“Every day,” Eddie agrees. “He works so long that he adds hours to the day, which is astrologically impossible.”
“Astronomically,” Charlie corrects.
“Astrologically. It means big, you dumb butt.”
“Astrology is that baloney about Capricorns and horoscopes. Astronomy is about the stars.Astronomicallymeanshumongomously.”
“Humongomously isn’t a word.”
“You’re not a word.”
“You’re here for burgers?” Bea interrupts as they attempt to shove each other around me.
“I want Butch’s burgers,” Charlie says. “His are better than yours. You do false advertising.”
I stifle a rare sigh. “We don’t know that until we try them.” I hear the phrasehang you out the window by your toenailsflit through my head, and I wince once again.
So now I’m becoming my worst nanny too.
“When’s the last time you ate?” Bea asks.
“Three days ago,” Eddie says at the same time Charlie replies, “We’ve been punished with lack of food.”
My god, they’re about to getmearrested. “They had nine eggs and four pieces of ham and seven tomatoes and at least a full can of beans between the two of them for breakfast.”
“How many hours ago?” she asks me.
“Three. Four. And they ate four large pizzas and a gallon of ice cream last night when my meeting ran—it was the first meeting that ran long in weeks. I workedfivehours yesterday. We played Frisbee golf. And they bested me in cricket too.”
Hudson appears behind Bea, and she turns and takes two cardboard trays from him, then hands one to each of my boys.
Hamburgers.
Chips—pardon,fries.
A pickle spear and lettuce and tomato and onion slices.
My boys both grab a handful of fries from their burger baskets and shove them into their mouths in sync.
They’re fraternal, not identical, but their mannerisms are often indistinguishable.
“That’ll be seventy-five dollars,” Bea says to me.
Hudson leans out of the bus and taps a QR code displayed prominently beside the window. “And don’t forget to tip your servers.”
Butch growls softly.
Tank folds his arms over his chest.
Bea rolls her eyes. “Oh, don’t act like it’s highway robbery. I’ll get you all burgers too. No extra charge beyond the seventy-five. Ask Pinky. They’re worth it.”
Remarkable.
My emotions feel as though someone’s playing ping-pong with them, but Bea Best tries to rob me, and I’m suddenly smiling again.
Her fried fish bewitched me.
And I don’t mind.
