Page 58 of Please Open Me
How couldhebe careless?
“No,” he said.
Quiet. Low. But with an edge. The kind of edge that saiddon’t push it.
“And don’t you dare go sayin’ she is,” he added, barely above a mutter. “She’s gettin’ too skinny, and I’m just glad she’s eatin’ again. If you bring it up, she’ll get in her head and stop.”
That shut me up.
I looked over at the couch.
Rosie had apparently only needed a sip of milk because she was already back to dozing on her mom. A smile tugged at my lips as Mason gently wiped milk from Rosie’s cheeks, brushing her curls back like she was made of spun sugar. Baby girl was the world’s messiest eater, but she also had the world’s most patient mom.
Mason shifted Rosie back onto her shoulder, and that’s when I noticed it.
Cameron was right.
It wasn’t some dramatic transformation. Mason hadn’t gone from glowing to gaunt overnight, but the change was there. She’d always been thin, maybe even a little wiry, but now her collarbones were more pronounced.
And I cursed myself for not noticing sooner.
Wasthatwhy she hadn’t been feeling well? Why she looked so wiped every time I saw her?
Cameron’s voice was quiet behind me. Careful. Like he knew I’d finally started toseeit.
“So, yeah,” he said. “four brownies is excessive. And no, I won’t encourage her to do it every day. But she’s eating to make milk for my baby and keep herself healthy. You need to let me love her in the only way I know how.”
And he was right. I needed to let him take care of her.
But I wasn’t going to apologize.
If he wanted to throw around euphemisms, he better know what they meant and use them right. I wasjustabout to tell him that—then the stairs creaked.
I looked up to see Sophia descending, dressed in a butter-yellow athletic set. The leggings left nothing to the imagination. Her blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and the spray tan she’d just gotten made the soft color pop against her skin.
I looked away.
We’d had a conversation about her not degrading me—I felt I had expressed myself well, but she didn’t really seem to listen. The ordeal left me feeling a little ashamed to evenbein her presence.
She didn’t say anything at first. Just crossed the living room with quiet, bouncy steps and knelt beside the couch to kiss Rosie’s forehead.
Then Mason’s.
“Go put the rugrat in her crib and take a nap. You look like you need it.” She smoothed Rosie’s hair back.
Mason shook her head. “Her belly hurts. If I put her down, she’ll scream.” She sounded utterly defeated.
I wondered if I should skip the gym entirely.
Sophia waved her off, then turned toward us.
“Oh,Cameron,” she sang, crooking a finger. “The beautiful little girl you made is grumpy, and my sweet little Honeybee is so tired.” She cupped Mason’s face and cooed, “Be a doll and take the baby so Mason can rest?”
Cameron muttered something and walked away with Rosie. And I swear, in the subtle way his shoulders dropped, I could tell he wasrelievedto leave.
How the fuck did Sophia order everyone around so effortlessly?
She didn’t raise her voice. Didn’t threaten. Yet here she was, and now Cameron was gone and Mason was sayingthank youinstead of arguing.
