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“Thank you for coming,” Calista said. “Come on in. We’ve been baking all morning. You can be my guinea pig.”
“We were just saying we needed to lose weight,” Steve said.
“I never said I needed to lose weight,” Annie said, looking at him. What was going on with Steve?
Leading the way into the kitchen, Annie noticed right away how spiffy everything looked, clean and organized.
“This is really nice. Steve asked how you were going to take care of another child when you already have six here.”
“It seems like a lot, but they are older. The youngest is going to be six in a week, and the oldest is fifteen. They’re in school all day.”
“Oh, okay,” Steve replied, satisfied with that answer. “Why do you want to take care of another kid?”
“Steve,” Annie said.
“It’s okay. I need the money,” Calista said. “I need to be here. It wouldn’t make sense for me to pay a babysitter to take care of six kids after school so I can babysit somewhere else. I hope you’ll hire me to watch your baby.”
“You’re hired,” Steve said, staring at Calista.
Shaking her head, Annie made a split-second decision to just let it go. She was getting to know her husband better every day, and Steve the flirt was a new twist, hoping it was harmless. If Steve interacted with Calista, it would take some of the pressure off her. It might work out for the best.
At Katrina’s Creole cottage, she moved around her kitchen, fixing coffee and toast for Dave, wanting to serve him, understanding at last why couples did small things like this for each other. He was at the counter, shirtless, looking at his laptop, when his phone beeped. Mumbling, he cursed under his breath.
“What’s going on?”
“I have to go out, damn it.”
“What’s wrong?”
“A body washed up on the riverfront east of town. There’s a small public park with a swimming beach.”
“Ugh. I know where that is. I guess we won’t be swimming there soon.”
“Right. A family was there when it happened. I need to go now.”
“I’ll find a travel mug.”
“Thank you.” He slid off the stool. “This is not the way I wanted to spend our Saturday together.”
She followed him back to the bedroom. “Do you want me to come along?”
“No, I don’t know how long I’ll be.” He leaned over and kissed her. “Relax if you can. I know you’re eyeing that spare room for me.”
“It’ll be fun to order stuff. I’ll get your approval first.”
At the door, she handed him toast wrapped in a napkin and a travel mug full of coffee fixed the way he liked it.
“Stay in touch,” she said, kissing him.
He paused at the door, looking at his mangled truck. “Oh crap, I don’t have a car.”
“Take mine.”
“No, I’ll get a deputy to pick me up.”
He sent a text, and they chatted for five minutes until a squad car pulled up.
Kissing her yet again, he grinned at her and walked down the steps to the waiting car. The deputy smiled and waved at Katrina. She gave smiled and went back into the house.
