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“Daaaaad!” Eva arrives in the kitchen, menacing me with her phone. “How—”
I do my best evil laugh. “I don’t share all my secrets.”
* * *
After Eva drives away, the house is quiet. Too quiet. I grab the remote and flick through the channels, stopping when I see a familiar face on the screen. Nica Holmes has always been my celebrity crush, but I’ve watched her a lot more since Judy left. I can recite all her movies from memory, which is impressive, if I do say so myself, since she’s done a lot of them.
I finish putting the dishes into the dishwasher and go upstairs to strip Eva’s bed. As predicted, the plastic wrap is gone. With a quick yank, the shades open, spilling bright sunlight across the cluttered floor and overflowing bookshelves. I pull off the sheets, spread the duvet over the mattress, and move the pile of stuffed animals to the foot of the bed.
The door opens and closes downstairs, and a voice echoes up. “Where are you, Matt?” Rachel Foster, my next-door neighbor and best friend.
I grab the pile of sheets and head for the hallway. “Cleaning up after Eva.” I give the cluttered room another look, then pull the door shut. I’ll vacuum later. “What’s up?”
When I reach the living room, I find Rachel watching television. She turns, her short blonde hair flaring around her face. “Eva’s just left, and you’ve already got Nica on?”
I ignore the question, carrying my burden around the corner to the laundry room. “Did you need something? You know I won’t let you come between me and Nica.”
She chuckles as she follows me. “I wouldn’t dare. I’m having trouble with my water. Is yours working?”
I dump the towels and sheets into the top-loader and turn. “Trouble with your water?”
Her face goes a little pink. Rachel hates to ask for help from us mere mortals. “Yeah, I figured I’d check with you before trying anything drastic. Maybe the city is having an issue?”
“The city?” I give a little headshake and press the start button. Water gushes into the washer drum. “No trouble here. What’s going on at your house?” I dump some soap into the machine and shut the lid.
“It’s just not working.” She heads into the kitchen, and I follow. Something weird is going on—Rachel doesn’t do vague. She’s a former fighter pilot and figuring out technical details is child’s play for her. She stops by the kitchen sink. Stepping to one side, she waves at the faucet. “Is yours working?”
I hesitate as I step closer. Rachel’s face is still pink, and her lip is twitching. Is she about to cry? Her fiancé, my brother Blake, had been out of town for a few weeks, but it’s not like Rachel to get flustered because she doesn’t have a man around to deal with this kind of thing. She is one of the most competent people I have ever met. Besides, Blake got back three days ago. “Why wouldn’t it be?” I reach for the faucet and pull the lever. A gush of water sprays into my face. “Whaaa?” I slam the water off.
Rachel bursts into laughter, joined by Eva, who pops up from behind the kitchen island. “Ha! Got ya, Dad!” She waggles her phone in the air.
I glare at Rachel. “Really, you double-teamed me? After you refused to help me with—” I break off, glancing at my daughter.
“Help you with what?” Eva looks up from the phone, gaze zeroing in on me. “Did you plan something else?”
Avoiding her eyes, I wipe the water from my face, then unwrap the packing tape from the kitchen sprayer. There’s nothing to tell—it was a minor prank I wanted to play on Blake—but keeping Eva in the dark is definitely more fun than coming clean. And probably good parenting, right? I’m teaching her resilience, or something like that. “You don’t need to know. Aren’t you supposed to be driving to Eugene?”
“Yeah, I really gotta go now. Thanks for the help, Rachel!” She grins and throws her arms around me in another hug. “Ew, wet.”
I smack her hip. “Drive safely. Text me when you get there.”
“Of course.” She hugs Rachel, then blows me a kiss as she heads for the door. “Don’t forget to check my TikTok. You’re going viral!”
The front door slams closed as I holler back, “You wish!” I pull a handful of paper towels from the roll and crouch to mop up the front of the cupboard, craning my neck to look up at Rachel. “I assume there’s nothing wrong with your water.”
She rolls her eyes. “Please. I know more about plumbing than you do. I can’t believe you bought that. I told Eva we should have sent Blake over instead.”
I snicker. My little brother may be a big-time country music singer, but he’s almost useless with household repairs. Good thing he can afford to hire people—and that his fiancée is pretty handy. “That would have been way more believable. But your acting has gotten better.”
She grins and flourishes her arms as she takes a theatrical bow. “Your praise warms my heart. Don’t forget we’re meeting with the wedding planner tomorrow afternoon.”
“Got it. Hey, you want some coffee?”
Her head turns toward the television, where a single tear rolls down my favorite actress’s perfect cheek. “You sure you want me here? I don’t want to come between you and your true love.”
I finish soaking up the water and toss the wet paper towels into the trash. “She doesn’t mind. Did you hear she has a big screen movie coming out? With Hugh Harper and Ryan Davis. You’ll have to come see it with me.”
“Sure. You know I like Hugh.” Her gaze falls on the extra pancakes cooling on the counter. “Ooh, chocolate chip. Can I have one?”
