Lynn nodded, looking slightly guilty forthe first time since I’d met her. “It’s…unexpected.”
Forcing a smile, she sat down at thekitchen table and tried to look happy. “But rumor around the office is thatwe’ll get things wrapped up quickly. So I’ll be back before you can miss me.”
I appreciated that she was trying to makeit easier to swallow, but it wasn’t what I’d been expecting to hear when she’dcome in late from work. “Okay.”
Moving away from the stove where the pastawas boiling, I walked over to the table and grabbed a crayon that rolled to thefloor. Becca was talking to herself, completely entranced in her picture, and Iknew that meant I had a few more minutes tops before she got bored or justtried to eat them.
For some reason red was her favorite foodthis week and that meant anything from strawberries to red crayons would bedelicious.
Kids were so weird.
“So what do we need to do to get you readyto go?” There was nothing I could do about it, so I’d focus on what I couldcontrol.
“Nothing.” Lynn shook her head as I gaveher a disbelieving expression. “Most of my stuff is in storage, and as long asyou’ll let me keep the rest in your guest room, all I have to do is pack.”
She gave me a grin. “So unless you suddenlyneed your guest room, I promise there is nothing you need to do.”
That seemed too easy. “Are you sure?”
That got me a more genuine smile. “Yes. Sowe’re going to have dinner and pretend it’s a perfectly normal Friday. Whileyou’re off with your man, I’m going to pack and work on my to-do list.”
“No, there has to be something you needhelp with.” Just packing to go on vacation was a pain in the ass. This had tobe worse no matter where she was actually going.
Lynn just groaned. “You’re too nice. Okay,not going to surprise you. While you’re gone, I’m going to record myselfreading the munchkin's favorite books and put the videos on her tablet. One ofthe guys at work does that when he travels. It makes sure his kids rememberhim, and it gives his wife a few minutes' peace.”
She grinned, glancing over at Becca andlaughing as the red crayon started moving closer to the wild child’s mouth.“The green one tastes better. Give me that, silly monkey.”
As Becca giggled and gave a very mangledexplanation that she was not a monkey, I pushed my worries and stress to theback of my mind. I had a dinner to prepare and red bribes to find, neither ofwhich would be easy to do while thinking about Lynn’s upcoming travels, butthere was nothing I could do about it.
By the time dinner was over and Becca wasbathed and down for the count, I was nearly vibrating with stress. I knew itwasn’t logical, but all I could think of was how bad things had been after theaccident when everything had been thrown at me and there was nothing I could dobut hold on and pray.
Hell, just paying for the funeral had wipedout my savings, and when I added in everything else, it’d gone from bad toworse. When Lynn had come back, she’d done her best to step up and fix things.But that possibly unreasonable fear was still crawling around at the back of mymind.
Knocking lightly on Lynn’s bedroom door, Iglanced in as she opened it to see her suitcase spread out on the bed. The roomwas a disaster, but under the chaos, it looked like she was starting to geteverything together. “You still good with me heading out for the night?”
I wouldn’t have blamed her for saying no,but she just smiled, looking excited for whatever she was going to be doing.“Yeah, I’ve got this under control and the munchkin is asleep, so everythingelse is a piece of cake.”
Not willing to argue with her andaccidentally convince her she really needed me, I nodded and stepped back fromthe doorway. “Alright. I’ll see you first thing.”
She snorted. “I’m not going to be sleepingtonight, so don’t worry about coming back early. I’m going to be heading out ofhere mid-morning and I’ll sleep on the plane. You have fun and make some dirtymemories I’ll get to tease you about when I come back.”
Laughing quietly, I shook my head. “I pleadthe fifth.”
Lynn just rolled her eyes as she grinned.“Yep, that’s what guilty people always do. Now shoo. I’ve got a to-do list amile long and you’ve got a sexy man waiting for you.”
The wicked glint in her eyes said she knewmore than she was letting on, but I wasn’t going to ask. I really didn’t wantto know how much she knew about my personal life.
“I’m gone. Good luck.” Walking away beforeeither of us could change our minds, I turned back as she called out.
“Hey, Ridley?” When I paused, shecontinued. “If you call my office this time foranything, they’ll putyou through no matter what. I’m sorry about last time.”
Nodding, I tried to look relaxed. “Hey, yousaid you fixed stuff this time, and my savings account is built back up. Don’tworry about it. I even have the name of the lawyer you gave Power of Attorneyto. It’ll be fine.”
And if I kept telling myself that,eventually, I would believe it.
Right?
No, it was going to be fine. Lynn had setup the funds from the estate so that it was paying for the house and all thosebills. There was even enough coming in to make sure I had money for groceriesand unexpected expenses.
