Page 71 of Summer Holiday Lifeline

“I’ll eat while I work.”

“Not how this works.” He pointed at the other chair. “Sit.”

“You know I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself.”

“Yes.” He grinned as Steven sat, and he handed over the coveted coffee. “However, you do have a tendency to get sidetracked. Your diet is abysmal.”

“It is not.”

“You forget.” Myles handed over one of the Tupperware boxes from the basket. “I’ve been in your kitchen and seen what’s in your blue box.”

Steven made some appreciative noises as he peered into his container. “You’ve been talking to my sister, haven’t you.” He pulled out the scone, egg and cheese sandwich. “I love these.”

“She may have told me, when she was picking up her coffee this morning, that you ate the ends of three boxes of cereal for supper last night.”

“Waste not, want not?”

“All in one bowl.”

“Saves dishes.”

“At the same time.”

“Saves time.”

“Froot Loops, shredded wheat and bran.”

“Zero out of ten. Do not recommend.” He sipped his coffee for a moment, then sighed. “It wasn’t my best ever idea. I really didn’t think adding a bit of water to supplement the milk would be that bad.”

Myles cringed. “Do you even know how to cook?”

“Coming from you?”

“I know I can’t cook. But I am taking lessons.”

“I put in a grocery order while I was waiting for you this morning. I’ll have my full complement of TV dinners stocked again by the end of the day.”

“You hate your arteries, don’t you.”

“At least I can avoid any further cereal debacles. And I’ll have you know I was only short because you’ve eaten three of them this week.”

“Which I regret.”

“They are not that bad.”

Myles handed him a container of fruit salad and a fork. “They are that bad. If you ate more of Kreed’s cooking, you would know.”

“Believe me, I tried, but this—” He waved his sandwich. “—is the closest I could manage to getting them to deliver.” He did accept the fruit, however, and made a decadent sound when he put some of it into his mouth. “How does he make fruit taste so good?”

“It’s the contrast to the watered-down cereal and salt bombs you’re used to. Eat it all.”

“Are you being the boss of me right now?”

“Is that what it will take to get you to eat?”

“No. I’ll eat.” He suited actions to words and took a huge bite of his sandwich. For a few minutes Myles had to suffer listening to him moan over how good it was.

“For the record,” he said in an effort to drown out the decadent sounds Steven was making, “I’m not being the boss of you, I’m being the guy who cares about you.”