Page 57 of DadBod

ROME

“How was today?”I came home early again. The rush ended, and I felt like I could leave Jeriann in charge again, which has been working out great. Sure, there were a couple of people with hurt feelings, but I don’t give a shit. It won’t be long until Jeriann will be running the place.

“Good.” She’s washing up the dinner dishes.

“What’d you make for dinner?”

She glances back at me and arches her brow. “The blue box of mac and cheese and hotdogs.”

“Again?”

“Don’t start,” she mutters. “I heard enough complaining from your oldest.”

“How did she do at the pet thing?” She sent me photos of my kids volunteering at a pet adoption event in Grant Park.

“Good.” She dries the pan in her hand, then puts it away. “Be prepared.”

“For what?”

“Calvin wants a puppy.”

Shit. I knew that was going to happen. “Tell him no.”

She turns to face me. “I’m not telling him anything. That’s between you and your son.” She smiles, but I don’t get to see her real one. Just the small, closed-mouth one she relies on heavily. She continues, “Interesting thing happened, though.”

“Yeah?” Please don’t tell me Calvin released all the dogs into the wild.

“Ryann made a friend.”

“Oh?”

“A special-needs dog. One that was badly abused. According to Bernie, he’s the only one Charlie will respond to, but by the end of the day, Charlie,” she clarifies, “that’s the dog. By the end of the day, Charlie was out of his kennel with his head in Ryann’s lap.”

Wow. “Really?”

“Yep.” Elizabeth nods. That’s when I see a tear slide down her pretty face. “Bernie was shocked. That poor dog.”

“Why?” I guess I’m not understanding the significance.

“Charlie wouldn’t go to anyone. He––he was badly abused; he feared everyone except Ryann.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” She wipes away the tear, and I’m envious. I’d like to be the one doing that. Touching her. Making her feel better.

“Does that mean Ryann is warming up to you?”

“Ha,” she scoffs. “Nope.” Shaking her head, she reaches for another saucepan. “She was just as irritated with me afterward, maybe more so than usual. She griped that I made her work the whole day.”

“Work is a good thing. They need to work.”

“I agree.” Elizabeth turns and opens a drawer near the stove and retrieves a piece of paper. “Which brings me to this.” Setting it on the counter, she slides it until it’s in front of me. I read the top. “Chore list.” There are two columns, one with Calvin’s name on it and one with Ryann’s. On the left she’s made rows listing things that our cleaning person does each week and several other things.

“Have you shown this to the kids?”

“Nope.” She slowly shakes her head. “You’re going to do it.”

When did she get so damn bossy?

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