Page 22 of Lost and Lassoed

I looked at the clock on the wall. It was a little past seven. “I’ve gotta get going.” I kissed Riley’s head, and she nuzzled into my chest for a minute—still sleepy. I looked at Teddy. “There’s breakfast for you guys in the oven, coffee in the pot, and”—I motioned to the notebook on the table—“I wrote down Riley’s schedule and all that good stuff in there. I usually get back around six.” I stood up, still holding Riley, which got me another giggle.

I gave her a squeeze and a kiss on the cheek before walkingaround the table and depositing her into Teddy’s lap and open arms. Something about Teddy taking her from me felt so…natural, it made my chest feel weird.

I walked away from them but risked a glance back. Riley had her head on Teddy’s shoulder, and Teddy was gently rocking her on the kitchen chair. Seeing them like that—already so comfortable—almost convinced me that this was a good idea.

But as I was walking out, I heard Teddy say, “So when’s the last time you were arrested?”

“Never?” Riley said.

“Well, tomorrow you’re going to say yesterday,” Teddy said. “Lucky you’re mom’s a lawyer.”

Jesus Christ, what had I done?

Chapter 10

Teddy

“How’s it going?” Emmy asked on the phone as I did the dishes. After a leisurely morning on the couch with Riley, I’d grabbed the breakfast Gus had left in the oven—pancakes and bacon—and we ate together. I didn’t know if breakfast was a thing that Gus made every day before he left, but if it was, I could absolutely get used to it. Apparently he’d inherited Amos’s cooking skills, and I loved Amos’s cooking.

“I mean, considering I’ve only been here for two hours, it’s great,” I said.

“How does the house look?” Emmy asked. The last time I’d been here, after picking Riley up from soccer practice, Gus’s house looked like a disaster area. It was so out of character that I actually feltbadfor him. He thrives on regimen and routine, and his house normally reflects that. Every time I’d been here, aside from Riley’s toys, the place had been immaculate. The blankets were usually folded with such precision they could probably have been classified as weapons.

The interior of the house itself is simple and homey,soGus’s clean-freak tendencies don’t make the place feel coldor impersonal—kind of hard to be impersonal when Riley’s drawings are taped up all over the walls in the kitchen, anyway—it just feels like Gus.

“The house looks better. I thinkyoutelling him it was a mess probably got to him,” I said with a laugh. I wasn’t a clean freak by any means, but Emmy was on another level. She had a thing for piles. I have no idea how she found anything, but she always seemed to know exactly where something was—even if it was behind her nightstand under a sock.

The opposite of Gus.

I’d already snooped in his pantry and fridge, and I wondered what would happen if I broke his label maker. It might kill him. I stored the possibility of Gus’s death by missing label maker away for later—just in case I needed it.

“Does he have food?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said, “he has food. Have you thought about getting a job as an interrogator?”

“Shut up, you know I’m worried about him.”

“He’s going to be fine, Em. He seemed totally put together this morning—he was wearing a clean shirt and everything,and he was able to refrain from reacting to most of my digs.”

Emmy sighed. “You two should cut each other some slack. Don’t you get tired of the constant sniping?”

“Nope,” I said. Then Riley walked into the kitchen again. She’d gotten herself dressed and was absolutely rocking aprincess dress and a pair of cowboy boots. I took the phonefrom my ear and put it on speaker. “Emmy, say hi to Riley.”

“Hi, Sunshine!” Emmy said, her tone very different from the one she was about to use to lecture me about being nice to Gus.

“Hi, Auntie,” Riley shouted, and waved, even though Emmy couldn’t see her.

“Have you shown Teddy her room yet?” Emmy asked. Right: I was going to stay here. I kept forgetting that, even though Emmy and I had discussed this at length. She was right—it would definitely be easier and more convenient—but I still worried about my dad.

Normally, if I was going to be gone for more than a few hours, I had a plan in place. I wasn’t a planner in general, I preferred to go with the flow, but not when it came to taking care of my father. I coordinated with his nurses, asked Amos if he could stop by—that sort of thing.

When Emmy sprang this arrangement on me yesterday, and I—for some crazy reason—decided to agree, I hadn’t done any of that, but when I talked to my dad about it, he didn’t seem fazed at all. He just said, “Sounds like a hell of a summer” and went back to his crossword puzzle.

I hated leaving him. I was always worried that something was going to happen when I wasn’t there. I pushed that fear down and focused on my best friend on the phone.

“Not yet,” Riley said to Emmy.

“I think you should,” Emmy affirmed. “You know, Teddy is my best friend, so I need you to take care of her, okay?”

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