“Or, she’s laying in bed reading a book or watching videos.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s what she does every morning before school. I’m shocked she makes it to class on time with how late we leave.”
“Piper was the same way. Hell, she still is. She comes into work whenever she feels like it.”
Alexandra reminds me a lot of my sister. She’s outspoken but not afraid to scheme to get what she wants. It’s probably a good thing she doesn’t have any siblings. I can envision them getting into a lot of trouble and talking their way out of it.
“And Pierce allows that?”
“He doesn’t really have a choice. It’s not like he knows how to do her job.”
Not that he’d actually fire her, no matter how many times he’s threatened it. If it wasn’t for my sister we wouldn’t be becoming a household name outside of Asheville.
“That’s fair. So, what’s on the agenda for today? I’m surprised we haven’t run out of gas for the generator. Do you need to get more or anything?”
“We’re good on gas.” The fire is dying down and I need to add more wood. I move to the stack sitting beside the mantle. “As far as what we’re doing today, I guess more of what we did yesterday. Though, you might be able to go home.”
“Oh.” Is that a touch of sadness in her eyes. “How do you know that?”
“I don’t yet. Parker went to town to see what the situation is. He wanted me to go with him, but I said no. He’s supposed to let me know about the roads.”
“Are we the reason you didn’t go with your brother?” Before I can say anything she continues. “We would have been fine on our own. You shouldn’t be changing what you’re doing because of us.”
“First of all, you were only part of the reason. I was waiting for you to get up to start breakfast.” The way she picks these little fights as if she’s an inconvenience. “Second, my brother can’t drive for shit. There’s no way I was getting in the car with him if there’s ice on the road.”
She taps her fingers against her leg, a nervous habit she’s had since we were kids, thinking over what I said. Clearly, I need to give her some time to let down her defenses.
“Fine, but we shouldn’t have been part of the reasoning to begin with.” She pulls the arm on the side and leans back. “We’re fully capable of taking care of ourselves.”
“Never said you weren’t.” There’s a chance the comment will fuel an argument, but I’ll take it.
“As long as you know.” She grins and turns on her side to watch the fire.
I leave her to it and head to the kitchen. Alexandra can eat when she wakes up, or decides to leave the room. Not that I blame her, even with the heaters and fireplace it’s still cold in the house. I’ll be happy when we get above freezing.
Eggs would be easier to make, but I think we’ll go with pancakes today. I pull out the ingredients and get to work on breakfast.
The plus side to being stuck at home because of the weather is I’ve eaten more home cooked meals the past few days than I have in a while. Mostly because I have people, other than myself, to feed.
It’s almost pointless to cook for myself and my freezer is typically stocked with ready to eat meals. Guess it’s a good thing I haven’t gotten groceries yet. The freezer wouldn’t kept the food good.
“Do you need any help?” Alexandra pokes her head into the kitchen.
“Good morning, Alexandra.” I give her a quick wave and pour the batter onto the skillet. “I think I’m good.”
“You know you can call me, Lexi, right? You don’t have to say my full name, it’s a mouthful.”
She’s not wrong. “It felt like more of a family nickname, and I didn’t want to assume it was okay. I needed to earn that right.”
As far as she knew, I was just someone who returned their dog. There was no guarantee I was going to be a part of their lives.
“You earned it the night you brought Alice back to us, but keeping us warm didn’t hurt.”
“That’s good to know, Lexi.” I flip two pancakes and add bacon to the frying pan. “Your mom’s in the living room. I should be done in about twenty minutes.”
“Sounds good.” She doesn’t stick around.
