Page 62 of Hades

I watch her as she walks over to the couch and sits down. She looks relaxed for the first time in a while. Maybe hanging out with the girls yesterday did her some good. That and nothing too terrible happened today on her shift. She even took the time to shower at the hospital and change before we came home. Something she hasn’t done since I’ve been staying here.

Her phone vibrates, and I watch as her eyes widen when she reads whatever’s on her screen.

“What’s wrong?”

Evelyn sits up fast and starts to look around. “Hurry, we need to pick up. My mom just texted and said she’s five minutes out.”

“Your mom is dropping by?”

I like Sarah from the little I know of her. She’s been around the clubhouse a few times since I’ve been in Vegas, but I really don’t know her. What I do know, though, is everyone respects her.

“Yes. Now hurry,” she says as she refolds the blanket that she had tossed over the back of the couch.

I walk over and grab the shirt that I had tossed on the back of the chair this morning and take it to Evelyn’s bedroom. I make a pit stop in the bathroom. Reaching under the counter, I grab the Clorox wipes and clean the counter and the sink. After throwing the wipe away, I put the container back and eye the bathroom.

The mirror is free of toothpaste dots, and the back of the toilet is dust-free. The sink handle even shines, no water spots in sight.

Good enough.

I head back to the living room and watch as Evelyn sweeps.

“Did the vacuum not run while we were gone?” I ask.

Evelyn has one of those robot vacuums that runs when we are out of the house. The first time I heard the thing on her day off, I thought someone had broken in because it ran into the bathroom door. Evelyn laughed her ass off when I ran out of the shower with a towel around my waist and my hair dripping. I didn’t miss the way she eyed me, though.

Maybe I should do that again. See if I can get a rise out of her.

“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help?” she snaps, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“So bossy,” I tease.

I head into the kitchen and move my keys to the hook she has by the door. For some reason I always forget the hook exists and just put my keys on the counter, only for Evelyn to move them when she thinks I’m not looking. Then I wipe down the countertops, something I watched her do before she left for work.

“This place is clean. I don’t know why you’re freaking out.”

Evelyn finishes sweeping and dumps the dustpan into the trash before putting the broom away.

“It is clean, but I like doing it myself before someone comes over. I can’t explain it, but I just have to make sure the place is clean and that people won’t silently judge me for my living conditions.”

“Princess, they do judge you when the place smells of cleaners. It’s a dead giveaway that you panicked cleaned, and they can’t help but wonder what it looked like to cause that type of reaction.”

She rolls her eyes, but before she can toss a sassy reply my way, her doorbell goes off.

Without thinking about it, I walk over to the door and answer it before she can. When it swings open, I can’t help but suck in a breath. If staring at the women in front of me is any indication, Evelyn is going to age well. The two women look alike. They have the same nose and chin, and both have clear skin and dark hair.

“Hello, Hades.” Sarah smiles kindly.

“Hi, Miss Sarah,” I say as I step to the side.

“Just Sarah or Mom is fine. No need for the formality,” she says as she steps inside.

Mom. I don’t think I’ve called anyone “Mom” since I was little. My mother wasn’t horrible by any means. She just passed on early.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” Evelyn asks as I shut and lock the door.

Turning, I watch as mother and daughter embrace. Sarah pulls back slightly and raises her eyebrows.

“Is a mother not allowed to drop by and check in when her child is ignoring her?”