“Why not?”
“Because it’s full of sugar and a lot of other things your body doesn’t need.”
“Well, thank you for your concern, but it’s my body, and I like it, and if we leave now, we should be able to get through the drive-through and make it on time.I’ve already looked up the drive time, and to make it even easier, I placed an online order that will be ready to be picked up in ten minutes.”
“Great,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“You should be excited.Today is the start of Operation Fix the Fox,” she said, grabbing her bowl and making her way over to the sink.
My eyes washed over her body.I could only imagine what my teammates were going to say when I showed up with her tagging along beside me.
“Operation Fix the Fox?”
“Yep, Fix the Fox.It’s the title I gave to this project.Cute right?”she said, crinkling her nose as she stuffed her things into her bag.
“Yeah, really cute.Why on earth would you give this project a title?Let me guess, because you think having a cute title is going to somehow magically help the situation?”
“Cute titles always help.Just relax.I’m only going to shadow you this morning.Like I told you yesterday, I want to note your habits.”
“Note my habits?”
“Yep, I want to have you adjust things that perhaps you shouldn’t do.”
“What, like drink beer?”I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Yep, exactly like drinking beer.When you drink, you lose the ability to maintain control, and I think that may be one reason you keep getting yourself into these situations.”
Out of the pair of us, if anyone knew what drinking did to someone, it was me.I’d not only spent my time dealing with a drunk father when I was younger, but I also watched him drink himself to death in his later years.
“You know what I think?”I questioned.
“What?”
“I think someone in this kitchen needs to mind their own business.I also think she needs to get more sleep at night instead of staying up all hours keeping the person on the other side of the wall awake while arguing with Mr.Perfect.”
She didn’t even skip a beat; she kept shoving things into her bag and then zipped it closed.
“Well, thank you for that.Oh, and we weren’t fighting.Now, instead of worrying about me and my habits, how about we focus on the problem at hand?Now, we need to get going.”
I rolled my eyes and then drank down the rest of my shake, half listening to what other garbage she was going on about.The moment she stopped speaking, I rinsed out my cup and grabbed my keys.
“Let’s go,” I said, leaving her in the kitchen.
I grabbed my bag and headed out the front door, climbed into the truck, and started the engine while watching Emma struggle to lock the door with the key I’d given her.When she finally got into the truck, I began backing it up before she’d even closed her door.
“Wait!”she screamed.
“What?”
I stomped on the brake, causing the door to slam shut, and that was when she turned and looked my way.
“Rule number one: don’t kill the love of your life while leaving your driveway,” she muttered, her jaw clenched as she quickly fastened her seatbelt.
“Relax there, baby girl.You are far from the love of my life.”
I never wanted to laugh so hard as she spun her head around and glared at me.
“Stop calling me that.”
