“Alex’s sister.”
“Oh. Right.” She pushes past me into the apartment, dragging the boy in behind her.
“Excuse me—” I begin, but she whips around.
“Is Mike not up yet? I need him to take Henry for a few hours.”
Ah. Henry.
I give him a friendly smile and embarrassment paints his cheeks.
“You must be Mel,” I say, extending a hand.
She looks down at it, apparently trying to decide if I’m going to infect her with something. Then she gives it a limp shake, wincing with distaste as she does so.
Bloody hell. Alex wasn’t kidding about her.
“Yes, yes.” She flaps a hand. “Can I leave Henry with you? I need to go.”
I glance at Henry, alarmed. What would Alex want me to do? I mean, he lives here, so I don’t see why she can’t leave him with me. And Alex and Michael will be up soon.
“Er, sure. If you don’t mind, Henry?”
He shrugs, heading into the kitchen and grabbing himself a bowl of cereal.
“Great. I’ll be back to get him by four,” Mel says as she breezes past me.
“But I thought you said only a few hours? I don’t know if—”
“Thanks, bye!” The door swings shut behind her with a thud.
I exhale, wandering back into the kitchen. Henry is seated at the table, tucking into a bowl of Cheerios. His dark hair slants across his forehead, his eyes focused on his bowl. I return to my seat and pick up my coffee, taking a long gulp.
So that’s Mel. She’s… interesting.
Oh, who am I kidding? She’s terrifying. She’s statuesque and stunningly gorgeous, with glorious long dark hair and legs up to her armpits. Not only is she beautiful, she certainly seems confident—a little demanding, if not forceful.
Or just plain rude.
Poor Alex. It must be awful having her as the ex.
As if reading my mind, Henry glances up with a grimace. “Sorry about my mom.”
I bite my tongue and sip my coffee. “She seems… nice.”
He snorts, staring into his cereal. “You’re the first person to ever say that,” he mutters. Then he looks up at me again. “I’m so glad Dad met Alex. She’s really cool.”
This makes me smile. See? I knew Alex had nothing to worry about with Henry.
“So I guess you’re going to be my aunt,” he continues.
“Huh.” I hadn’t given it much thought, but he’s right.
Apprehension threads through me. Am I ready to be an aunt? What does an aunt do? Am I supposed to be a fun aunt, sneaking him booze and teaching him about girls? If that’s the case he’s going to be seriously disappointed—andnotbecause I don’t live here.
I chuckle to myself as I realize that this is exactly what Alex is going through right now, except on a much larger scale. She’s going to be a mother—a step-mother, but still. It sounds like she’s going to need to play a pretty big role in his life.
I hear a door open and a few moments later Alex appears in the kitchen, yawning. “Henry?” she asks, blinking in the morning light.
