Page 31 of Forget That Guy
Catalina laughed as she walked to the junk drawer in the kitchen and extracted a pen.
She placed it next to Holly’s paperwork and went back to admiring the dog in her hands.
“You’re not keeping it,” I said as I scooped up a healthy portion of the mashed potatoes. “Holly, you eaten yet?”
“Oh, that’s okay. I don’t need…” Holly said as she flipped through the pages. “This says that all my meals are free, too.”
“Well, the ones that get cooked,” I pointed out. “Fridays you’re on your own.”
“I don’t think it’s necessary to add that, too,” she pointed out.
“Enid or Sorcha is already here cooking. Sorcha makes enough to feed everyone, including any extra guests that just so happen to be at the ranch,” I said. “Like right now, I have enough food to feed another eight people. So…food?”
Holly eventually nodded her head.
I reached for the paper plates and handed her one from across the island.
She grabbed it from my hand and nervously twisted it around while waiting until I was completely out of the kitchen and sitting farther down the island before getting her own.
She got a minuscule portion, but I didn’t say anything.
I wasn’t the food police.
I didn’t have to force food down a grown woman’s throat.
I could handle the irrational urge to feed her that was almost overpowering in its intensity.
And, for some reason, I didn’t think that she would be too happy about me pointing out that she looked really skinny.
Too skinny.
“You should come to the fish fry tomorrow.” DeeDee came into the kitchen and immediately walked to the fridge where she yanked the ice cream out of the freezer. “Dad, we need more cookie dough ice cream.”
I eyed the cookie dough ice cream that I’d literally bought yesterday.
“What happened to the stuff I bought yesterday?” I asked.
“Joe happened,” Jetty said as he came into the kitchen with an empty bowl of what looked like ice cream.
“And Cat and I are both on our period,” DeeDee supplied helpfully. “Speaking of periods.” My youngest daughter looked at me. “We need more pads. Though I was thinking about trying tampons. Pads are weird.”
I shook my head. “Just add it to the grocery pickup, and I’ll go into town tomorrow and get it all during lunch.”
Once upon a time, before I became a girl dad, period talk made me uncomfortable.
Now, it was just a part of life.
“I can do the pickup, actually,” Jetty offered. “I have to take Joe to the doctor anyway.”
I nodded. “That’s cool. Thank you.”
Holly’s eyes were wide and curious as she looked at everything going on around us.
She didn’t add to the conversation, but she heard every single word that was said.
She fit seamlessly into the family and didn’t flinch when the girls directed questions her way.
“Holly,” DeeDee said. “What’s the worst thing that you had to deal with this week?”
