“Oh no. Don’t worry,” I told Alexia with an easy smile. “She just likes it up there. Right, Ro?”
Rosie’s answer didn’t come for a few seconds. “Yeah,” she called. “Right. I love climbing on furniture. It’s really a pastime of mine.”
I chuckled before returning to Alexia. “It’s very nice to meet you.” I offered my free hand. “I’m Lucas. And the pretty lady on the counter is Rosie.”
“Nice to meet you… both,” Alexia said, shaking my hand. “I wanted to come by to introduce myself and thank you for looking after my mom. Either my wife or I come by every evening, and God knows how hard we’ve been looking for full-time care for her, but it’s proving…” She seemed a little overwhelmed for a moment, leaving that statement unfinished. “Anyway, you’re really good to her, and you absolutely didn’t need to check on her, so I appreciate it. More than you know.”
I shook my head. “It’s nothing.” And I meant it. It really was nothing.
“It’s not nothing.” Alexia reached out and patted me on the arm. “The last time she talked about Dad this way was right after he passed.”
Dad.
So, Mateo had been Adele’s husband, like I’d suspected.
Alexia stared at me for a long time, a heavy emotion filling her eyes. Grief. Clear as the day. “God, you look so much like his old photos. He was Argentinian, mi papá.”
There wasn’t anything I could say that would make it better, so I didn’t.
“All right.” Alexia cleared her throat. “I won’t keep you from”—a knowing smile replaced the sadness that had been there—“whatever you two were doing that definitely looks like fun.”
I nodded, relieved that she hadn’t asked about the box under my arm. “I’ll see you around, Alexia.”
“Yeah. I guess I’ll see you around, too, Lucas.” She peeked behind me. “Bye, Rosie!”
“Bye!” she hollered. “It was nice meeting you, too!”
Only when Alexia was gone, I looked over my shoulder. Rosie was exactly where I’d left her, though her expression was now different. “You’ve been visiting Adele? Every day?”
“Yes.”
“You…” she started, her gaze roaming around my face, her eyes filling up with something. “Ah crap.”
I frowned but our little boxed friend moved, bringing our attention back to where it should have been. “I’m guessing that picking up stuff from the street is a no-go around here.”
The left corner of Rosie’s lips twitched. “I’d probably stay away from basements, too.”
“Fair enough.” I sighed. “All right, I’ll take our little friend out to the street or… to a park?” I frowned. “You know what, I’ll google what to do with it. Just, come down from there when I close this door, okay? You’re safe.”
Because invader rodent or not, I had promised Rosie that much.
And I wasn’t going to forget that.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Rosie
Olly was blowing us off. Again.
After he’d promised he’d be here, that he would come to prime the walls of Dad’s studio after he had asked for our help.
The worst part, though, was the realization that Dad didn’t need any help. The fact that I was standing behind him holding the bottle of multisurface soap while he did all the work was proof enough. He’d asked for help just so he would get us here. Just so he’d have an excuse to see his children. See Olly.
God, I wanted to shake my little brother. What the hell was wrong with him?
“Are you sure you should be doing this?” I asked him, closing some of the distance so I could see his face. “Your hip okay, Dad? We could take a break and have something to eat.”
“I’m fine, Bean,” he said quickly.
Ugh, not the I’m fine routine.
Snatching the sponge out of his hand, I stood by his side until he looked at me. And when he finally did, reluctantly, his expression confirmed that he wasn’t, in fact, fine. “Liar, liar, pants on fire.”
Dad chuckled, and I kissed his forehead just so I wouldn’t shake him, too.
“Just a little worried, is all,” he finally admitted with a sigh. “Have you heard from your brother? He’s coming, isn’t he?”
“I… Yes.” I busied myself with the sponge so he wouldn’t see my face. “Let me see if I have any missed calls from him. He’s probably just running late.”