Page 35 of Flyboy
"And Mrs. Alverez." And him. Not that Jack could say anything about living here. Yet.
"Right." Grayson nodded. "I forgot about their live-in housekeeper."
"With no other family near, it gives Lys peace of mind knowing someone is home with Penny when she's at work."
"I hear that. I remember how hard it is when you're on your own with a kid and I had family coming out my ears." Grayson clapped him on the shoulder. "Then again, Alyssa's not really on her own when it comes to Penny, is she? With you and the housekeeper, it's no wonder she can take on all those extra shifts at the hospital."
Jack frowned. He knew she'd picked up shifts from time to time over the last few years but recently she'd been doing at least two a week as well as her twenty-four hour shifts at Mercy-Life. With him moving in and paying his share, she could cut back on those extra hours at the hospital.
Grayson looked at his watch. "Shit, gotta run, I need to pick up Luke. I'll catch you later. Say bye to Alyssa and Penny for me."
"Will do. Later," he replied distractedly, his mind still on all those shifts Lys did at Sunnyville General.
He didn't know how long he stood there thinking about the best way to approach Lys about her overworking herself when a shout from upstairs made him jolt.
"Jack!"
Jeez, that girl could yell. Then again, maybe it sounded louder because the place was pretty much empty and with nothing to stop it, Penny's voice was echoing through the house. "Coming," he called back as he moved toward the stairs.
He hit the top of the staircase to find Penny and Lys in a standoff in the master bedroom doorway. Well, Penny was in the doorway. She was blocking her sister from leaving the room with an arm load of…
Shit.Those were his clothes. How had his clothes gotten in the master?
"Ah, what's going on?" he asked as he approached with trepidation. The last thing he wanted was to get in the middle of an argument between the two of them.
"Lyssa is trying to move your stuff to one of the empty bedrooms."
"O-kay."
"No. It's not okay!" Penny rounded on him, her face flushed, eyes firing, arms spread wide, palms braced on the doorjamb to keep her sister from entering the hall. "What happens when that old bag from social services shows up and finds you two have separate bedrooms? Huh? What do you think she'll tell the judge or whoever? I'll tell you what she'll say. They aren't really married, and they shouldn't have me!"
Before he could say anything to calm her down, Penny shoved off the doorframe and raced past him to the room she'd picked for her own. The door slammed behind her so hard the floor beneath his feet vibrated.
Lys's sigh had him turning back to her. The devastation on her face made him want to pull her in and hold her close. She blew out another breath, ruffling a piece of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail and met his gaze. "That went well."
His gaze dropped to the bundle in her arms. "I thought we agreed that while we might not sleep together my stuff should be in the same room as yours. And just so we're clear, I hadn't brought my stuff upstairs yet." He wanted her to know he hadn't assumed anything even though they had hashed the decision out earlier today.
"Yeah, we did, and I brought your bags up. I've been putting both our things in the closet." She looked down, lifted her arms. "This is your dirty washing. She didn't give me a second to explain."
"Oh." Lys wasn't doing what either of them thought. Jack glanced back at Penny's closed door. "She's scared."
"I know." She blew out another breath. "What I don't know is how to get through to her that she isn't going anywhere."
He thought about it for a moment. "I've got a couple of suggestions."
"I'm all ears." She lifted her arms again to indicate his laundry. "Why don't we take this down and talk out of hearing distance?"
"Here, let me get that. Anything else that needs to go down?"
"No." Lys passed off the bundle. "Our stuff was already separated so I dropped it straight in the washer when we set it up first thing this morning."
"So, do you do your own washing, or does that fall to Mrs. Alverez?" He wanted to be sure he didn't step on any toes.
"Oh, um, well, she does do washing as well as cleaning the house but mostly she's just there to make sure Penny eats, has lunch for school, and has an adult around when I'm not. Especially overnight."
"Okay, so if I see there's enough for a load and put it in, I'm not going to offend her. Or you?"
"No. Definitely not." She stopped when they hit the bottom of the stairs. "I don't know how this living together is going to work but feel free to do whatever you normally would at home."
