Page 45 of The Alien Reindeer's Bounty
Ninety minutes later, Ruby sprawled on the living room floor, on her stomach with her head propped up on her hands, transfixed by the television. Odessa loaded dirty dishes into the dishwasher.
“Okay,” she said, voice low. “Tell me what you found.”
“The living room window was ajar.”
“Nothing was taken, so they didn’t go inside?”
He shook his head.
“Cheese and crackers.” She folded her arms over her chest in a defensive posture and leaned against the counter. Unpleasant and offensive colors sparked from her aura, curdling in the air.
“Tell me what you need,” he said, rubbing his hands along her arms.
She sighed and leaned into an embrace. “I don’t know. I feel so off-kilter. A stranger was here. In my home. I want to disinfect everything.”
“All the points of entry have been secured,” he said. “Tomorrow I’ll set up a monitoring system that will send you alerts if someone forces open another window.”
“That sounds great.” Then, “And expensive. I can’t afford that.”
“It is not a bother. Consider it a gift.” He had a fortune in Earth currency and would drain his bank accounts if it brought back colorful joy and contentment to her aura.
“And I can’t accept that kind of gift.”
“Let me do this. Let me help you.”
Music played in the living room, indicating that Ruby’s program had ended. Odessa stepped back and smoothed down the front of her shirt. “Let me get Ruby to bed. Don’t go anywhere.”
She couldn’t get him to leave if she tried.
Odessa
Ruby hadon her cranky pants and Odessa really couldn’t blame her. Neither of them liked unexpected changes. Odessa tried to roll with it when life required her to be flexible—and she was terrible at it. Running a business depended on reliability and stability. She couldn’t justroll with itwhen a vendor delivered the day’s fresh fish late, after the fish had been sitting all day in an unrefrigerated truck. Nope. That vendor could take his spoiled fish elsewhere.
And now that someone broke into her house? She wanted to scream and steam clean anything that potentially came into contact with the creep. But there were no signs of forced entry and nothing was taken. If she called the cops, they’d just tell her to get a security system. She had to roll with the crappy situation because there was no alternative.
She and Ruby had matching cranky pants, like the matching pajamas set they wore last Christmas, and she just had to keep a smile on her face because she didn’t want Ruby to freak out.
Wishful thinking on her part. Ruby was an observant kid. She knew something was up. Odessa had never believed in fudging the truth to her kid, but information needed to be presented in a way a seven-year-old could understand. The last thing Odessa wanted was for Ruby to get scared and have nightmares.
The little goblin didn’t want to go to bed and complained mightily as she changed into her pajamas.
“And brush your teeth, lady,” Odessa said as Ruby went into their shared bathroom.
“I can’t.”
“Don’t sass me. Brush your teeth.”
“I can’t!” Ruby stood in the doorway, holding the empty toothbrush cup.
Both their toothbrushes were gone. Ruby might have dumped them in the trash can in a petulant fit, but Odessa didn’t have the energy to care too much. She dug out two new toothbrushes, extras from the dentist, and mother and daughter brushed their teeth together.
Odessa tucked Ruby in and read a story from the green leather-bound book of fairy tales—the same one from Odessa’s childhood.
“Why did someone break into our house?” Ruby asked, the blanket pulled up to her chin.
Odessa busied herself with smoothing back Ruby’s curls and placing her stuffed purple pony just so, using the time to think. She wanted to deny that anyone had been in the house and reassure her baby with hugs and kisses. “Mads didn’t find anyone inside,” she said.
There. An honest response. Crisis averted. Good job parenting. Gold star.
