I drop more batter onto the griddle, but I can’t take it.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing.”
Now, it’s that other tone. The one that lights a fire in my belly.Thisis exactly what I didn’t need today.
I turn, crossing my arms over my chest. “What?” I ask again with more patience than I expected.
“I just. . . I’ve never seen you without a hat. It’s like. . .you’re Green Lantern instead of Batman.”
Ollie giggles, covering his mouth with his hand.
“What?”
She waves a hand. “Nothing.” Her lips twitch. “I thought. . .you were probably balding and had one of those spots you were covering.”
I rub my beard, trying to understand what I’m supposed to do with this woman. “I didn’t have a hat on last night.”
Her eyes move back and forth like she’s trying to recall. “Truuue, but when you scare the crap out of someone . . . Yeah, I really wasn’t thinking about your hair loss insecurities.” She steps into the kitchen. “Premature balding is nothing to be ashamed of.”
I have to visit the barber every three weeks. I’m not even close to balding, and I suspect she’s fully aware of that.
She peeks around me to inspect the food on the stove. “I’m sorry. I hope Ollie didn’t wake you.”
“I was up. We had a couple of beers and talked about the weather.”
She leans against the counter and yawns, running her hand up and down Frankie’s back, whose head pops up to stare at me. “Shocking, isn’t it, Love Bug?”
I groan, tucking my hair behind my ears, and Sarah laughs.
“The coffee is still hot, and the mugs are in the cabinet behind you.”
She sets Frankie on the floor beside Grover and reaches for a mug, pouring a cup.
“Mmm,” she hums, wrapping her hands around the mug and holding it to her chest like she’s hugging it. “You make good coffee.”
I try not to stare at how incredibly beautiful she is, messy and wrinkled as she savors it.
I shake myself from it, and we divide up the pancakes and bacon.
Sarah tears off pieces of pancake and sets them in front of Frankie.
Ollie twists toward me. “Can we g-go to the park today?”
Sarah runs a hand over his head. “Bud, Slade might have things he needs to do.”
Ollie’s lips push out like a duck.
“I bet I can fit that in,” I say. “As long as you help me clean the leaves out of the downspouts later.”
“Down s-spouts,” Ollie repeats, but Sarah’s eyes meet mine.
“You really don’t have—”
“It’s fine.” I don’t know where this kid’s dad is, but I know what it’s like to not have one and what it would have meant to me to have someone take me to the park.
She bites the end off a piece of bacon. “Since you made breakfast, how about I make dinner?”
