“Then she breaks out?” Sylvia cut in.
I heaved a sigh. “Sure, why not?”
“Determined to find her hot lawyer at any cost. I love it. That’s what we’re going to call it, Finn.” I could hear Sylvia’s pen drop onto her desk. “The Hit 2: At Any Cost.”
“Fine.” She could call it whatever she wanted. If I was lucky, maybe she’d write it for me, too.
“I’ve got to tell you, Finlay, I doubted you for nothing. I think you’re really onto something here. It feels very cinematic. We might be able to shop this for the screen.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t—”
“I’ve got to run. I’m going to be late to meet with your editor. I’ll email you later and let you know what she says.” The line went dead. I slumped back against my chair, processing everything I’d just told Sylvia, picking the pitch apart for anything that might come back to bite me. It seemed safe enough.
An engine rumbled outside my house.
I got up and pushed down the slats of my blinds, groaning as I spotted the familiar pickup in the driveway.
Vero was peering out the foyer window as I came rushing down the steps in my slippers and my robe. “What’s Steven doing here?”
“I have no idea.”
“If things didn’t go well with Sylvia, we could always kill him,” she suggested.
A rush of frigid air blew in when I opened the door. Steven stood on my porch wearing a heavy flannel, an enormous pine tree wedged in the crook of his arm. His work boots shed dirt on my foyer rug, and the tree dropped needles as he carried it over the threshold.
“Daddy!” Delia squealed, flying down the steps and throwing herself into his free arm. Heavy thumps sounded through the house as Zach rushed down after her.
“Hey, pumpkin.” Steven kissed Delia’s head and set her down. A bandage peeked out from under his wool cap, and a bruise colored his cheek.
“What’s all this?” I grimaced as the high branches of the tree scraped against the ceiling, the top of the tree bending as he leaned it against the wall. Zach toddled over to pet it. Steven’s relief was almost palpable.
“I felt bad about what happened at the tree farm last night, so I went back first thing this morning and bought the nicest one I could find.”
Vero raised an eyebrow. “It’s a little big, isn’t it?”
He smiled up at the fir. “I can always trim it back. The girl at the tree lot said it’s better to pick one that’s larger than you need than to get stuck with one that doesn’t fill the space.”
Vero’s gaze dropped to Steven’s crotch. “Won’t she be disappointed.” She tucked her elbows close to her sides, curling her hands into dinosaur claws as she passed me on her way to the kitchen.
Steven’s face reddened. “What was that about?”
“You don’t want to know.” I gestured to the bandage at his temple. “How are you feeling?”
He tugged off his cap, prodding the gauze. “Two stitches,” he said sheepishly. He reached into his pocket and held up his cell phone. “And look what I found on the floor of my pickup this morning. Must have dropped it last night when I was getting the kids out of the truck.”
Or EasyClean got what she needed from his phone and conveniently put it back. “Someone hurt you. You should talk to the police.”
“And tell them what? That I was running in the dark and I hit my head? It was just a stupid accident, Finn. There’s nothing to talk about.” He sniffed the air. “Something smells good. What’s for breakfast?” His cheerful tone rang a little stiff.
Delia clapped. “Vero’s making soggy chips!”
Steven frowned. “She’s giving the kids chips? For breakfast?”
“They’re chilaquiles!” Vero snapped from the kitchen. “And no, you can’t have any.”
“We weren’t expecting company,” I explained.
“It’s fine,” he said through a tight smile. “I was planning to stop for pancakes after I dropped off the tree anyway. I thought maybe Delia and Zach could come with me.”
“Delia’s got school.”
“I can drive her to school after.”
I glanced out the window at his truck. For all he knew, EasyClean could be watching it even now.
“Please, Mommy,” Delia begged, hanging on my arm. “I want to go get pancakes with Daddy!”
“You’ve got school in less than an hour and Vero already cooked.”