Page 24 of The Only Seconds that Matter
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Victor had a hard time climbing out of bed, but he didn’t want to be asleep when Taylor woke, so he made sure to be up and dressed by seven-thirty.He was just starting to make some coffee when Taylor shuffled out of her bedroom and walked into the living area, bringing two exuberant dogs with her.Victor opened the door for them to run outside, then gave Taylor the brightest smile he could manage.
“Hey there, kiddo?How’d you sleep?”
“Okay…” Taylor drifted off.“Is Mama coming to pick me up?”
“Johnny will pick you up at nine.”
“Oh.”Taylor stepped over to the kitchen island and climbed up onto a stool.“Why didn’t he pick me up last night?”
“He’ll explain it to you.”Let Johnny deal with that burden.“But he’s fine, so don’t worry.You want breakfast?How does eggs and bacon sound?”
For the first time, Taylor perked up.“Really?”
“Sure.You like your eggs scrambled?”
“Yes, please!”
Victor went to work preparing her breakfast as Taylor started cycling through possible name options for the other horses, which Victor allowed even though he only had jurisdiction over the Arabian and the pony gelding.When Victor put a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her, Taylor let out a squeal of delight and dug into her food with the fervor of a horse to sweet feed.
“Mama only makes us breakfast on special occasions,” Taylor explained.“She’s always too tired cuz she works nights.”
“What about her boyfriend?Mike, I think it is.”
Taylor’s face turned sour.“Mike can’t cook anything but hot dogs.”
“You don’t like hot dogs?”
“Yeah, but it’s all he makes us when Mama’s out.Most of the time he just sleeps or watches TV.He’s lazy.Mama says so all the time.”Taylor paused, then glanced around the house.“Do you have a girlfriend?”
Great, now Victor had to hear this from a nine-year-old.“Why do you care?”Victor asked, trying to sound playful.
“I dunno.”Taylor shrugged.“Most old people have girlfriends.”
“Oh,old people, I see,” Victor replied with a laugh.
“Yeah!”Taylor responded with a grin.“You’re so old!You’re like a grandpa.Do you ever need a cane when you walk?”
Grinning, Victor replied, “I’m going to throw you outside with the dogs, what do you think about that?”
Taylor giggled, shoving more eggs in her mouth.“Good!I wanna sleep in the barn with the horses.”
“Do you want to eat hay like the horses, too?”
“I’ve tried eating grass but it doesn’t taste good.”
After Taylor finished breakfast, she asked if Victor had a hairbrush so she could put her hair in a ponytail.Victor offered to braid her hair instead, if she wanted.
“You know how to braid hair?”Taylor asked, wrinkling her nose.
“Sure I do.Is that weird?”
“Mike doesn’t know how to do that.”
“Mike also doesn’t know how to cook, does he?”
“Yeah, he sucks,” Taylor agreed as she followed Victor to the couch and plopped herself on the floor so that Victor had a good angle at which to braid her hair.
