She has a point.
I start lining the blocks up in a square, and once I’ve got a pen big enough for the stuffed lion, she places it inside.
“Now the giraffe!”
This continues for about half an hour, during which time Micah fixes some popcorn shrimp and mashed potatoes. The smells from the kitchen have my mouth watering, and I start to get distracted. I end up putting a goat in with the lion, and Hailey giggles at my mistake.
“Miss Iris! The lion’s gonna eat him!”
I put on my best horrified face. “Oh no! We can’t let that happen!” I take the goat out of the lion’s cage and pantomime a sign of relief. “Whew! I saved him.”
“Yay!” Hailey waves her hands in the air in celebration of the stuffed goat’s rescue.
“Dinnertime, ladies.” Micah appears in the doorway to the kitchen with a towel thrown over his shoulder. “Come on. I finally got us a dining table, so we can have a proper dinner.”
“How did I miss this?” I ask as I follow Micah through the kitchen into the dining area. A small, square wooden dining table sits in the center of the room, with a bouquet of flowers in the middle and dishes set at three of the places. Micah even went so far as to put a neatly folded napkin under each set of utensils.
Micah nudges my ribs. “You’ve been busy. I just bought this the other day, while you were at work. You were probably neck-deep in a Zoom meeting when I brought it home.”
I groaned and leaned against him. “That or a contract negotiation.”
His hand rubs the small of my back. “Well, that’s done for the week. Now’s the time to relax a bit.”
“Yeah. Thank God for that.”
We all sit down to eat, and I giggle as I watch Hailey stab a shrimp with her fork and smash it in the middle of her mashed potatoes. She eats the concoction with a grin. My eyes widen, and Micah leans over to explain.
“She doesn’t like cocktail sauce. This is her alternative.”
“Ah.” Since Idolike cocktail sauce, I pour a small dab onto my plate and dip a shrimp in it. Whatever spices Micah used in the batter for the shrimp pair exquisitely with the sauce, and I moan a little as I chew. As with everything Micah makes, it’s delicious. I tell him as much, and he smiles.
“Thanks. I like to add a little kick to it.” He scoops up a forkful of potatoes and takes a bite. When he’s done chewing, he swallows hard and dabs the corners of his lips with his napkin. “So, what are your plans for the weekend? Are you burning the midnight oil?”
“God, no! I am unplugged this weekend. My only plans involved a much overdue visit here with you two.”
“Great!” He perks up and looks at Hailey. “Should we ask her?”
Hailey nods. “Uh huh!”
“Ask me what?”
Micah gestures to Hailey, and she wiggles in her seat. “Miss Iris, will you come to the zoo with us tomorrow? We’re gonna see the monkeys!”
“How cool! I’d love to go see the monkeys with you.”
Hailey grins and smashes another shrimp into her potatoes. Micah chuckles and ruffles her hair.
“That’s great. We were going to leave early to beat traffic.” He raises an eyebrow and gestures with his fork. “Should we come pick you up, or …?”
I get his gist, and I giggle at the unspoken question. “I’ll run home and grab a change of clothes after dinner. That is, if you’re okay with me staying the night again.” I wink at him as I take a sip of wine. “I mean, we can’t have Karen thinking I’m shacking up with you.”
Micah groans at that and rolls his eyes. “Jesus, it’s not like she doesn’t already think that! That woman has been like a dog with a fucking bone lately. You know she thought I was jet-setting off for some stupid affair when I was gone to the convention? She implied that I made you watch Hailey so I could go fly across country to get laid.”
I almost spit out my wine at that. “You’re kidding!”
“Nope. Dead serious. She actually used the word ‘galivanting.’ It was nuts.”
If I didn’t know Karen, I’d say that was nuts. I do know her, though, and I can totally see her accusing Micah of some kind of torrid affair just because he was gone for a day. That woman has lost her nut, and I say as much.
