Page 127 of Culinary Chaos
But it still didn’t feel right.
She stood at the sink as she cleaned dishes from the day and glanced at her phone. What was Angelica doing right now?
Working probably.
Hope smirked at that thought.
“Mom?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Can I play on your phone?”
Hope hesitated but nodded. Maybe if the thing was farther from her then she wouldn’t have to question her sanity about calling Angelica. She shouldn’t. She knew that. She would talk to Angelica when they had something to talk about.
But something in that last night together had been magical, so peace-giving in their relationship. Hope wanted more of that. Perhaps she wouldn’t be considering quitting the show so muchif they’d had more moments like that. Instead, she’d been stuck in the chaos of uncertainties.
“Hello?” Angelica’s voice echoed through Alexa.
Hope spun sharply and looked around. “What the…? Eva?”
“Yes, Mommy?”
Oh that tone didn’t bode well.
Hope dried her hands on the dish towel and walked into the living area, finding Eva hunkered down on the big fluffy chair with the phone pressed to her chest. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing?”
“Eva?” Angelica’s voice said again.
Hope held her breath and put her hand out, waiting for the phone. Eva frowned and then held it up so that Angelica could see her.
“Hope.” That was a statement, not a question. And the worry on Angelica’s face instantly eased. What had she been worried about?
“I wanted to see when Angelica could help with my math again.”
“Honey, you can’t just call people randomly in the middle of the workday.” Hope took the phone and immediately turned the Bluetooth off so at least Angelica’s voice couldn’t be heard throughout the entire house. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Angelica pursed her lips. “I’ll talk to her, if you don’t mind.”
“I…don’t. But if you’re busy, don’t feel obligated.”
“It’s fine, Hope.”
She hesitated another second before handing the phone back to Eva, who grinned broadly at Angelica’s face on the small screen. Of course her kid would FaceTime the one person that Hope wanted to talk to and didn’t want to talk to at the same time. Sometimes having a kid was such a curse.
“You said you’d help me with my math again.”
“I can do that, if you want and if you need it.” Angelica smiled at Eva, and this smile was so different from the ones she gave Hope. It was genuine, kind, and tender. “When do you have a test coming up?”
“Um…” Eva looked up at Hope. “Next week.”
Hope honestly didn’t know. She let the tutors figure out the schedule and her daughter keep track of it as much as possible, not the other way around. But she also wasn’t going to leave and let Angelica and Eva talk without supervision.
Sure, that’s the reason she wasn’t going back to dishes.
Hope sat on the arm of the chair and leaned over it so she could glance down and see Angelica’s face. This woman was completely different when a child entered the picture. Immediately soft and warm when she never would be otherwise.
