“Sorry,” she says quickly, taking a step back. Her eyes catch mine, dilated pupils in twin pools of blue. She’s blushing, and I wonder if the contact had the same effect on her as it did on me.
“I wasn’t trying to push you out of the way,” she says, “but you really don’t need to wash my dishes. Can I get you another drink? Coffee, tea, something like that?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
“Well, sit down at least, or you’ll make me feel guilty for putting you to work.” She gestures to a pair of stools at the counter, and I sit.
“My tummy wants to watch TV,” Liam tells her.
I bite back a laugh, but Melissa takes it in stride. She’s clearly heard this before.
“And what about your right knee?” she teases.
“It wants to watch TV too,” Liam says earnestly.
“And your toes?”
Liam nods vigorously. “Them, too.”
“Okay, then. You too, Claire?”
Claire nods, and Melissa leads them into the next room. A moment later, I hear the peppy music of a kids’ show.
Melissa returns to the kitchen. “Claire pretends she’s too old for the shows Liam likes, but it’s all an act,” she says, taking a seat next to me at the counter. “Nothing like a little screen time for developing brains.”
“If I remember right, it was Liam’s tummy that wanted to watch TV, not his brain.”
Melissa rolls her eyes. “Oh, you remember right. I still don’t know where that came from.” She lowers her voice toa whisper. “About a month ago, he told me his penis wanted to eat cake.”
It’s such an unexpected remark that I can’t contain a snort of laughter.
“I know, right?” Melissa says with a giggle. “It sounds like something out of a bad porn film. I told him it wasn’t polite to talk about his penis, and of course he asked why.”
“So what did you tell him, Melissa?”
She shrugs. “Fell back on the old parental favorite.Because I said so.”
“And how did he take that?”
“Well, he hasn’t mentioned it again, and I haven’t had any awkward calls from his preschool. So far so good, I guess.”
“They seem like great kids, Melissa.”
“Yeah, they are.”
She gets up to turn on the oven, and my eyes follow her across the kitchen. She must sense me watching, because she tugs her T-shirt down so I can no longer see any skin.
“The kids are supposed to go to their dad’s this weekend,” she says as she sits back down next to me. “You think Claire’s well enough to go to Toronto?”
I pause for a minute before answering. There’s no doubt that Claire’s well enough, but it’s clear that Melissa’s hesitant to send her.
“I think so,” I say carefully. “She’s two weeks out from surgery, and if there was going to be a complication, it should have happened by now.”
Melissa nods. “And I guess if something does happen, Troy can always take her to the hospital in Toronto.”
“I hear they have a children’s hospital there,” I deadpan.
Melissa grins. “I’ll never forget the look on your facewhen Troy told you there was a children’s hospital in Toronto.”
