Page 7 of Night of the Living Manny
“I usually grab a Lunchable. We’re awful, food-wise. I’m sorry. We have a shit-ton of easy stuff that I can throw at the kids.”
“Hey, you’re a busy guy. No food shaming.” The cabinets were full of durable foodstuff. Cans and vacuum-packed single-serves. Wow. He needed to get some fresh food.
“I can give you some money for shopping.”
“Cool. I mean, I can definitely work with what you have, but we can supplement with some fresh stuff.” He wanted to ask what Liam did, what kind of music he liked, or if he liked hiking.
“Excellent. The kids love fruit, for sure. Broccoli.”
“They like broccoli?”
“Britt likes it with cheese.” Susanna came into the kitchen, all dressed for school, her hair back in a sleek ponytail.
One look at Liam told Brenden just how unusual that was. Looked like someone else was making sure he knew the routine.
“You like broccoli salad. Good morning. You’re up early.”
“I just wanted to see if the nanny was still here.” She gave him a sideways look even as she replied to Liam.
“Not gonna scare me off that easy.” He winked at her, and she unbent enough to give him a smile. “I appreciate the help this morning, though.”
“Yeah. Mornings suck here.”
“They do?” He raised an eyebrow and fought the urge to look at Liam.
“Yeah. Yeah, they do. Peter is a hog, and Britt tries to get out of going to school, and I don’t ride the bus anymore.”
“Do you need a ride?” He found that asking those roundabout questions got him more real information than being direct with what he wanted to know.
“My friend Nicki’s mom takes me, but thank you.”
“You got it. What kind of cereal do you like?”
“I don’t eat breakfast. I have to fit in my jeans.”
“Do you take lunch? Or a snack?” That worried him, that she wasn’t eating. A kid had to have enough body fat to survive an emergency, right?
“I guess, yeah. I mean, I eat french fries at school.”
“Oh, good.” He grinned, trying for evil. “I won’t be slipping peanut butter sandwiches in your backpack.”
“Peanut butter is Britt’s favorite. Not mine.”
Liam chuckled. “She likes grilled cheese.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He made another mental note. Grilled sandwiches as soon as he found out what Peter liked.
She grabbed a Diet Coke from the fridge, then went to sit next to her father. “You’re going in late today.”
“I thought I’d show Brenden the flow of chaos.” Liam smiled at Susanna, his love for her so obvious it kinda hurt.
“There’s a flow?”
“Vaguely, yeah.”
Brenden let them tease, smiling as he poured out more coffee and grabbed himself a bowl of cereal.
“Dude, Dad, you didn’t share it with me?”
