"It's not so bad. If I run, I bet I won't even get wet," Rico told her. As if to prove him dead wrong, heavy drops started to fall and quickly turned into a serious downpour that would have him drenched as soon as he stepped out the door.
"Ha ha ha! You can't go. Rico has to stay with us," she said and did a little happy dance.
"No. I can't stay," Rico said, but she was already running off and telling the kittens all about it. Now Rico turned to Mitch, who regarded him levelly. "I wonder if there's an umbrella somewhere around here."
"Sammy is already celebrating that you got trapped here. You might as well stay for dinner," Mitch told him.
Rico was kind of shocked by the invitation. "Are you really OK with that?" he wondered.
"I'm going to cook dinner in a demolished kitchen. I can use all the help I can get," Mitch said and started to pull stuff from the fridge.
"I guess this whole no countertop thing is kind of a problem," Rico said when he realized there was no place to set anything except the kitchen table.
"How do you feel about peeling some potatoes?" Mitch asked.
"Hate it," Rico said though he was ready to do anything Mitch asked.
"Me too," Mitch said.
"Do them twice baked then we won't have to peel them," Rico suggested and got a nod from Mitch.
"OK. I'm going to stuff some peppers too," Mitch decided.
"Pepper boats?" Sammy asked as she came back to see what they were doing.
"Yes. That's what we call them," Mitch said to Rico while Sammy went back to tell the kittens what was for dinner.
There wasn't a lot of space to work, so they ended up too close for comfort more than once. Rico told himself not to enjoy those moments, but he couldn't help it. At least he knew better than to take advantage of every accidental bump and touch.
He couldn't tell if it bothered Mitch to have him there. Once they sat down to dinner, it wasn't as uncomfortable as Rico feared. That might have been because Sammy was there.
The whole time he kept wondering if Mitch invited him to stay for dinner as a way of proving that Rico couldn't get to him. That made him want to get to Mitch even more, but he behaved himself.
After dinner, Mitch got on the phone to check on some orders. Though the rain was only a drizzle now, Rico didn't think he should sneak away while he was busy. While he waited for Mitch, Rico noticed that Sammy was anxiously looking at the door leading down to the basement.
"What's wrong?"
"My stuff is down there," she said.
"Stuff?"
"My shirts and undies, and my pink, puffy skirt, and my pink towels," Sammy said with a pout.
"Ah, laundry. Are they in the washer or the dryer?" Rico asked her.
"I don't know," she said, but she seemed anxious about their well-being in the scary basement, so Rico went down there to check.
He came back with an armful of her colorful clothes, and she clapped, happy to see them safe and sound. Dumping them on the couch in the living room, Rico watched her poke through them. "Did you want to fold them?" he asked.
Sammy wasn't eager to do that, so he gave her an incentive. "I'll help you fold then you can play dress up. Is that a deal?"
She agreed and then did a terrible job folding her stuff in slow motion and with excruciating care. Done with that, she was ready to dress up.
Once she was decked out, they went to show her off to Mitch. "Guess who I am, Daddy?" she asked. Dressed all in pink including pink leggings and a poofy skirt, Sammy also had on that hat Grandma had given her.
"You're a princess," Mitch guessed.
Sammy shook her head. "No, Daddy I'm a superhero," she said as she twirled.
