Page 49 of Between the Lines

Before we can say more, Daisy begins to rub her eyes. The clock over the stove reads 7:15 PM.

I stand, and she grows heavy and limp in my arms. “I need to get her to bed.”

He nods towards Daisy. “Does she eat salmon?”

“Does she eat salmon?” I ask, tilting my head.

“I’m sorry, I literally have no clue what kids her age eat,” Caden adds sheepishly.

His honesty is refreshing, considering my siblings think they always know exactly what Daisy should and shouldn’t be doing.

“Uhm, she might like it,” I reply, to be polite. “I know I’d eat more.”

“Cool, because I made too much, so please take some back with you.”

Gently, I bounce Daisy and pop her pacifier into her mouth, knowing I have about fifteen minutes before she is conked out.

Caden stands, stepping over the pots on the floor.

“Oh, let me help you clean up.” I awkwardly attempt to squat, but he cuts me off.

“No.” He leans down to get them. “I might be an inexperienced host, but I was raised with manners.”

“Okay.” I continue to rock Daisy back and forth, the flutter in my heart constant as Caden’s gray eyes linger on my face.

“Thanks again for the impromptu toys,” I say, looking at the pots and spoons strewn across the wood floors. “I usually arrive at places more prepared with her. Today has me all disoriented.”

He reaches into a high cabinet, pulling out glass to-go containers. “You don’t need to justify. You have a lot on your plate.”

Daisy lets out a long whine as he places multiple salmon steaks into the container.

“Here—” Caden starts but pauses, his eyes wandering down to Daisy’s half-closed ones. With a glass container in hand, he gestures towards the back door. “I’ll walk you over. Your arms are full.”

My chest throbs because I can’t think of a stubborn response. I’m too tired to say no to the help.

Silently, he walks me to the guesthouse door and punches in the code. The sky behind us is pink, the sun glowing orange with the promise of a good sunset tonight. Warm air rushes against my exposed legs as cicadas buzz in the tall loblolly pines lining the property.

I smile at Caden.

“Thank you, dinner was great.”

He simply nods, pushing the door open for me to walk through.

It’s cool inside, the light walls streaked with a pink glow from the windows.

“The auto shop opens at ten tomorrow morning,” he says from the doorway, hand on the knob. “I can drive you over then?”

“Okay,” I reply, my voice low and hoarse. “See you in the morning.”

After getting Daisy to bed, and my pajamas on, I curl up on the sofa with Hamburger. I pull my knit blanket over my lap and decompress in the cozy silence.

The moment of panic I had standing outside the auto shop today feels like a distant memory now as I sit with a full belly and a fuzzy warm feeling buzzing through my limbs.

Then I remind myself that the only reason dinner happened was because I live forty feet from him. Under no other circumstances would he have invited me to his house and cooked for me. Tonight was lovely, and I’m relieved to have a ride tomorrow morning, but I can’t let myself become dependent on him.

My eyes begin closing to the sound of my comfort show playing low on the TV when they suddenly snap open, my heart skipping a beat.

I never called my sister back.