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“But,” I tell him. “I’m going to need help in the morning. Like early. I’m making…” I glance at April and Ruby, then lean in to share a “secret” with Elliot. “Pancakes,” I whisper. “But I can’t do it alone.”
He looks at me with a puzzled frown. “My mom makes pancakes alone.”
I nod. “Because she’s a mom. Moms are amazing. But I need help when I do it. Do you think you could be my helper?”
He nods. “Yeah. For sure.”
“Okay, so we have to get a lot of sleep so we do a good job.”
He jumps to his feet. “Okay!” He runs to his mom. “Come on!” He takes her hand and starts up the stairs.
April looks at me with surprise.
“April, this is Henry,” Ruby says quickly. “He’s a friend. He’s also a—” Ruby pauses, then spells, “B-o-d-y-g-u-a-r-d.”
April’s eyes widen. “Really?”
“Really,” I tell her. “And I’m going to be staying here with you all until everything is settled.”
It’s clear she’s not sure what to say to that.
“He’s good at what he does,” Ruby says. “This is probably the best solution for now. We’ll talk about a plan tomorrow.”
“By the way, you don’t have work tomorrow,” I tell April. I’ll get a hold of Dan before the bar is set to open and buy it outright. Then I’ll hang up a CLOSED sign on the front door, and that will take care of both of my main issues—keeping April and Elliot away from Chris until we can get them set up out of town and keeping Ruby by my side.
“Wait.” April pauses. “What do you mean?”
Ruby jumps in, hands on April’s shoulders, turning her and nudging her up the stairs again. “That’s all going to be fine. I’ll talk to him. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“But Charles…”
“I know.”
“And Mandy and Ada.”
“I know.” Ruby nudges her again.
“And the?—”
“April, Ipromiseit will be okay. I’ve got it. But you need to relax and you don’t need to get up early. Just sleep late, have a day off with Elliot, and let me and Henry take care of things.”
I like the sound of us taking care of things as a team. But I’m taking care of Ruby right now too.
I can’t see them now from where I’m sitting on the floor by the coffee table, but it sounds like April has stopped at the top of the staircase, and Ruby is still at the base.
“But the money…” April says, either trailing off or finishing quietly enough that I can’t hear.
“Henry will make sure you don’t miss any money.”
Damn right.
“How?” April asks.
“He’s got even more money than he does, good looks, and audacity.”
I roll my eyes. But I can easily cover April and Ruby’s salaries for a couple of weeks until we can get her divorced and relocated.
April laughs softly. “This is a little crazy.”