Page 53 of The Third Girl

Stifling a laugh, she smiles. “Seems like you have a few Italian or quasi-Italian foods down.”

“With a last name like Morello, I’d probably better, huh?” I pause, skimming a few fingers over my lip. “Hey wait, are you disparaging the mac ’n’ cheese? Is that thequasi-Italianyou were referring to? Because mac ’n’ cheese did in fact originate in Italy. I asked Mom once.”

She lets out a belly laugh, holding her hands up. “No arguments here. I like pasta and cheese as much as the next person.”

Sailor comes to stand at my knees. “Sketti?”

“Yep, spaghetti. Are you hungry?”

She runs off again, clapping her hands without answering.

I chuckle, marveling at how her little personality is beginning to show. “Mom did a great job of teaching Travis to cook a few years back when he asked for some lessons, and Lucy is like magic in the kitchen, especially when it comes to baking. But I may have missed the gene. Don’t tell Mom, but sometimes I don’t make homemade sauce. She tried to show me some stuff, but then Terri and I got married, so I didn’t have to worry so much because she loved to cook.” I press my lips together. All trains of thought come back to Terri eventually.

Skylar puts her hand on my thigh and squeezes. “It’s okay, you know? To talk about her. I don’t mind.”

I nod. “Yeah. I know.” Forcing a breath out, I tug her closer to me, letting her lean into my side. I press my lips into the hair at the side of her head. “Tonight is the real deal, though. Real sauce. Made it myself.”

“Homemade pasta?”

“Okay, now you’re taking it a bit too far.” I chuckle, making crazy eyes at her as I shake my head. “When I have more time, I don’t mind cooking. It’s just that most days—” I shrug. “You get it.”

“I do. Days that I deplete all my energy at school, I am lucky if I manage to heat up a frozen pizza.”

“I hear that. Though, I’m more likely to order a pizza than heat one.”

She laughs. “Maybe we should take a class together or something. Surprise your mom with a completely homemade Italian meal.”

I cock my head to the side. “That could be fun.” We don’t get to discuss further because Sailor runs back into the room asking about her “sketti” again, so we all head into the kitchen.

After dinner, I’m positive something is on Skylar’s mind, but I don’t think she’s ready to voice it yet. Whatever it is, it doesn’t stop her from being sweet to Sailor. She pokes her in her pudgy belly. “Hey, little girl. How about some ice cream?”

Sailor’s eyes light up in surprise. “Ice cweam?”

Sky nods. “Yep. I heard you had a boo-boo with yours earlier.”

My daughter’s face falls. “Dwop.”

“Aw. Yeah, you dropped it. I’m so sorry. But I bought some more. Would you like some?”

My head spins, and I draw in a breath. Sky heard that part of the conversation with Sailor’s grandparents. It’s awfully sweet that she picked up some ice cream for Sailor. I squeeze my eyes shut. She has a soft heart for my daughter and took it upon herself to do something to make my baby girl smile. My heart thuds hard in my chest. Our eyes meet across the table. Yeah. There’s definitely something swimming around in her eyes—uncertainty, I think.

It worries me that if she heard about the ice cream she also heard the rest of the conversation—how they’d so nastily questioned her presence. And my off-the-cuff response. Could that explain the odd mood she’s been in?

A while later, I take one look at the chocolate mess that my daughter has turned into and decide it’s gotta be a bath night. “Was that ice cream good, sweet baby?”

“Uh-huh.” By some miracle, Skylar had managed to get her to use a spoon. That doesn’t mean the chocolate ice cream didn’t make it all over the place, though. There’s slightly less than usual on her hands but a lot has ended up down the front of her.

I unclip the tray and take it to the kitchen so I can hose it down later. When I come back into the room, Sky’s got Sailor out of the seat and is taking her upstairs. She glances over her shoulder. “I’ll get her ready for you, then if you can handle the bath, I’ll work on getting some stain remover on her clothes. This outfit is too precious to have it permanently ruined.” She bites her lip, slowing to turn and meet my gaze, that flicker of uncertainty back. “Got anything else you need in the laundry?”

Yep, she definitely heard more of that conversation than I would have liked. I shake my head, expelling a breath as I follow them up the stairs. “About that.” I stop her with a hand to her hip. Sailor looks on with mild curiosity, not picking up on the seriousness of my tone.

Sky closes her eyes for a moment before opening them again. “I get it. They were being pains in the a-s-s.”

“Yeah.” From my position on the step below her, I squeeze the hip I’ve had my hand on, holding her in place. “I don’t need them poking their noses into my business… or ours.” I cock my head to the side, willing her to understand. “I’m just not ready—” I’m not ready to share my feelings for her with anyone else.

Huffing out a breath, she stares at the photos on the wall for a few moments. “I know. I’m sorry. It just kinda threw me when it came so quickly out of your mouth. And then you didn’t say anything to me about it.”

Looking intently into her eyes, I murmur, “I need some time to figure things out.” A flicker of hurt passes through her eyes, and I immediately regret my words. It’s true, I have things to figure out. But most of all, it’s how to deal with other people. Not her at all. With a resigned sigh, I yank on Sailor’s foot, which makes her squeal, and we continue up the stairs. “I’m going to put this monkey in the tub. And I know it’s a sore spot, but do you mind taking care of her clothes?”

She smiles. “I’ll hit it with the stain remover and start a load of her wash for you.” She wets her lip as we get to the landing and hands off my sticky daughter to me. “You know, I don’t mind. But it does feel like we’re edging into tricky territory.”

“I get that. I do.” And maybe it’s wrong, but I press my lips to hers right in front of my child—who then slaps each of our cheeks with a chocolatey hand.

“Thanks, Sailor.” Laughing, Sky points to the bathroom. “Go on. We’ll figure this out later.”

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