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She sighed. “Okay.” Her teen attitude shining through. “Mom, mind if I watch cartoons in your room while those men and my dorky brother work up a sweat?”
I grinned. “Much better, but stop calling your brother a dork.”
“He calls me worse things!”
“Fine, you can watch cartoons in here. But eat breakfast first and brush your teeth.”
“Okay,” Kyra compromised.
I followed Kyra into the kitchen. She was still in her oversize pajama shirt, which was really one of my ex-husband's red T-shirts. She was barefoot and had a black satin scarf on her head. I normally got on her case about being barefoot in the house, but since she had been so rudely awakened I let it slide. “Toaster waffles?” I asked.
“Yes, please.”
“Blueberry?”
“Yep.”
She sat at the breakfast bar while I popped a few waffles in the toaster oven for us. While we waited for our waffles, I glanced out back to see how far the guys had gotten. I was impressed. They had already cleared a five-foot perimeter. I watched Max. He was mimicking the men surrounding him and fluidly swishing the weed trimmer from side to side. I could tell that he was beginning to struggle a bit. The weed trimmer appeared to be almost as tall as he was. Captain Ray must have noticed, too. He walked over to Ray and seemed to ask him something, but Max stubbornly shook his head and continued to work. I was grateful to the firemen. Except for his basketball coach, Max didn’t have too many men to look up to. I tried to suppress the usual bitterness and anger I usually felt toward my ex-husband, but it bubbled to the surface. I growled and clenched my teeth.
“Mom, stop thinking about Dad.”
How does she know I was thinking about him?
As if reading my mind, Kyra added, “You do that heavy sigh and grind your teeth whenever you think or talk about him.”
“I…”
She shook her head and stopped my denial before I could finish it.
“Okay, fine.”
I went back to watching the firemen, specifically Captain Ray. Damn, he has a nice ass, and his shoulders are so broad. That tiny waist… mmm. I could wrap my legs around him and… I grinned and this time breathed a horny, happy sigh. Nothing like manly eye candy in the wee hours of the morning.
“Omigo
sh, Mom! Really? Wipe off the drool already. You’re embarrassing me.” She threw a few napkins at me for additional emphasis. “He’s way too old for you anyway.”
My eyes widened. I felt flushed and foolish. Why does my daughter have to be so in tune with me? Damn.
“I…” I stammered again.
“Mom, just don’t. You can’t cover that up. Your eyes were glazed over like Nana’s when she walks into a casino.”
Geez. Was I really that bad? “Wait, when did you go to a casino with Nana?”
“Remember the family reunion in Vegas last summer? Nana was supposed to take Max and me to the pool, but she kept stopping at the slot machines.”
“Oh,” I said. I thought about my mom. She did look ridiculous whenever she caught sight of a slot machine.
The toaster oven finally dinged, announcing the waffles were ready. I served Kyra’s waffles and handed her a fork. I sat next to her at the breakfast bar. She doused her waffles with a ton of maple syrup and I sprinkled a little bit on mine. “So, don’t forget, we have to go shopping for my recital costume this weekend,” Kyra announced before she put a huge serving of waffles in her mouth and chewed.
“Glad you reminded me, because I completely forgot. We can go after Max takes a shower.” I peered through the kitchen window and watched the men. There were five, plus Max. They had now cleared approximately ten feet of brush. I thought that was all that was needed, but I wasn’t going to stop them if they wanted to clear more. Besides, who was I to question firemen removing brush? “Hmm. Do you think I should offer the guys lunch?” I gestured to the firemen with my fork.
“I think that would be nice,” Kyra said with a nod.
Max turned off his weed trimmer and shook his right hand. Captain Ray stopped working and walked over to Max. A few seconds later, they were both heading toward the house and soon appeared at the back door.
I rushed over to open the door. “What happened?”
