Then something occurred to her as she looked out the window. “You missed swim practice.”
“It’s okay. We don’t have any meets coming up. I can slide for a bit.”
“But will your coach call your stepmom or anything like that?”
“I already emailed him. Told him I was sick. He knows about my dad. He’ll cut me some slack.”
They decided on breakfast for dinner. While Michelle tried not to burn the bacon, Tyler whipped up a complicated omelet with numerous ingredients, buttered grits, and rolls he made basically from scratch in under an hour.
“Sean cooks too, right?” he asked her.
“Yeah, he’s really good, which makes up for the fact that I can barely crack an egg properly. But how did you know?”
“His pantry and fridge are full of some really cool ingredients. And the layout of the kitchen and the types of appli
ances and cutting knives he has shows it.” He held up a knife. “This is not for amateurs. And neither is that food processor over there.”
“You’d make a good detective. Kathy said you were smart. Straight-A student.”
“She did?” Tyler said, trying to hide a smile.
“Yes, she did.”
They sat at the kitchen table and ate. Michelle had coffee while Tyler drank orange juice. They finished, rinsed off their plates, glass, and cup, and loaded the dishwasher. Tyler cleaned the rest of the kitchen while Michelle checked her phone for messages.
“Sean will be here shortly.”
“Where has he been?” asked Tyler.
“At the hospital to check on Dana, I suspect. And he was going to scope out a few things while I stayed here with you.”
“I can skip school tomorrow.”
“No. It’s better that you keep to your routine.”
“And what about Jean? When people realize she’s gone?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, Tyler.”
“It might be soon.”
“It might be,” she replied.
Twenty minutes later headlights hit the front window.
Michelle peeked out and saw that it was Sean getting out of his car.
A few seconds later he came in looking disheveled and depressed. He was carrying a large duffel bag and handed it to Tyler.
“I think I got everything you needed.”
“Did anyone see you?” Michelle asked.
“Don’t think so. Parked a block over and approached the house from the rear. Left the same way. I checked the front street for surveillance but didn’t see any.”
“Did you go back to the hospital?”
He shook his head. “I’m not family, not anymore. From what the surgeon said in the waiting room the next forty-eight hours will probably be critical.”