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Chapter Eleven
Fillingin the brown of the donkey’s butt, Agatha felt someone watching her. Hoping it was not her houseguest, but also hoping it was not one of her sisters, she looked up into the blue eyes of Violet. Pulling off her headphone, she smiled at the little girl.
“I brought you muffins!” Violet held up a plate so that Agatha could see them.
“Thank you, Violet. You are the nicest person I know.” Agatha set her brown pencil down and got up to hug her.
“Mom said you would be sleeping in your room, but you were not. I knew you would be up here,” Violet chatted as Agatha took the plate from her.
“Let’s go see Mom. Is anyone else here?” Agatha knew the answer had to be yes. There were muffins, and Sera did not cook breakfast.
Violet scurried down the stairs, and Agatha followed more slowly, not in quite the same hurry to see who had shown up. On the second floor, she saw that Maby’s bedroom door was still closed, which meant he was still there. Yes, she had let that man stay with her, but only for one night. Tonight, he would have to stay somewhere else. Anywhere else.
After leaving him to shower, she’d tried not to listen to the shower running in the quiet house until she had given up on sleep. Her mind was just replaying that night eighteen months ago, and her body was getting all worked up.
When she’d gotten out of bed, she didn’t know if she should join him in the shower or go for a run. She hadn’t run since high school, and they had forced her to do that, so she made herself go up to her studio, a new name for the room, and work. Getting lost in her work always took her mind off life.
But he was still there, and so were three of her sisters and her mom. Not counting Violet.
“Violet said you were drawing. This late?” Harper asked as she slid a pan into the oven.
“Time got away from me,” she admitted. She had planned to sleep last night. Now she would when her family left.
“Have you found a job yet?” Sera asked as she took the paper off a muffin for Violet, even though the nine-year-old was doing the same right next to her.
“No, still looking,” she lied as she set her plate of muffins on the counter.
“Have you tried at the Grog? I hear they’re looking again, and it’s close. And everyone loves the Grog,” Maby jumped in, eyeing the stove. She didn’t like sweets for breakfast.
“No, I haven’t, but I’ll try today.” Agatha wondered when she would tell them she didn’t need a job anymore. But she liked that they were concerned about her, helped her out. It wasn’t as if she thought she could hide it forever; she just didn’t want to say anything yet. Her place in the family was being the mess-up, and she wasn’t ready to be responsible yet.
“I would stay away from the Grog. That place is disgusting. I could see if Jonas has anything at his office. Maybe Mom has something.” Buzz gestured at their stepmom, who was head of HR at a law firm.
Agatha pointed out the obvious to the people who knew her best. “I am not a people person.”
“You just don’t try. And without food to throw on them, you might be okay.” Harper might have meant it as a compliment, but it wasn’t.
Agatha answered her by throwing a muffin at her, hitting her in the face. She decided she should have stayed in sports because she was good.
“Pick it up, Ag,” Sera said in her mom voice.
“She asked for it.” Agatha went around the island and picked up the muffin and tossed it in the garbage.
From this side of the room, she could see Chris standing in the doorway, just watching them. His brown eyes met hers across the room, and he nodded at her with a grin. When she nodded back, he backed away from the doorframe, all without anyone noticing … almost.
“No need to sneak out, sir. We all saw you!” Buzz yelled.
Christ took a step into the kitchen. “I didn’t want to disrupt anything.”
“Did you want something to eat?” Harper asked. “We have muffins, and if you wait long enough, there are stuffed pork chops, red potatoes, and dinner rolls.”
“I want a dinner roll,” Sera said with excitement. It wasn’t an item always on the breakfast menu.
“I’ll have a muffin, but then I’m off.” He looked a little scared of the room full of women.
“Don’t let us chase you off.” Sera looked him up and down. “Okay, so I have to admit it right now, I like knowing which of you he belongs to. Years of guessing who was with who in the morning got old.”
Agatha knew Sera had no idea who Chris was because she was sure her stepmom wouldn’t have been so welcoming if she did. “He doesn’t belong to me. He’s trying to kill himself via his house, and I saved him from himself for a few hours. He didn’t stay in my room.”
