Page 87 of Callahan

Her smirk and wink before she headed back behind the counter seemed to indicate she knew she was trying his patience but didn’t care.

He shook his head as he watched her go, then turned to me.

“Do you still have the camera instructions I gave you?”

“Yeah, I think they’re on her kitchen counter.”

“She’s lucky there hasn’t been a need if she hasn’t signed up for service yet.”

“It’s going to cost her money, isn’t it. Maybe that’s why she hasn’t done it.”

Brian closed his eyes and threw his head back.

“Aw, hell. I hadn’t even considered that.”

“I’ll pay for it. I think it’s an annual fee, and if there’s a credit card on file, it will renew automatically, so it’s never a problem.”

“I can pay for it. I’m the one who suggested it.”

“You bought the equipment,” I argued. “I’ll pay for the subscription. I can’t imagine it’s that much for one camera.”

“All right.” He gestured to my now-empty plate. “You ready? Let’s get this set up before your appointment.”

****

Lainey

I was sitting in my living room, nursing Conor, when the two men walked through the door.

Adam jumped when he saw me.

“Holy shit! Where did you come from? You’re like a little ninja.”

“I came from downstairs. I left you two and heard the baby crying, so I came up.” I noticed my phone with the pink case in his hand. “Are you going to connect my phone to the camera?”

“Yeah.”

He did some scrolling and typing, then asked Brian, “What’s the camera called? It looks like there’s more than one choice here.”

“It’s CamProPlus. We can customize the name once we get it set up.”

Adam clicked a few more buttons, then asked me, “What do you want your password to be?”

Brian chimed in, “And don’t say your birthday, or Conor’s birthday, or your favorite pet’s name.”

“I’ve never had a pet, so I don’t have a favorite.”

Both men turned to stare at me like I’d just told them I hated ice cream.

“What?” I demanded.

“You never had a dog or cat growing up?”

“Nope. Not even a gerbil. My mother didn’t think I’d be responsible for one, and she didn’t want to have to take care of it. Joke’s on her because I’m now responsible for keeping her grandson alive and probably should have had the practice.”

Adam had a crease between his eyebrows.

“You’re going to get Conor a dog when he gets older, though. Right?”

---