yeah?” He made a move to get up again but I grabbed his arm before he could go to the kitchen. In the glare from thebulbs above us, he looked tired, which made sense at this time of the morning. I probably looked awful, too, because my face was bare and my hair was in a knot. I had always gone to bed with makeup on and left my hair down for Dax. He had come home even later than this but often wanted to wake me up for sex. Or mostly, he’d just wanted a blowjob, like he’d gotten from that woman Deb—
I put my hand over my mouth. “I didn’t even think about diseases!” I burst out. I would have to go to the doctor and maybe find out more terrible information.
“What? You mean my sister’s sick?” He got very worried. “Something’s wrong with the cookies?”
“No, she’s really fine,” I said. “They’re fine, too. Never mind.” He seemed to want to ask more, but I had plenty to question him about first. “What did you mean when you said that the problem might be resolved? Did you talk to Dax?”
“I dropped by the Gargajo. Have you been to that bar?” I shook my head and he nodded. “Yeah, you shouldn’t start going. It’s disgusting and coming from me, that means something. Your mealworm ex hangs out there but when I walked in, he and one of his little pals ran to hide in the bathroom. I let the rest of them know that the song about you is over.”
“Over?” I echoed.
“He’s going to make sure it doesn’t get played and I don’t care how that happens. I also said that some idiots had broken into your apartment, and I can guess who did it. I told them that if I got any confirmation, then those people would be in a wholeheap of deep, stinking shit because I would be coming after them. I said that nobody better move one inch closer to you and that they should pass that bit of advice to their skinny, stupid friend, the one who’s afraid to go piss without an escort.”
“What did they say back?” I asked, fascinated. I’d heard Dax bluster, but I’d never heard him threaten in a way that would actually be scary. If I had been there in the bar listening to Silas, I might have cried.
“They didn’t say a whole lot. They promised that they only hang out with him because he pays for everything, so I suggested that they find some other way to get free drinks. Anyway, two of them started to sweat, and one looked like he was tearing up.”
I nodded understandingly. “Do you think that will work?”
“We’ll see,” he answered. “If it doesn’t, we’ll try something else. How do you feel about…nah, we won’t discuss criminal enterprises. I forgot for a minute that you’re a lawyer. Wouldn’t you have a duty to report me?” He stood and stretched, rolling his neck. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”
I turned off the lights and walked up the stairs ahead of him. “Thank you,” I said.
“Quid pro quo, Camille.”
I got to my bedroom door and looked over my shoulder. “I wouldn’t report you.”
“I know,” Silas answered, and disappeared into the darkness of the hall.
Chapter 6
