“We’ll try and stop by the house, son,” Dad said. “But your mother’s right—the little ones are hard to resist.”
I said nothing, flipping my steak one more time.
“Anyway,” Mom went on, “you’re planning on coming by for family dinner tomorrow, right? Don’t tell me you need to be up early for work.”
“Well, Idoneed to be up early. But you know I’ll be there.”
“Good,” Dad said. “We’ll see you then, alright?”
“Alright. Love you guys.”
They returned their love, and we said our goodbyes. I set down my phone and took one more swig of beer before pulling the steak off the grill and setting it onto a nearby plate.
The moment I was done, I heard the faint sound of Maddie laughing drifting across the yard. Longing suddenly filled me, and I did my best to push it away as I collected my food and headed into my big, empty house, with Mick at my side.
Chapter 12
PIPER
“Mommy! Mooooommy!”
I groaned and rolled over, checking my phone even though I knew what time it was.
“Mooooommy!”
Maddie was my regular alarm clock, making sure I slept in no later than seven. Truth be told, there were worse ways to get up in the morning than an adorable kid wanting to see you.
“Kiddo,” I groaned back, rolling over and facing the door. “What did I tell you about yelling from across the house?”
Maddie appeared at my open door seconds later, looking extra cute in her purple, unicorn-patterned pajamas, her dark hair mussed around her face, a big smile showing off her tiny teeth.
“It’s Sunday.”
“Huh? I know it is.”
“On Friday you said we could have pancakes on Sunday.”
“Did I?”
She gave one slow, affirmative nod. “Yep. You said if I was good and helped with the boxes, we could have pancakes.”
I gave myself a moment, searching my memory for the conversation. It took me a second, but I remembered.
“I swear, kid, you’ve got an iron-trap memory when it comes to food.”
Maddie had always been a big eater, putting away twice as much food one would think a girl her age needed. Even weirder, she never put on so much as a single pound of extra weight. It confused me like crazy until I’d put it together that her father was an enormous man who no doubt put away tons of calories on a given day. If her build as a kid was any indication, she was on her way to growing up strong and healthy as a horse.
“That’s what you said. Remember?”
“OK, OK, yes, I remember now.”
“I checked the kitchen—we have all the stuff; even the syrup!”
“Well, then it’s settled. How about you give your poor mom a second before I go down there and start? Go brush your teeth, OK?”
“OK!” The promise of pancakes in her future, Maddie eagerly rushed off to her room, her little feet plodding on the hardwood floor.
I groaned one more time, my body aching from moving the last bit of stuff into the house. Maybe it was all in my head, but it seemed like as soon as I’d hit thirty my body had started the process of breaking down.
