“That was scary, last night,” Lynn said. “And it’s no fun to leave your home like that.”
Another shrug. “You know, we’ve done it before. And that place wasn’t so great. I didn’t like Todd, and his pack was a bunch of assholes.”
Lynn thought about calling her on her language, but decided, “You’re right, they were.”
Eva smiled.
“Are you worried they’re going to come back?” Lynn asked, as gently as she could.
A long pause, and finally Eva nodded. “Yeah. And we have to go back at some point and get the rest of our stuff, and I don’t want to.”
“You will not have to go with anyone who’s getting your stuff,” Lynn said firmly. “You can just tell us what you need, and we’ll get it for you.”
“I packed it up,” Eva offered. “Mom said we couldn’t carry suitcases around waiting for you to show up, to just have a normal bag that wouldn’t look weird, but I packed everything and left it in my room. So it’ll be easy to grab. If Todd hasn’t messed with it.”
Lynn saw red at the idea of Todd messing with a teenage girl’s stuff. “If he has, he’ll be sorry,” she said grimly.
Ken took a break from cracking eggs into bowls and mixing things up to come over and slide into the seat next to Lynn’s. “Hey, Eva,” he said. “Listen. I think we can make it so Todd isn’t going to want to mess with you guys any longer, and I can definitely promise that me and Lynn can take care of getting your stuff for you. You don’t have to worry about that. Okay?”
Eva bit her lip. “Thanks,” she said. “But what if he shows up here with his pack?”
“That’s what I’m working on right now,” Ken said. He got out his phone and held it up. “I just left a message, and when I get a call back, we’ll see what we can make happen.”
Eva smiled a little. “That’s very mysterious.”
“I’m a mysterious guy,” Ken said with a serious face. “Anyway, there’s nothing we can do quite yet, and I’m betting that pack of assholes aren’t the type to get up at six in the morning and pile in the car. So we’ve got a few hours at least.”
“You could catch me up on Doctor Who,” Lynn suggested. “I think I’ve missed a few episodes.”
Eva rolled her eyes. “You’ve never seen a single episode, Aunt Lynn!”
“But I feel like I have,” Lynn said, with real sincerity. “My favorite was the one about the weird time-traveling aliens.”
“Aunt Lynn.” Eva’s voice was exasperated, and music to Lynn’s ears. “That’s every episode.”
“Is that what’s on your shirt?” Ken asked, getting up to go supervise breakfast again. “What’s it about? Weird time-traveling aliens sound pretty cool to me.”
Their collective ignorance about sci-fi television seemed to finally overwhelm Eva’s anxiety, because she heaved a deep sigh and started explaining to Ken what Doctor Who was. Lynn listened attentively, because every time she spent some time apart from Eva, the whole idea of the show got kind of fuzzy and weird time-traveling aliens was the only thing
she could really remember. It had been Eva’s favorite thing in the world for a couple of years now, so she liked to stay in touch as much as she could, which admittedly wasn’t much.
“—and this is the TARDIS,” Eva was saying, pointing at her shirt. “It’s a spaceship. It’s bigger on the inside.”
“I guess it would have to be,” Ken said. “That thing’s only about eight inches tall. Unless they’re really small aliens.”
“No,” Eva said, exasperated again, although a little smile was peeking out. “This is a picture of it. On a sweatshirt. Do I have to explain what a sweatshirt is, or can I keep going about the show?”
“I mostly grasp the basic concept of a sweatshirt,” Ken said thoughtfully. “If you want, we can get into some of the more philosophical interpretations later, but for now, I definitely want to hear more about the show.”
Eva relaunched her explanation, and as she talked, her shoulders gradually relaxed, and she stopped peeking over them out the window. Lynn mentally blessed Ken for knowing exactly how to distract her from being scared.
Ken was dishing up pancakes and eggs by the time Stella appeared in the kitchen doorway. She looked hesitant, and she was avoiding Lynn’s eyes.
Time to follow through, Lynn thought. She took a deep breath and said, “Morning, Stella. Want some pancakes?”
Stella looked startled, and then relieved. She’d probably been expecting a lecture right off the bat, Lynn thought. This really was an unhealthy pattern that the two of them were in.
“Thanks,” Stella said after a second. “Pancakes sound great.”