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Note to self, never let the kid see the bowl of eggs before they’re scrambled.
“Over easy?” I ask her.
“Medium,” she corrects, her eyes on Ryder as if she can’t believe he ratted her out.
I catch myself before I hiss a cuss word when one of the yolks breaks in the pan. Sunshine may have to get used to a man being around who isn’t just going to loaf and take up space, but I’m going to have to watch my mouth. It was already a struggle to do that at the clubhouse, but those are Cerberus rules. Cussing in front of women and especially children wasn’t allowed.
I freeze, the spatula hovering over the pan with the thought. I know it to be true, but I can’t pull the conversation from memory. Hell, I don’t even know if it was told to me, if I read it in a contract, or if someone had to correct me at some point.
“What’s wrong?”
I turn to look at Sunshine after pulling the pan from the burner.
“Nothing.” I give her a smile. “Just a memory.”
I carry the eggs to Sunshine, urging her to eat them before they get cold when it looks like she’s going to wait for me.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry,” Ryder says, his voice smaller than it was earlier. “How I acted was rude.”
“Apology accepted,” I tell him, watching him glance at his mom.
She nods in his direction, telling me she told him he needed to do it and he’s checking to see if he did it well enough. It hits me in a way I don’t expect, and I’m left wondering if I should correct it or have a conversation with her later. I don’t want to step on toes. I’m not in any position to tell her how to raise her child, but I’ve been in his situation, coming home to finding a strange man in the house.
“You should always be cautious around strangers,” I say instead. “If that voice in your gut tells you something isn’t right, it’s probably best to listen to it.”
Ryder watches me for a long moment before nodding, telling me he understands.
I whip up another fried egg, taking the one with the busted yolk too before sitting down at the table with the two of them.
When I notice Ryder looking at the last pancake on the plate in the middle of the table, I slide it onto his plate.
“It’s a dinosaur,” I say, having tried to make fun shapes first before realizing I suck at it and going back to regular circles.
“How long has it been dead?” Ryder asks, his nose scrunched at the sight of the ugly thing.
“It’ll still taste the same,” Sunshine assures him.
“The YouTube video made it look so easy,” I mutter around a bite of eggs.
Ryder excuses himself, carrying his own plate to the sink without being told to do so, leaving the two of us alone at the table as he heads into the living room to watch television.
“How often are you around kids?” she asks, her plate, including the yucky yellow stuff Ryder hates, is all but empty.
“Never.”
“Really? You’re good with him. I figured you had experience.”
“I do,” I tell her. “Because I was a kid once.”
She scoffs a laugh, keeping her leg against mine when I press against her.
I’m not just going to lay this woman out on the table with her son in the other room, but not touching her at all seems impossible.
“There are always a kid or ten running around the clubhouse though.”
She’s grinning at me, a real smile that makes my heart soar.
“A memory?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know if you can call them that. I had one at the stove, but I can’t exactly pull a situation up in my head. It’s so strange. It’s like I know it, but I don’t know how I know it if that makes sense.”
“The doctor mentioned that it was more likely they would trickle in rather than just blinking and them being there. This is good news, Brent.”
When she places her hand on my forearm, I take it a step further and tangle our fingers together.
For the first time since I woke up, I don’t know that getting those memories back even matters any longer. If I haven’t lost anything where she’s concerned, I don’t know that I even care.
Chapter 35
Sunshine
Of course the one day I’ve given myself to spend with Ryder while shirking all my other responsibilities, it would rain.
He sighs for what has to be the millionth time with his eyes locked on the television.
I need to reach out to my mother and make arrangements to get the rest of our things from her house, but I’m dreading it. I just can’t bring myself to do it.
I turn my eyes to Brent, finding him watching me. The look in his eyes has the power to make my skin come alive.
