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She hung up the phone and I thought about sneaking out before she saw me, but after hearing what I did, I had questions.
When she turned around and saw me through the back screen standing in her kitchen she jumped and clutched her phone to her chest.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“What are you doing?” she asked as she walked in and the screen door slammed behind her.
“I was going to fix the sink,” I said lamely.
“Momma, can I watch it again?” Luna asked as the credits rolled on the television.
“No, you need to get cleaned up for dinner.”
“Can Sherlock stay for dinner?” Luna turned her attention to me for the first time. “We’re having octopus noodles.”
“Octopus noodles?” I questioned. “That sounds…exotic.”
“Please?” Luna pleaded.
“Um…” I looked over at Skylar for any hint as to whether or not it was okay with her.
She just shrugged in resignation. “We have plenty. You’re welcome to stay. You and Sherlock.”
It wasn’t exactly the enthusiasm I’d hoped she’d have at the thought of me staying, but I guessed beggars couldn’t be choosers. “We’d love to.”
“I’ll go change!” Luna jumped up and rushed down the hall. “Come on Sherlock!”
Skylar rolled her eyes as she stared down the hall. “That girl. She’d change her clothes every hour on the hour if I let her. I had to limit it to two per day or I would have gone broke from buying laundry detergent.”
Not sure how to bring up the phone call, I figured I’d start with something less prying. “How did it go with Mrs. Birch?”
“It went great. Luna was a little nervous when we were driving over there, but then I told her that Mrs. Birch used to babysit you and it changed everything. Thank you so much for recommending her.”
“No problem.” Skylar walked over to a cabinet that had seen better days, and I asked. “Can I help with anything?”
“Oh, no. I’ve got it. It’s just mac and cheese with a hot dog on top that I cut to look like an octopus.” She paused and I noticed that she was biting the inside of her lip and I could see that she wanted to say more. Finally, she looked up at me. “How long were you standing there?”
For a split second, I thought about lying. If it was someone else, someone I didn’t care about, I might’ve. But if it was someone else, I wouldn’t have been eavesdropping.
“A few minutes.”
Skylar’s eyes widened and a pink hue colored her cheeks. She might be embarrassed about the end of the conversation, but I was more interested in what I’d heard when I came in.
She bent down and pulled a pot from a lower cabinet. I tried not to get distracted by the view. The jeans she wore molded to her backside like a second skin and showcased her curves like a work of art.
When she stood and walked to the sink, pan in hand, I moved out of the way.
Since easing into the conversation wasn’t working, I decided to go the blunt route. “Who broke into your house?”
Skylar’s shoulders tensed and she shut off the water. Her expression was blank and unreadable as her eyes lifted up to mine.
I wasn’t the most talkative man so there were very few times in my life where I put my foot in my mouth. It took me a second to realize what I was tasting was toe jam.
“Never mind.” I hoped to smooth things over. “It’s none of my business.”
Without saying a word, she lifted the pot of water out of the sink and set it on the front right burner. She twisted the knob and there were two clicks before the ignition sparked and flames appeared.
She crossed to the cupboard beside me and grabbed a box of macaroni and cheese out of it. I noticed that her cheek was hollowed out like she was biting her bottom lip. My mama used to do that when she was nervous or mad. I wondered if it was the same for Skylar and if so, which one she was.
After ripping open the top, dumping in the noodles, and setting a timer she sighed and turned to face me. I could see in her expression that she was either going to tell me off or tell me what was going on.
Part of me wished that we could just drop it and talk about more pleasant things. But another part of me was happy that wasn’t going to happen. I had a lot of questions. I just hoped that those questions didn’t cause me to be persona non grata and mess up my chances of having more octopus noodle and pizza dinner nights. But hearing that she and Luna might be in some sort of danger overrode the risk of my potential persona non grata status.
My phone buzzed in my pocket but I silenced it. Nothing was more important than the conversation I was about to have. Nothing.
