Page 154 of Scoring the Player
Scanning the fridge, she starts to reach for a yogurt and pauses. “Is that mac ‘n’ cheese?”
“Yeah. You okay with dairy? It has smoked Gouda and Gruyère.”
“Mm.” She pulls out the container and pops it open. “Is that truffle?”
I laugh when she licks her lips, making a slurping sound.
“There’s also braised short ribs.”
“Stop!”
“Top shelf, behind the sautéed green beans.”
“Oh my god! How do you have all of this?” she exclaims.
“I like to cook.”
I race over and help offload the pile of containers she’s stacked under her chin.
“Why are we going out to eat?” she asks.
“I didn’t think you’d want to stay in.”
“I always want to stay in!” She peels back the lid on the ribs. “Ohmygod. Okay. New plan. You walk Sim, and I start heating this up. Come back and we throw down. Yes?”
“Yes, ma’am! The pots are?—”
“I’ll find ’em,” she says, removing her coat.
“More wine?”she offers.
“Sure.”
“You barely ate.”
I look down at my half-full plate. “I ate plenty.”
“No,Iate plenty.” She points her chin at her empty second plate.
I rub the back of my neck. “I don’t have much of an appetite these days.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Did Blue tell you why he called out sick a few weeks back?” I question.
Her eyes narrow. “When he had a cold?”
Hmm. He really didn’t tell anyone else he almost drowned. I can’t tell her I’m worried something else like that happened to him. “Yeah. Um, just family stuff. My older bro is a Marine vet.”
Sim comes over, looking for scraps, and she reaches down and scratches behind his ears. “Is he your only sibling?”
“Yep. He, uh…” I pause for a beat. “Struggles with PTSD and depression, among other things. Sometimes he disappears. The last time, it was bad. Luckily, the right people found him and got him to a hospital.”
“That’s scary. Where is he now?”
I expel a breath. “Hell if we know. We hired a detective to track him down.”
She stops petting Sim, and the deep concern etched on her face feeds the gnawing in my stomach.
