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“Want some milk with that, Firecracker?” I got up to open the refrigerator.
“We don’t have anything yet. I haven’t been shopping,” Holly said.
“Looks like you do.” I pulled out a carton, unscrewed the cap, and set it on the counter in front of Gabriel.
He wrapped his small hands around it, but Holly grabbed it before it reached his lips. She fired me a perturbed look. “Let me get you a glass.”
“Why dirty them?”
“Have you been drinking out of the carton?” Muriella asked, appalled.
I shrugged. “We’re all family, right?”
Holly put the carton back and moved to the opposite side of the island. Gabriel picked it back up and took a big drink. I held up my hand for a high five.
“Miss Jacobs,” Holly scolded.
“What?” I didn’t see the harm, but apparently I was the only one. “Better use a glass before we get into more trouble,” I said to Gabriel in a low voice.
Holly’s cell phone rang from its place on the countertop. She snatched it up before I could see the caller ID. “Excuse me,” she said before she answered and rushed from the room.
Gabriel watched her disappear. Lines creased his forehead.
“What do you think of this view?” I asked in an attempt to distract him.
He stared after his mother for another moment before his face brightened. “It’s awesome. We’re almost in the clouds.”
Muriella laughed. “We sure are.”
He swallowed a bite of muffin and washed it down with milk straight from the carton before he jetted toward the windows. “There’s still Christmas lights.” He pointed down below.
Muriella and I joined him in front of the glass where decorations still adorned a few businesses at the street level.
“I don’t have the money.” Holly’s shout startled all three of us.
The worried expression that had painted Gabriel’s face earlier returned. Never in all the years I’d worked with Holly had I ever heard her speak in a tone like that.
When she returned to the living room, her face was red and some strands of hair had come loose from her headband. The second she saw Gabriel’s concern, her features transformed. She went straight to him and tugged him into her arms as if she was afraid he’d disappear.
Muriella pulled out her phone. “I’ll text you so you have my number. As soon as you’re ready to visit the schools, I’ll set it up,” she said kindly, as if she knew Holly wasn’t up for company any more.
Holly recited her number and in seconds, her phone chimed with the incoming text. “I appreciate this.”
Muriella returned her phone to her pocket. “You can call me for reasons beyond that too. Having people you can count on in a new city is important.” She held Holly’s gaze, who nodded once.
“I’d like to go this afternoon if that’s possible. The sooner we’re settled in, the sooner I can get back to work.”
“Are you already leaving?” Gabriel asked. “I haven’t shown you my Lego plane. We just started building it.”
“I’d love to see it,” Muriella said, though she looked to Holly for permission.
“Let’s go show her,” Holly said, trying to be gracious though she looked like she wanted us out of there.
Gabriel took off and Muriella wasn’t far behind. I lagged, letting some distance get between us and the two of them.
“Everything okay?” I asked Holly.
“Fine,” she said tightly.
