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He lowers the paper to cock an eyebrow at me. “How on earth do you know that?”
“I read it on a Snapple lid,” I say. “It’s where I get eighty percent of my knowledge from.”
“You must drink a lot of Snapple.”
“Oh, tons. I bet I bleed peach tea at this point.”
Aiden smiles, shaking his head. “Any other interesting facts I should know?”
“Humans are slightly taller in the morning than at night.”
His brow wrinkles. “That can’t be true.”
“It totally is.”
“I don’t know about that,” he laughs.
“I bet you’ll measure yourself now to check though.”
“Hmm.” He considers this with a guilty expression. “I plead the Fifth.”
He’s still smiling as he turns another page, and I tap my fingers against my thigh. “So... no cooking tonight?”
“I’ll have to go in later. Before the dinner service.” He cuts his eyes at me. “I wanted to make sure to be here when you arrived though.”
“I appreciate it.”
There’s a bit of an awkward silence then. The product of two near strangers now cohabitating, I’m sure.
“So...” I shift a bit in the chair so I can look somewhere other than Aiden’s face, which is also pretty distracting. “Do we think Sophie will put dirt in my bed tonight, or will she let me get a false sense of security before she goes fullHome Aloneon me?”
Aiden laughs again, and I’m reminded of how nice of a sound it is. “Maybe you check the tops of the doors before you open them, just to be safe.”
“At least I get my own bathroom,” I point out. “Maybe I can keep a better eye on my shampoo so she doesn’t put Nair in it.”
“The worst she might do is leave her towels on the floor,” Aiden grouses, all dad-like. “You buy the girl a towel rack, and she drops it right next to it. Don’t even get me started on her shoes on the bedroom floor.”
“No towels on my bathroom floor,” I say seriously. “Got it.”
“Oh.” He actually looks mildly embarrassed. “No. It’s your room. Don’t listen to me, I’m just...”
“Neat freak?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” he mumbles. “I like things in their place.”
It’s weirdly cute that he’s trying to pretend he isn’t a total control freak when it’s written all over his face.
“Gotcha.” I keep my expression even. “So this is probably a badtime to tell you about my collective network of ant farms then?” Aiden looks horrified, and I can’t help but burst into laughter. “Kidding.”
“Hilarious.”
More silence. I hate silence. It always makes me feel anxious. I decide to change the subject. “It must be a huge adjustment for Sophie. This year.”
“It’s been tough for sure.” He lays the paper down beside him on the couch. “They were close. I mean, I’m sure you know what it’s like, the whole mother-daughter bonding thing.”
I try to smile, but it’s forced. “Not really.”
“Oh. Shit. I’m sorry. Did she...?”
