I gawk at him. “Steven, you aremyfamily! He has a family! He can go see them for Halloween! He has no right to be here!” I felt myself getting louder by the second. Steven was nodding nervously in response, bracing himself for the inevitable impact of my impending breakdown that was sure to follow this conversation.
“Knock, knock! Hello!” Emma walks through the front door in time to witness the tension building in the middle of her living room. Looking between me and Steven, her eyes go wide. “What’s going on?”
“Steven, here, was just telling me someone’s idea for Halloween this year!” My voice is shrill as I grit a smile across my face. “Go ahead, tell her this brilliant idea,Steven!”
I storm past him, yanking the car keys from my sisters’ hand and storm out the front door. I climb into my sister’s car, texting Kate:
Then peel out of the driveway.
Chapter seven
Benny
IfIwasflexibleenough to kick myself in the head, I would have done it a hundred times by now.
Going home early from the party the other night was the worst idea I have ever had.
I am a dumb, silly boy.
Because now, I have to sit here and listen to Kate tell me all about how she spent the night eating waffles with Ellie, laughing and having a grand ole time.
Hooray. Good for her.
“Did you know she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Columbia? The girl is brilliant! I still can’t get over her coming here.” We were supposed to be discussing the fall campus visits, but instead I was being forced to listen to her recap how amazing her night was.
“Yes, I knew that. I did actually see her resume before hiring her, ya know,” I say, with more of a bite to my tone than I intended.
“What’s wrong with you?” She raises an eyebrow at me. She refuses to ask me directly what’s going on until she has tried to get it out of me with kind gestures. She is sweet, but also sneaky. Even when we were little, she would bring me a pet rock and encourage me to share my feelings with the rock. It worked . . . until I was thirteen and realized her strategy.
So all morning she’s been buttering me up. She even brought me a hot coffee, with full dairy creamer in hand, which was a sure sign that she could tell something was off. And knowing I missed an opportunity to get to know Ellie a little bit better the other night really isn’t helping my poor mood.
“I’m just tired. Frankie kept me up all night.” If I don’t give Kate any information she will keep force-feeding me the homemade bagels she brought.
“Is she sick again?”
“Most likely. But the sitter didn’t give her her medication the other night, and I didn’t realize it until the next day, so that didn’t help.”
Kate laughs. “I still can’t believe you won’t leave her home alone.”
“How can I? She’s only nine! That's absurd.”
“Benny . . .” Kate looks at me with judgy eyes. “It’s acat.It probably wants to be home alone!”
“Frankie”—I remind her the “it”we are discussing has a name thatshehelped pick out—“does not like to be alone. Plus, with how often she needs medicine she can’t be left alone for too long anyway. Which reminds me . . . I need to text her daycare.”
Kate lets out a loud annoyed groan and proceeds to leave my office. It amuses me how annoyed she gets about Frankie, considering she was there when I adopted her two years ago and she’s the one who told me to,“Get the ugly one.”
I had no idea she was being sarcastic until I paid the adoption lady two-hundred dollars to rehome a hairless cat with a fear of all living creatures and uncontrolled Diabetes.
I check-in with her daycare to confirm she was given her medication, and they respond quickly with a picture of Frankie sitting on top of the cat tower with the goofiest squint across her face. The photo makes me laugh out loud.
I try to bring my attention back to my phone when I notice Ellie across the hall, standing in her doorway, smiling at me. The sight of her jolts me out of my laughter.
She’s gorgeous. My new employee is my dream girl made real. Her brown hair flows down one side of her face, the other side, bare. It looks soft . . . her cheek . . . her neck . . . My throat goes dry when they land on her lips. They turn up on one side, a peek of her tongue sticking out in the corner. I gulp and try to focus on something else, something lessdistracting.
Why is she looking at me?
What should I do?
