Page 89 of Their Little Helper

“Yes, sir.” Mr. Hanson was standing so straight I thought he might tip over with one little tap. “He indicated that he didn’t want to wake you by texting your phones, so there is a note on the coffee table in the living room. You are welcome to stay as long as you want, but he received an early morning message that required his attention at the office.”

That sounded unexpected…Papa wouldn’t like that.

Had I heard his phone go off?

Maybe?

“Thank you for relaying that information.” Daddy sounded so boring I wanted to poke him to make sure he was real. “Once we get our clothes, we’ll get changed and head out. Harley has meetings and I’ve got work later.”

He made us sound so grown-up.

Daddy was amazing even when he was pretending to be boring.

“Of course.” Mr. Hanson stepped back and gestured toward the living room. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you require anything.”

“Thank you.” Daddy didn’t sound like himself but he sounded like an adult so that was probably good.

He didn’t even talk as much as he usually did and it was kind of creepy to just walk in silence with him to the living room where he opened the sealed envelope Papa had left.

The fancy paper even had his initials on it and had Daddy rolling his eyes mumbling about rich people.

So he wasn’t an android.

He was slightly frustrated at Papa, though, but the letter made it a bit better.

I’m sorry I had to leave early. Some people cannot make good decisions and the rest of us have to pick up the pieces. I’m also going to complain that time zones are evil. I didn’t want to take the risk of waking you up with a text, so don’t be mad at me for the letter instead.

Dally. That means you.

Harley. Good morning.

Hanson should take good care of you but I’m not sure he believed me that I’m keeping you. We’ll get everything figured out later, though. I’ll call both of you later once I’ve stopped rich people from doing stupid things.

Dally. Stop rolling your eyes.

Harley. Yes, you can laugh and your dinner is in the fridge.

Both of you. Good morning and have a good day. I’ll talk to you soon.

Santos/Papa

“Pokey’s a pain in the ass.” Daddy shook his head and rolled his eyes again. “And incredibly bossy even when he’s not here.”

But at least it looked like he was still keeping us…so I wasn’t going to complain.

I was, however, going to do my best to avoid Mr. Hanson.

24

SANTOS

“No. You’re going to have to slow down.” Because none of what Dally had said made any sense whatsoever.

I knew I shouldn’t have left them on their own for the night.

“Alright, sweet boy, you translate.” We were far enough back in the restaurant that Harley didn’t mind the nickname but he blushed anyway. “As long as you know who Lurch is and why Dally is feeling like a hobbit?”

There’d been something about trains too but that hadn’t made any sense at all so I ignored it.

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