Page 17 of Grumpy Player
“Okay.” I force a smile.
Syd walks up to me and waits.
“Wait until you see what I made you.” I gleam, taking in her cuteness.
I watch her beautiful eyes round with wonder. I keep waiting for her to speak but it doesn’t happen.
When we get to the kitchen, I plate the quesadillas I left on the portable grill, which was unplugged but still warm.
She looks at the food with curiosity.
“Have you never had quesadillas before?” I ask.
She shakes her head.
“Well, they’re delicious. There’s cheese and chicken inside with some other vegetables,” I explain. “And just wait until you see what I made for dessert.”
Again, she watches me with excitement. On some level, I feel like she is testing me in her own innocent way. It makes me wonder who let her down at her young age that made her so hesitant with adults.
I use a pizza slicer to slice the quesadilla into smaller triangles for her. Then I plate one for her and one for me.
I try it first and it’s delicious.
“Mmm, it’s really good,” I say, taking a bite as the cheese oozes out and creates a long string that I break with my finger.
Syd takes a hesitant bite followed by a mouthful. I laugh.
“I’m guessing you like it.”
She nods profusely.
For some reason Connor enters my mind. Hazel still hasn’t shown up and his answer was weird. If he doesn’t have help, I don’t think he can make it to the bathroom himself.
After eating dinner, we move on to the blueberry muffins. For such a simple recipe, they turned out fluffy and delicious.
Syd opens her mouth to say something. I get the feeling she wants to say thank you, but she snaps her little heart-shaped mouth shut again. She blinks and nods her head. Something about her reactions make me feel determined to get her to trust me.
“I’m glad you enjoyed your dinner,” I say to her.
She licks her lips and smiles, and then she is running off.
“Wait, come back,” I call after her. I thought we might spend some time reading. She runs back to Connor’s room and whispers in his ear.
“She made you cakeee what? And muffins?” Connor asks, confused.
I stand by the door. “I made quesadillas and blueberry muffins,” I clarify.
“That makes a lot more sense,” Connor says, giving me a small smile I’ve seen him only give to Syd.
“I have a lot of leftovers. I can bring you some,” I offer.
“Did we even have ingredients to make that kind of food?” he asks, his brows pinching.
“I stopped by the grocery store on the way back from visiting my nana,” I explain.
“Ellie, you don’t need to buy groceries. I told you if you need something just add it to the list. Please tell me how much it cost. I will transfer you the funds.”
“You don’t need to do that. I didn’t know what I was going to cook so I didn’t know what I needed,” I explain.
