Chapter 10
ALEX
The next morning I woke to the sound of a siren.
I startled, jumping up from the air mattress Char had blown up and set in the middle of the living room.
I’d been displaced from my short stay in the back bedroom when Gramps moved in.
I grabbed my jeans and stuffed in one leg, then the other.
Was it an ambulance? Surely Char would have woken me up if something happened to one of the girls.
As I pulled my T-shirt on over my head, Frankie came into the room. “There you are.”
“What’s happening? Is everyone okay?” I rushed to my niece, who calmly took a bite of a banana as she stood at the foot of my makeshift bed.
“Yeah. Mom said to wake you up, so I sent Shiner Bock in to do the job.”
I glanced to my right. The damn bird sat on top of the credenza, shaking his head and plucking at his feathers. “You’re kidding me.”
Frankie shook her head. “He can make all kinds of noises. Watch this.” She held a small piece of banana out to the bird. “Shiner, cry like a baby.”
The bird bobbed his head and then began to wail. I could have sworn there was a newborn infant somewhere in the house.
“See?” Frankie held her finger out to the bird, who took a delicate nibble of the banana.
“I see. Is there a way to turn him off?”
Frankie’s brows drew down over her eyes, making her little forehead crease. “He’s a bird, Uncle Alex.”
“Yeah, I know.” I reached out and pulled my niece in for a hug. “What time is it, anyway?”
Frankie shrugged her shoulders as she twirled away. “Time to go to school. Mom says we’re leaving in five minutes.”
“Okay, thanks.”
She reached for the bird, who climbed onto her hand and then waddled up her arm to rest on her shoulder. “Jordan made waffles. Mom says you better come and get some before Dolly feeds them to her stuffed animals.”
“Be there in a sec.” I waited for her to disappear through the doorway before reaching for my phone.
The contractor had confirmed our meeting for this morning.
I didn’t have any time to waste if I wanted to get the penguin habitat constructed in time for the wedding.
For a moment my thoughts wandered to my interaction with Zina last night.
She was like the pit bulls she rescued—tough and protective of the ones she loved.
The fact she was suspicious of my motives rankled me a bit. It shouldn’t matter what she thought. I was going to be stressed enough as it was without any outside interference. But I’d made it this far in life by winning people over. I’d just have to work a little harder to gain her trust.
“I heard there were waffles.” I entered the kitchen to find the aftermath of an explosion of flour all over the kitchen counters. My jacket hung on the back of the chair I’d used last night. Somehow it had also suffered the wrath of whoever had taken out their aggression by making breakfast.
“We had a little accident with the baking mix,” Char said.
“Really? Who’s responsible? I think someone deserves to be tickle tortured for that.” I held my hands up and wiggled my fingers.
“It was Jordan.” Dolly giggled and pointed her wand at her older sister.
“Don’t even think about it, Uncle Alex.” Jordan jerked the spatula out of the bowl, sending a glob of raw waffle batter right at my shirt.
The batter splattered against my chest and then plopped onto the floor. I glanced from my shirt to Jordan, whose eyes had gone wide.
“Sorry about that.” She thrust the spatula back in the bowl.
“No problem, kiddo. What’s a little salmonella poisoning among family members,” I joked.
“Coffee’s on. Mugs are in the cabinet in front of you. It’s the only way I survive.” Char tossed me a towel and offered a sympathetic smile.
I grinned back. Then Dolly pushed past me, her plate tipping just enough to spill syrup down the front of my pants. I jumped backward, knocking over the pitcher of orange juice. It raced across the counter, dousing my notebook in liquid.
“For fuck’s sake.”
“For fuck’s sake. For fuck’s sake,” the bird mocked me.
“Oooh, Uncle Alex is going to get a consequence.” Izzy covered her mouth with her hand.
Silence descended. The only noise came from Jordan’s phone in the form of a video she’d been watching while she monitored the waffle iron.
“Alex, can I talk to you?” Char turned away from where she’d been packing lunch boxes. “In the living room?”
I glanced from Jordan to Frankie. They both looked away. Izzy shook her head and Dolly clucked her tongue. I was a grown man. Why did I suddenly feel like I was about to get grounded by my sister?
Char moved down the hall and stopped inside the living room. “What’s going on?”
I slid my hand over my shirt. “I’m covered in breakfast. Is it always like this around here?”
“Yeah, it pretty much is.” Her shoulders slumped. “Which is why I can’t have Gramps moving in, too.”
I wanted to offer some sort of comfort but wasn’t sure how. “We’ll figure something out. Once I get paid from this gig, I’ll have plenty to pitch in and find Gramps a new place to go.”
“How did we end up here?” Char lifted her head. Her lower lids brimmed with tears.
A hollow feeling grew in my gut. While she’d been trying to make a life for herself and her family, I’d been partying around the world.
Tossing back beers at the Hofbr?uhaus in Munich, watching the gals put on a show at the Moulin Rouge, and doing my best to single-handedly support the economy of several islands in the South Pacific.
“We’re going to make this work.” I reached out and put a hand on my sister’s shoulder.
“Since when? You’re only going to be here long enough to cash in and then you’ll be off again on another adventure.” She shrugged my hand away and ran a finger under her eye, wiping away any hint of emotion.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could have been here for you more.”
“You don’t mean that.” She leveled me with a direct gaze. “You’ve never been able to stay in one place.”
My cheeks tingled. I knew she’d been struggling.
I’d known it for a while. Every time we chatted via video, I’d get an idea of just how busy her life was.
But when I’d been on the other side of the world, it had been easy to ignore.
Char could handle anything. She was the strong, stable one.
I was the one who took the party with me wherever I went.
I’d never grown roots, never wanted to, not the kind that Char had put down.
“I’m here now.”
“Yeah, but for how long? I can manage the four kids, the husband who’s never home, working two jobs to try to keep groceries on the table. The choices Dave and I have made have led us to where we are and we’ll deal with that.”
I nodded.
“But I can’t take on Gramps all by myself.”
“I’m here to help. I won’t leave until we find a solution. One that works for both of you.”
“And watch your language.”
“I’ll try. I’m not used to being around impressionable ears, but I’ll do my best.” I glanced down at my clothes. “Now I’ve got to change before I go meet with the contractor. Can I do anything to help you get out the door this morning?”
“Actually”—Char bit her lower lip—“Dolly’s day care provider canceled for today and my calendar is packed at work. Think she can hang with you?”
“What, like all day?”
“Yeah. She only has preschool three days a week and goes to day care the rest. But there’s some virus sweeping through and I could really use a hand.”
I swallowed the no that tried to squeeze past my lips. “Yeah, of course. I’d be happy to watch her.”
“Great. Thanks.” Char leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. “I’ll make sure she and Gramps are ready to go.”
“Wait. Where’s Gramps going today?”
Char stopped in the doorway and turned around real slow. “With you. He can’t stay here on his own all day. My house can’t take it. Last night I caught him trying to order pay-per-view.”
“Okay, Gramps, too.” It was going to be a real party trying to get work done with a multigenerational audience today, but that’s what I’d signed up for.
“You’re a lifesaver.”
I didn’t feel like a lifesaver. I felt like a life ring, bobbing around in the ocean trying to stay afloat until someone bigger and braver came by to take over. But I’d promised to pitch in, so I vowed to make the best of it.
Twenty minutes later I’d changed clothes, snagged a quick breakfast of lumpy waffles, and was ready to head out. Char had already left to take the three older girls to school and get to work.
“Dolly, Gramps, time to go.” I’d tried drying my notebook with a hair dryer, but the pages still stuck together.
There had to be something else sitting around I could use.
While I waited for my niece and my grandfather to turn off the TV in the other room, I pulled open one drawer after another, looking for something I could write on.
“I’m ready, Uncle Alex.” Dolly skipped into the room, her plastic dress-up heels clunking along the floor.
“Oh, sweetheart, we’re going to a warehouse today. Why don’t you run back to your room and change?”
Her lower lip jutted out. “But I want to wear my princess dress.”
I checked my watch. We were short on time but if she hurried, we wouldn’t be late. “I just don’t want you to get dirty. Warehouses can be a tricky place for princesses, you know.”
Dolly’s brow furrowed as she whirled around and stomped out of the kitchen.
“Gramps!” I opened the last drawer. I scooped up a pen and notebook and shoved them into my bag.
Gramps shuffled into the kitchen. “I’d rather stay home.”
I shook my head. “Not gonna happen. Char said you need to be supervised today.”
“I pressed the wrong button last night. Thought I was getting that new Bourne movie.”
“You can tell that to Char later. Right now I need you to get it in gear or I’m going to be late.”
Gramps frowned and muttered to himself as he moved toward the hall closet. I checked my watch again. I needed to start this project off on the right foot.
“Dolly! Come on, hon. We’ve got to go.”