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Andrew came down the stairs still drying his hair after a shower. “Where’d you find this little dude?”
I could see him looking around, trying to find Olive. “She had a class. I heard this one screaming for Santa Clause outside of the childcare center.”
Jesse groaned. “I was screaming ‘no’, Jack. I didn’t want to go there. I always have to go to new places and I don’t like it. I just want to come here.”
Andrew grinned and welcomed the hug Jesse rushed over to give him. “As much as I love hanging out with you, little dude, I also want you to go easy on your mom. She’s going to all these new places this week, too. I bet she doesn’t like it, either.”
“Aunt Lydie told me she would stuff worms up my nose if I was bad to Mommy.” He shuddered. “Don’t tell Aunt Lydie, okay?”
“Never. Your Aunt Lydie once kicked me in the knee and I still haven’t forgiven her. So your secret is safe with me. For now. Just remember to be good to your mom.”
“Aunt Lydie kicks everyone.” Jesse shook his head and stared off into space like he’d really seen some shit. “She’s scary.”
I looked at Andrew and saw that he had the same expression on his face. “This is Olive’s older sister?”
“She’s a year younger. Olive got all the sweet and Lydie got all the mean. I watched her try to take Taylor out with a bat once. And that was before everything blew up.” Andrew shuddered the same way Jesse had over the worms. “I wouldn’t mess with Lydie if I was ten feet taller and wearing Kevlar.”
Caleb stared down at Jesse. “He might have a little of the aunt in him.”
I snorted. “Come on, chicken shit. Let’s eat.”
“Chicken shit.” Jesse spun around, sing-songing the new phrase I’d just taught him. “Chicken shit. Chicken shit.”
Grinning, Caleb held up his hands. “Maybe I was wrong about him. I like it.”
Following them to the kitchen, I winced. “What’d your mom say about cussing? Something about big words?”
“She said they’re big boy words.” Andrew leaned down to grab drinks from the fridge and came up with four bottles of water. “That rolled off the tongue a little too easily.”
Caleb caught a water Jack tossed his way and nodded. “Hanging around kids can’t be good for us. No offense, little dude.”
Jesse looked up from digging into the pizza box. “Huh?”
We all settled around the table and dug in. Seeing Jesse devour three whole slices, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. My mom had struggled to keep food in the fridge when I was growing up and I couldn’t help wondering if Olive was having a hard time.
“What do you and your mom have for dinner normally?”
Jesse shrugged. “Sometimes she cooks. She’s a good cook. She doesn’t buy me pizza, though. Not like Maggie.”
“Who’s Maggie?” Caleb finished his water and shot the empty bottle into the recycling bin.
“Maggie was Mommy’s friend. She watched me while Mommy went to school.” Jesse wiped his mouth on the back of his arm. “She’s dead.”
Andrew choked on a bite of pizza and Caleb went pale. I swallowed my food and slowly cleared my throat. I suddenly felt like we were talking to the kid fromThe Sixth Sense. “Oh?”
“Mommy said Maggie was old and when people get too old, they can die. She said it was okay but she cried a lot.” He shrugged. “I liked Maggie but she smelled like flowers and it hurt my nose.”
I sat back and frowned. It seemed like Olive was having a hard go of things. I glanced over at Andrew and saw that he was frowning, too. “Do you know the Maggie he’s talking about?”
He shook his head. “No.”
My phone vibrated on the table and I looked down to see I’d received a text from Olive. The amount of excitement I felt from one text was ridiculous.
Thank you, Jack. I know you probably had better things to do than babysit, but you really saved me tonight. I owe you.
I turned around in my seat and took a selfie that showed all four of us. Sending it to her, I sank my teeth into my lip as I typed a message back to her.Look at how much fun we’re having. Better things than this? You’re crazy. Also, shouldn’t you be paying attention in class?
“Really?” Andrew sounded annoyed and when I looked up at him he shook his head. “You’re texting her?”
