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“You’re an honest to God angel.”He bent to kiss me, and our mouths had almost touched when Toby wailed.
Rick jerked back.“Sorry.He’s grouchy today.Ain’t that rude, little man?”
Toby jabbed a finger in Rick’s chest.“Ick!”
“Yeah, he’s not happy that I’m in charge, but mama’s sick, dude.You’ve got what you’ve got.”He stepped back from the threshold.“Come on in.”
I followed him inside and shut the door behind me, toed off my shoes, and carried the box of cookies through to the kitchen.Unlike Jess’ house, where the wall separating the living area and kitchen had been knocked through, Rick’s house retained the division.The big concertina door between rooms was open, and I saw Jenny laying on the sofa, a huge blanket covering her from neck to ankle.She waved feebly when I arrived.
“Hey.Don’t come too close,” she called out.
“I’m sorry you’re feeling so awful,” I sympathized.
Rick sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, Toby settled on his lap.He shuffled his chair closer to the table and tugged a shape sorter towards him on the tabletop so Toby could play.The toddler clapped his hands and got to work, mumbling nonsense to himself as he turned the shapes over in his cute, tiny fingers.
“It’s okay,” Jenny groaned.“You brought cookies.You’re always welcome.”
I opened the tub.“None of you have almond allergies?”
“Nope,” the siblings said in unison.
“Great.Oh, do you have—”
Rick pointed to the cupboards above the sink.“Plates are in there.”
I fetched one, plated two cookies and took them to Jenny, who gave me the sunniest smile possible, considering she was stuffed up with cold.
“You are worth your weight in gold, Maddie.”
Warmth filled me.“I’d hug you, but if one more member of the bakery staff goes down, we’ll have to close.I’m not sure if the college girls could manage on their own.”
She waved me back.“I don’t wanna give you this plague.I made Mom drop Toby off so she and Dad would at least have a chance of not catching before the wedding.Ugh,” she added.“The wedding.I might miss it!Myoneopportunity to dress up.And Toby had such a cute outfit prepped!I’m more mad about that than anything else.”
“You still have a few days to go,” I soothed her, returning to the table in the kitchen and offering Toby a cookie.He took a bite of it and then smashed it into Rick’s face, laughing.Rick tried to defend himself, but it was a lost cause, and crumbs cascaded everywhere.
Rick looked very tired.
What would I want in this situation,I wondered, and then, I knew.
“Shall I make dinner?”
Their faces lit up.
Jenny’s expression was the first to crumble.“We can’t ask that of you.You probably have stuff to bake.”
“Jenny’s right,” Rick added.“You got your own stuff to take care of.”
“I can spare an hour,” I said, truthfully.I knew I hadn’t burned through all the food Jess had frozen, and besides, helping people I cared deeply about ranked top of the list.
Toby threw one of the wooden shapes on the floor.Rick bent to get it, passed it to him, and, delighted with this game, he repeated the experiment.
“Toby, c’mon, honey,” Jenny called from across the room.
Toby sent me the most devious look I’d ever seen from a toddler, waited a few seconds, threw the shape again, and cackled.
I decided to stay out of it and opened the fridge to see what I could cook for dinner.
A whole head of cabbage greeted me, along with a carton of eggs, hot dogs, two old- looking carrots, a pack of six fruit yogurts, three ready-made pouches of Bolognese, probably for Toby, and a couple of steaks still in their supermarket shrink wrap.
