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“Ohmygosh,” she says with all the considerable excitement she can muster. She accepts the box and immediately begins reading it aloud. “Hatch and grow your own pets that really come alive.” Her eyes go big and round. “Mr. Henry, these are real, alive sea monkeys?”
“Brine shrimp,” he says. “But some people think they look like sea monkeys, so that’s what they call them.”
She plunks right down on the floor and opens the box, exclaiming at each thing she removes. “Food! And EGGS! Baby sea monkey eggs! Can I do them right now, Mama? There’s even a little tank.”
“After dinner, Evie. But then yes. You can start your aquarium.”
“Please can I do them now? Dinner is just Hot Pockets anyway.”
I resist flinching but I can’t do anything about my cheeks going warm. I generally don’t like to advertise how often that’s what we have for dinner. “There’s broccoli on the side,” I say weakly.
Henry nods in understanding.
“We don’t have broccoli,” Evie says, still not looking up. “There’s no greens in the fridge. I checked because I didn’t want any for dinner.”
There is no way that my cheeks aren’t bright red. I cough. “I’m sure there’s something good in there. Anyway,” I say, talking over Evie when she sounds like she’s about to narc on me again, “thanks for the gift, Henry. That was very thoughtful.”
“Yes, thank you for the sea monkeys, Mr. Henry.” Evie pauses from studying the pictures on the box long enough to beam up at him.
“I’d invite you to stay, but . . .” I sweep my hand around the living room to indicate how not ready it is for company. It’s tidy. Ish. But it’s not the kind of space I want to invite friends to hang in. I give my head a small shake.Friends.Who’d have thought?
“I’ll be going,” he says. “I’ve got dinner of my own to make.”
“You should come and see my sea monkeys tomorrow,” Evie says. “I bet they’ll already be so big.”
I smile and walk him to the door. “I’ll manage her expectations. Thanks for bringing those over. They were a hit, obviously.”
“Of course.” He gives me a nod and disappears out into the night.
I force Evie to leave her tank long enough to eat dinner, which she scarfs down in two minutes flat, and she’s right back to the tank again. “Can I google stuff, Mama?”
“Sure, honey.” I log into my laptop and make sure it’s in safe mode, and she happily searches for videos and facts about sea monkeys, all of which she shares with me as I sand down the built-in bookshelves on either side of the fireplace at the end of the living room. It’s an awkward placement because it forces the orientation of the living room to be long and skinny instead of wide, but I’ve got ideas. First among them is getting the pine ready for a coat of white paint.
A knock at the door startles both of us a half hour later. “Busy tonight,” I mutter, but as I approach the door, I spot Henry through the broken shutters.
I open the door with a surprised, “Hey.”
He’s holding two foil-covered plates. “I like to cook, but usually I have to freeze my extras. Thought maybe you’d like them instead.”
I stare at him, honestly speechless as I accept the food. He has not once been what I expect him to be, first in a bad way, and now in a good one. “Thank you.”
“No big deal. Just some stir-fry. Won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t like it.”
Then he hurries down the stairs, stops on the bottom steps, and comes back up.
“Actually, I don’t think I fully understood the position I might be putting you in when I bid against you for this place. I’m sorry. I don’t know how to make it up to you, but I thought perhaps dinner sometimes until you get an oven that works?”
I press my lips together, trying to figure out how to take this. First things first, I guess. “The oven works. Stove too. I just don’t use them much.”
“Oh.” He looks lost.
“Hill . . .” I look from him to the plate and back again. “Is this charity or an apology? Because I will only accept one of those things.”
“Definitely an apology. I can’t go back in time and think harder about the consequences of bidding against you, so I’m not sure what else to do.”
I peel up one side of the foil and take a whiff. “This is a start.”
“It is?” His tone is wary but also slightly hopeful.
