Page 7 of August
Elisa tilted her head, gave her a soft smile, and replied, “That’s really nice.”
“Well, I don’t do it for free, so I don’t know how nice it really is.” Myra laughed off the compliment because Elisa’s blue eyes and that caramel skin were really getting to her.
She needed to remember that Elisa had just mentioned a sister-in-law, meaning she was married and not at all available. Her kids were in the living room right now, for crying out loud. Myra shook herself out of it as Elisa turned and walked them in the direction of the work that needed to be done.
“So, should I follow you around or just let you do your thing?” Elisa asked.
“Either is fine. I need to check out some things and take some notes. Is it okay if I take pictures?”
“Of course,” Elisa replied. “Do you want something to drink? I feel like I should ask again.”
Myra smiled at her and said, “I’m okay, but thank you.”
“Okay.”
“Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“When’s dinner?” Archie asked.
“In about an hour.”
“I’m starving,” he said.
“Grab a snack,” Elisa replied.
“Do we even have anything?” he asked.
“I’m fairly certain there is at least one bite of food in this house.”
Myra chuckled under her breath at Elisa’s comment and got to work on the inspection.
“Do we have any of those cookies?” he asked.
“You ate them all,” Adele noted.
Myra turned and realized that she’d walked in as well.
“Not all that long from now, you two will be on your own. Can you actually take care of yourselves, or do I need to worry? You realize that food won’t magically appear in your dorm rooms, right? You have to shop for it and maybe even cook it.”
“I’llbe fine, but I don’t know about him,” Adele replied. “At leastIcan cook.”
“I can cook,” Archie argued.
“Grilled cheese, mac and cheese from the box, and probably something else with cheese in it,” Adele said.
Myra checked a few things off on her form and made a note about the condition of the wood.
“Dinner is in an hour. I’ll start cooking soon. Will you get out of here and let Myra work in peace?”
“Who’s Myra?” Archie asked.
“The contractor. She’s standing right there,” Adele said and rolled her eyes at her brother.
“Oh, right. How was I supposed to know her name? Mom, can we talk about me going to Dad’s tonight?” Archie asked.
“Tonight? You were just asking me about dinner.”
