“Malcolm, do you want to tell me what’s wrong? Why are you acting like an ass to me right now?”
He lifted his hand. “Not now, Paislie. I’m not in the mood to deal with you and your nagging.”
I stopped dead in my tracks and stood there as I watched him walk to his truck. He threw his bag into the back seat and got in the driver’s side and pulled out.
My heart raced in my chest and I wasn’t sure if it was from his words or the look on his face when he drove off.
Sophie’s voice could be heard coming from the kitchen as I walked in and laughed at the sight before me.
“Oh wow. What happened in here?” I asked as I looked at Clarisse.
She shook her head and said, “Sophie felt like making brownies. Needless to say, when she turned the mixer on high and dumped the flour in, I wasn’t ready.”
I covered my mouth in an attempt to hide my smile. “Did you need help cleaning up?” I asked.
She gave me a thankful look. “That would be amazing.” She turned and dropped down to Sophie’s level. “How about you go put on a movie, and I’ll call you when it’s time for more mixing and baking.”
“Okay!”
Just like that, Sophie bolted from the kitchen and headed into the family room.
“Oh, Clarisse! I’m so sorry this happened,” I said as I started to clean up the flour.
She shrugged. “I don’t mind really. It’s been nice having little Sophie in the house. Makes it feel alive.”
I nodded. There had been plenty of times I dreamed what it would be like to have a child with Malcolm. The way he was with his niece made my heart melt every time.
After a few moments, I got up the nerve to ask Clarisse if she had seen Malcolm. The last I had saw him was almost six hours ago when he pulled out of the parking lot of the gym.
“Hey, have you seen Malcolm?”
“No, I haven’t seen him all day. I figured he was with you.”
I tried not to show my anger, but deep down I was pissed as hell that Malcolm dismissed me like he did and drove away leaving me standing in the parking lot.
I sucked in my lip as I bit down on it. “No. He was a bit upset earlier.”
“Oh, really? Why?”
With a shrug, I answered honestly. “I’m not really sure.”
“Well his parents will be here soon for dinner, so he better get his butt home.”
My heart dropped. I still had a sneaking feeling Shirley didn’t like me very much. She tried to be polite, but something was off. If Malcolm left me stranded here to deal with his parents, I was going to hurt him.
“Do you need help with dinner?” I asked with a hopeful eye. I desperately needed something to do to keep my mind from swimming with thoughts.
“Only if you want to occupy your mind.”
With a chuckle, I put my hands on my hips and asked, “How do you do that? How’d you know I needed to keep my mind busy?”
She gave me a wink and said, “Experience my child. Experience. Now grab a mixing a bowl. I’m going to show you my secret recipe for one of Malcolm’s favorites. Chicken and dumplings.”
Clarisse was like a mother figure to me and I quickly found myself enjoying her company more and more. Her words of wisdom were always spot on.
Soon we were laughing and cooking up a storm. Two things I never really got to experience before. Elizabeth and I would sometimes bake cookies together, but it was nothing like what I had imagined a mother and daughter would do. I wanted so badly to talk about cute boys and what styles were hot, and she wanted me to practice prayers.
Time went by so fast that soon Shirley and Paul were standing in the kitchen, looking between Clarisse and myself. “Mr. and Mrs. Wallace, how are you?” I said with a smile. They both returned a warm smile in my direction.