The Price of Mason (Forbidden Men 10)

When she sent me a look that I knew she wanted to be a scowl, I sighed. “Seriously, was there something you wanted from here? We’ve got…” Opening the door, I leaned down and started to browse.

Wow, Mom had really stocked up yesterday. There was a total of one-tenth of an outdated carton of milk, a bottle of ketchup and mustard, then something in a Tupperware container with mold growing inside it, mayo, salad dressing, grape jelly, a tub of sour cream I knew better than to check for freshness, and a bottle of wine.

Okay, so I guessed I’d be making my own grocery run soon.

I shut the door and glanced over at my sister. The dry look on her face seemed to say, told you so, even though she hadn’t said a single word.

“You already checked the fridge,” I guessed.

“Yep,” she answered.

“Figured.” Moving to the cupboards, I made a humming sound deep in my throat. “Well, let’s see what’s up here, shall we?” She wasn’t able to reach the top cabinets, so I knew she hadn’t looked in them yet.

Inside the first door I opened, I found a shelf full of protein shake powders. Mom liked to mix up something for Sarah to drink through a straw because it was less messy since she sometimes had trouble swallowing and holding things steady.

I rolled my eyes and shut the door. “Pass.”

Behind me, Sarah made some kind of snorting, laugh-like cough. I think she was entertained by my disgust and supported my decision to bypass the shakes. In the next cupboard, I found half a loaf of bread, full of more mold, some peanut butter, a box of old-lady Raisin Bran cereal, and a package of open crackers, probably meaning they’d long ago gone stale.

Grabbing the peanut butter and cereal, I turned to my sister, holding up both. “PB and J on crackers or dry cereal?”

She pointed to the peanut butter. I nodded, grinning over her choice, even though I wanted to curse over the fact that this was all I had to offer.

“So, this is your first day of school, too,” I started conversationally after grabbing all the supplies and spreading massive globs of peanut butter and jelly over each cracker. “You as nervous as I am about it all?”

When she didn’t answer, I glanced over. Her non-response alarmed me more than anything, so I turned fully, facing her with jelly dripping from the end of my knife. “What’s wrong?”

She didn’t get a chance to answer. Mom swept into the room, Sarah’s book bag and her own purse hooked over her shoulder with Sarah’s shoes in one hand as she held her phone to her ear with the other. She was dressed for work at the Glass Factory and seemed to be in a rush as she strode to the refrigerator and yanked it open, only to scowl inside and shut it again.

“Okay, good,” she said to whomever she was speaking. “And that pays for an ad for how long?” After listening to the answer, she winced. “One day only? Okay, fine.” She ran a hand through her bangs and caught my gaze as I finished stacking Sarah’s cracker sandwich. “Thanks, anyway.”

She hung up the phone and tossed it into her purse. “You’re not feeding that to Sarah, are you?”

“Don’t worry,” I said, even as I handed my sister her breakfast. “I was going to stick around until she finished.” To clean up any mess that was made or sweep her airway if she gagged. I passed the box of cereal to my mother, knowing she’d probably prefer that for her own breakfast. “Were you placing an ad for Sarah’s evening sitter?”

Nodding, she dug her fingers into the cereal box and came up with a handful. “Yep. I told you I’d take care of finding one.”

“Did you list all the…details?” I asked, casting Sarah a quick glance. Mom didn’t always mention Sarah’s CP when interviewing babysitters.

Instead of answering, she scowled at me for even inquiring. “I told you I’d take care of it.”

I blew out a breat

h through my nostrils and decided not to reply. Instead, I rested by butt against the counter and watched both ladies eat. When a blob of jelly fell out the backside of Sarah’s sandwich, Mom uttered a grumble and reached for a napkin on the table to clean her up, only to spot the open envelope lying next to the napkin holder.

“What’s this?” She extracted the letter and flipped it open. A second later, her eyes flared wide. “Holy shit! Six thousand dollars? For medicine?” She glanced at me and held it up. “This says it’s the second notice.”

“It’s fine,” I told her before taking a bite from my own cracker sandwich. “I sent off the payment the day before that notice even arrived. No worries.”

“What about rent and the electric bill? Aren’t both of those due this week?”

Holding up a finger, I waited until I swallowed before answering. “Rent’s paid for the next three months, and I got enough to cover the rest of the utilities.”

Her shoulders relaxed. “Oh. Okay. Well…” She glanced at Sarah, only to make a sound of remembrance and then hurried to wipe the peanut butter off her chin before cleaning the jelly spill next. “I need to get her to school and head to work.”

She tossed the napkin in the trash and grabbed the handgrips to Sarah’s chair. As she towed my sister toward the exit, I waved. “Bye, guys. Knock ’em dead at school today, kiddo.”

Mom didn’t answer—her attention seemed elsewhere—but Sarah glanced miserably my way and waved goodbye.