Page 90 of Tinley's Daddy
“This is Jacob.” Josh gestured. “He’s a chef at one of our hotels. We asked him to cook us breakfast.”
“Of course.” Charlotte made a weird swirling motion with her hands. Her eyes darted around. Jacob set the food on the table.
“Can I get you a drink?” Kyler stood up.
“I’ll take a mimosa.”
“Oh, me, too,” Rayna chimed in.
“You will have juice,” Kyler answered.
She nodded and smirked at me. I held in a giggle.
“Why don’t we sit down?” Josh pulled out a chair for Charlotte.
“So, you all live here together?” Charlotte asked.
“Uhm, Charlotte.” I sat next to her. Josh sat next to me. “How have you been? What’s going on in the old neighborhood?”
“I’m doing better now.” She pouted. “It was so hard when my sister passed away. I felt so alone.” She dabbed at her eyes with the napkins. “It was like my whole family was lost at the same time. But now you’re back.” She grabbed my hand. I counted to ten before sliding it out from beneath her hand.
Jacob set another platter on the table. “We have mini egg gallates, cinnamon French toast, hash browns, and bacon and sausage. Fruit and my homemade pan biscuits. Y’all enjoy!”
“Thanks, Jacob.” Kyler laid Charlotte’s drink in front of her and then went back to join Rayna at the other end of the table. “Let’s dig in.”
We busied ourselves with passing plates of food. Kyler filled Rayna’s plate but handed the platter to Josh. It was so cool how easily they maintained their dynamic while in the presence of company. I peeked over to see if Charlotte noticed, but she wasn’t watching them. She kept her eyes on me.
We fell into an uncomfortable silence interrupted by appreciative moans over the food. I nibbled on a biscuit, my stomach in too many knots for anything to go down. Josh placed a hand on my leg, squeezed, and patted it.
“You look amazing.” She reached for another biscuit and smeared it with butter and jelly. “At least they didn’t starve you over there.”
The whole room froze. Including my throat mid-swallow. I gasped and that made it worse. I pushed back from the chair, and Josh had his arm around me and leaned me forward.
“Spit it out.” Josh’s booming voice made my body involuntarily spit the lodged piece of biscuit on the floor.
“Are you okay?” Josh handed me some water. I took it. “Small sips.” I followed his direction and handed the water back to him, nodding.
“I’m sorry.” I looked around at everyone.
Rayna and Kyler were concerned. Charlotte looked away.
Was she embarrassed?
A veil of doom had hovered around me since Charlotte walked in and now it descended on me. I shivered. Josh wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“I’m okay.” I tried to shrug him off, but he held me firmly. I looked up at him, pleading with my eyes, but he wasn’t concerned with how his hands on me might look. “Really. I’m okay.”
I adjusted my chair back up toward the table but didn’t eat anymore.
“Tinley tells me you’re an artist,” Rayna said. “What medium do you typically work in?”
“I’m a sculptress,” Charlotte answered. She pulled out her phone. “I work with mainly industrial pieces. I see beauty in everything.”
Charlotte went on some time about her work, passing her phone around to show us her latest pieces. “I’d love to see my stuff in hotels and office buildings.” She flipped to another piece on her phone and handed it to Josh. “Now wouldn’t they look amazing in a hotel lobby or something?” She squeaked and smiled.
“It’s really dynamic.” Josh nodded and handed the phone to Kyler, who frowned at him but took it.
“Very expressive,” Kyler deadpanned.
