Page 62 of The Payback Adventure
She opened the door and stepped inside. No food spills on the sparkling linoleum. No dishes on the gleamingcountertops. Nothing out of place. The empty sink shone. Even the dish towels looked freshly washed.
This looked like her kitchen. No, this was cleaner than her kitchen.
She saw some clutter on the table. Thank goodness, or she would have thought she’d been transported to the twilight zone. A second glance showed her it wasn’t a mess but decorations. A sign readingHappy Unbirthday, Elisabethsat next to a very small pink-iced cake.
She placed her purse and jacket on a chair and walked into the living room. It was clean, too. All the toys had been picked up and books straightened. Sam sat on the couch. The television wasn’t on, but music played from the old CD player in the corner.
He glanced up from the book on his lap and smiled. A smile? “Hi, Sis.”
“Hey.” She didn’t know what else to say. “What are you reading?”
“Some stupid book.”
“And you’re reading it because…”
“Homework. I have to.”
Except he didn’t read. Not all his assignments, anyway. It was a constant complaint from his teachers that a boy as bright as Sam didn’t always try.
“Oh, well, that’s good,” she said, trying not to show her surprise.
“Actually, it’s not that bad.” He twisted the book so she could read the title on the cover.The PhantomTollbooth.“Henry said he read it when he was my age.”
Henry. Of course.
“You had to work longer, so you missed the party,” Sam said, changing the subject.
“I saw,” she said. “Did you have fun?”
Sam shrugged. “It was okay. Abby and Caitlin had fun. We saved you a cake.”
“Thank you.”
“It was Henry’s idea.”
Elisabeth had figured that out. Everything good that happened around here turned out to be Henry’s idea. She smiled.
“He’s cool,” Sam said. “I hope he sticks around.”
Me, too.And that concerned her. They were all too attached to Henry. Elisabeth sighed. “Where are Henry and the girls?”
“Upstairs.” Sam returned to his book. Homework, she corrected.
She heard a male voice coming from her room. She peeked in. Caitlin lay on the queen-size bed while Abby and Henry sat on the edge, reading.
“And the prince kissed the princess. The two moved to his castle on the hill and lived happily ever after. The end.”
Henry closed the book and placed it on the nightstand. He tucked the blankets around Caitlin and kissed her forehead. “Good night, princess.”
Caitlin giggled. “Good night, fairy daddy.”
Holding her breath, Elisabeth waited for Henry to say something. He didn’t. He merely ruffled Caitlin’s curls.
Elisabeth exhaled slowly. Henry was such a natural withchildren. No doubt about it, he was definite father material. Surely, he could feel it. No one could pretend the kind of affection he showed the kids.
Thanks to him, her brother and sisters had become happy children. The way they’d been before their parents’ deaths. Henry had taught them, and her, how to laugh and live again. And Elisabeth knew then what she had been fighting all along—she was falling for him.
Who was she kidding? She’d fallen, headfirst, and was sinking deeper.
