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“If you tell me where it is I can go ahead and run the load while you go check on David.”
“Mom’s with him, and I can’t have you doing our laundry.”
“Nonsense.” He smiled. “I’ve been doing laundry since I was ten years old. Mom insisted we all learn.”
“But—”
“I got this. Show me the way then go check on…” his words evaporated when he found himself sloshing through puddles on the floor. “What the heck happened here?”
“Good question. From what I saw and Mom said, the disposal is possessed by devil spirits.”
That had Paxton struggling to bite back a laugh. None of this was a laughing matter. “Go. I’ll do the laundry.”
“I can’t—”
“Please.”
Heaving a deep sigh, her shoulders slumped. “Okay. Fine. Washer’s over there.” She pointed to the hall beside the kitchen and turned to run upstairs.
The hours he’d spent imagining how tonight would go, doing laundry and fixing a possessed disposal had not crossed his mind, and yet, he was glad he’d come early. The laundry was in the washer and he found a mop and bucket and quickly began cleaning some of the mess. He’d wrung the wet towels out in the kitchen sink and set them on the dryer for the next load of wash. By the time Sandra’s mother walked into the kitchen, he was under the sink.
“Oh, my.”
“What’s wrong?” Sandra came in on her mother’s heels.
“Your dishwasher was backing into the disposal. Fixed the problem.” He pushed to his feet and ran the water for a quick check, then turned back to the gaping woman. “How’s David?”
“Asleep,” Sandra spoke softly, taking in the room, her gaze settling on a couple of paper bags on the table.
“I thought, with David sick, you won’t want to go out, and with an exploding sink, I doubted anyone had time to cook dinner, so I called Jamison and had him deliver some corned beef and cabbage meals with extra bread.”
“You cleaned up the kitchen,” Sandra muttered.
Paxton shrugged. “Mom taught us how to use a mop too.”
The buzzer rang and Sandra and her mom looked toward the laundry room.
“That’s the bed linens. They need to go in the dryer.” He started toward the washer when Sandra’s mom grabbed his arm.
“I’ve got it from here. You two eat.” She smiled at him. “And thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
Moving slowly toward the cabinets, Sandra Lynn pulled out three dishes and then from a drawer pulled out some silverware. Her movements were slow and measured and Paxton feared he’d gone too far and now she was annoyed with him.
“I’m sorry if I overstepped, but it looked like y’all needed help.”
Carrying the dishes and silverware to the kitchen table, she set it all down and turned to face him. “We did. Thank you.”
He wished she sounded more convinced.
Slowly setting out each dish and adding the silverware, she shook her head and then looked up at him. “Anyone ever told you that you’d make a great knight in shining armor?”
“Can’t say that they have.” He opened the brown bags.
“Okay.” Her mother appeared in the kitchen. “Linens are in the dryer, towels in the washer. I, for one, have had a very long day. I’m going to bed early tonight. You kids enjoy the food.”
“You feeling okay?” Worry danced in Sandra’s eyes.
