Page 14 of The Pilot

“Yup. And you washed your hands before you started cooking,” Linc said calmly. “Since we put the pizza in the oven, you’ve unpacked your books, set up your telescope, and helped me clear out your mom’s side of the garage. You think there weren’t any germs or dirt in any of those activities?”

Kash wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, probably.”

“No probably about it, Bud. Why don’t you go ahead and wash your hands now. I’ll dish up the pizza and serve it.”

“Don’t start without me!” Kash yelled, as if it wasn’t going to take him less than twenty seconds to wash and dry his hands right there at the kitchen sink.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Linc reassured him.

Watching her son with Linc made Harper’s eyes tear up. She turned away to stare blankly at the back of the sofa nearby. She’d seen Linc be kind to Kash more than once. Hell, the entire Young family had taken him under their wing. But for some reason, seeing this interaction, something so . . . ordinary . . . had her close to crying.

She wished she could’ve given Kash experiences like this for the last twelve years of his life. Instead, he’d had no male role models and only an exhausted mother who felt as if she was barely keeping her head above water.

She heard Linc nearing and did her best to blink away the tears.

“You okay?” he asked softly, for her ears only.

Harper nodded. She didn’t know if she was, but she’d be damned if she ruined this first meal under Linc’s roof.

Looking at the plate Linc put in front of her, Harper was surprised at what she saw. Yes, it was pizza, but it was some of the best-looking pizza she’d seen in a very long time.

“It’s nothing special,” he told her, after glancing over to see Kash still at the sink. “Store-bought French bread, large amounts of garlic mixed with the bottled sauce, tons of cheese, turkey pepperoni, parmesan cheese sprinkled on top with a dash of hot pepper flakes your son swore you loved.”

“I do love hot pepper flakes. Linc, this looks . . . delicious.”

“Again, not fancy, but it was easy. I wanted to be sure Kash wouldn’t fail with his first cooking experience.”

He turned back to the kitchen, and while he was warning her son to dry his hands on the dish towel hanging on the fridge and not his pants, Harper was still processing his words.

The care he was taking with Kash was like nothing she’d experienced before. Of course, she did everything in her power to build up her son’s confidence, but dinner for them was usually fast food, or something simple like sandwiches or a rotisserie chicken she brought home from work.

Her dad had never taken the time to teach Kash how to cook. And for Linc to go out of his way to make something Kash couldn’t fail at . . .

The pesky tears she’d managed to banish a second earlier were back.

“Did you try it? How is it?” Kash asked, bouncing over to the table and climbing up onto his chair, one leg tucked under his butt while he hovered over the plate.

“Sit, Kash. On your butt,” Harper ordered. “At least pretend like you’re civilized.”

Kash laughed. The sound never failed to make Harper smile. She’d fucked up a lot of things in her life, but her son was always a bright spot in an otherwise very tough few years.

“We toasted the bread, and Linc even let me use the oven mitts to put it in and take it out of the oven. I mixed some spices into the sauce and made sure the pepperonis were perfectly spaced out. Is it good? It’s good, right?”

Harper had just taken a huge bite, and she smiled at her son as she chewed. After she swallowed, she said, “The best pizza I’ve ever had.” And she wasn’t lying. Sitting here at Linc’s table, seeing how happy her son was, warm and satisfied, it was the best pizza she’d ever had.

“Linc says it’s because of the bread crust. It’s garlic bread. So it’s extra flavorful.”

Harper had a feeling she’d be hearing “Linc says” a lot in the next few weeks. She didn’t mind though, especially if it meant seeing her son so content.

Dinner went by quickly, partly because Harper was so hungry, but mostly because the pizza was so good. Kash insisted on doing the dishes, since “Linc says it’s the responsible thing to do.”

Harper offered to help, and with the three of them washing, drying, and putting dishes away, the chore was done in record time.

“Can we show her now, Linc? Please?”

“Show me what?”

“Come on!” Kash said with a huge grin on his face. He grabbed her hand again, this time tugging her toward the stairs.