“Hey,” I replied, smirking at him over my shoulder. “No back seat parenting.”
“I’m just sayin’….”
“Eh, she’s got to learn some time.”
“By burning the house down?”
“I obviously have more faith in her than you.”
“Well, I would like to survive until tomorrow.”
I chuckled and went to step forward until Rose wagged her finger at us.
“Nuh-uh. Pancakes are not clothing optional.” She raised an eyebrow and stared at me pointedly.
Grimacing, I looked down at myself, then Marshall. Yeah, okay, she had a point. We both shrugged, then turned around and rummaged for the rest of the clothes we’d thrown on the bedroom floor last night.
Moments later, we were back, clothed, and seated at the other end of the dining room table to the unfinished jigsaw. A heaped plate of messy, lopsided pancakes was in front of each of us. A large bottle of maple syrup was in the middle of us, alongside the sugar bowl and several quartered lemons. The pancakes themselves were overcooked but not burnt in their thinner spots, whereas the thicker spots looked like they hadn’t been cooked quite long enough. With no visible evidence of the pancakes having been on fire, I wondered whether I should ask about it or just let it go.
Considering we had a guest whose tummy was grumbling loudly from the sweet smell of pancakes lingering in the house, I figured an explanation could probably wait.
No harm, no foul, right?
I was acing this parenting thing!
About half an hour later, Marshall was the first of us to finish, mopping up the last of his syrup with his final piece of pancake before he leaned back in his seat, patted his stomach, and declared himself “fit to burst.” “Those were some of the tastiest pancakes I’ve had in a very long time. Thank you, Rose.”
With her cheeks bulging from the mouthful that she’d just stuffed in, she nodded. A light blush appeared on her face from the compliment.
“That has left me in a bit of a sticky mess, though,” he continued innocently, making me choke. As I reached for my glass of water to clear my throat, he smirked at me, knowing full well where my mind had gone. “I’m going to grab a shower.”
Still coughing, I waved him off, then wondered if there was any way I could join him as I watched him saunter toward his roomwith a gentle sway of his hips. I chanced a glance at Rose, only to discover she was watching us both with avid curiosity.
No communal showers this morning, then. I swallowed my disappointment along with the remnants of the pancake I’d been choking on and focused on the rest of the food still sitting on my plate.
After we heard the click of Marshall’s door shutting, Rose put down her fork. When she didn’t say anything, I put mine down as well, then swiveled in my seat to face her.
She had her elbows on the table and her chin in her palms and was staring at me with a shit-eating grin on her face.
Fucking hell. I sighed in resignation. Best to get the third degree over with now. She’d be unbearable if I let her stew. “What?”
“So.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So.”
“I like him for you.”
I raised the other eyebrow. “You do, huh?”
She nodded. “You’re happier with him here.”
Pressing my lips together, I felt my eyes drawn in the direction of his bedroom, regardless of my brain telling me not to be so damn obvious. She was right, of course.
A light pressure landed on my shoulder, and I turned to find her hand resting there.
“You deserve this, Dad,” she said quietly but ever so seriously. “Let yourself have this for however long he’s here for.”
With a tiny smile playing on my lips, I reached up and squeezed her hand with mine. “Even if he’s only here for another few days?” I knew Marshall had said he wanted to stay for a few months last night, and I very much hoped that would eventuate, but anything could happen between now and the time he got his Jeep back from Kajir.
