“Didn’t you hear?” I ask. “It’s the latest thing with all the big kids. And since Sophie is a big kid, she’s decided it needs to be an integral part of her vocabulary.”
“Well, if she says it when I’m here, she’s going to get it.” May gives her niece a fake stern look.
Sophie gets a sly little smile. “Whatever.”
May lunges at her, and she runs off shrieking to the kitchen.
May looks at me, pausing between the family room and the hallway. “Are we all set? Is there anything special you need me to do?”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t think so. Their dinner’s there on the table, there’s some sorbet for dessert, and you know where to find all their stuff. They’ve already had their baths, and Sophie’s homework is done. All you have to do is have fun.” I try to sell it with a big smile.
May’s not buying it. Her expression softens. “Don’t be nervous, sweetie. You’ve got this. You know what you’re doing, and Lucky is a nice guy.”
I nod. “He is a nice guy. I’m not worried about Lucky at all. Although, honestly, May, he’s a little bit too good-looking, don’t you think?”
“I know,” she says, enthusiastically. “It’s weird, right? It blew me away when I first met him, but I don’t notice it so much anymore. The more you’re around him the less you’ll be distracted by it.”
“I hope so.”
“Hmmm, is there a little somethin’-somethin’ going on there maybe?” she asks in a suggestive tone.
I shake my head vigorously. “No way. Seriously, don’t even go there. I am not interested.”
May uses her coy voice on me next. “That’s good, because I think somebody would be a little bit disappointed if he found out you were interested in Lucky.”
My heart does a little double skip followed by a triple skip. “What are you talking about?” I’m trying so hard to be coy like she is, but I’m not sure it’s working.
“Don’t play. You know exactly who I’m talking about. Dev.”
“Oh. Dev?” I shrug, playing it so cool. “He’s pretty nice. He took me and Sammy to McDonald’s the other day.”
“Oh, believe me, I heard about it.”
I’m seized by the sudden need to know every single detail. I walk over to my sister and grab her arm, breathing my hot breath right in her face. “Tell me!”
She starts to walk toward the kitchen, pulling her arm from my kung fu grip. “Sorry, Sis, but you have to get to work. We can talk about this later.”
I whine at her. “But I want to know nowwww . . .”
She laughs. “Don’t worry; I’ll give you all the dirty details when you come home.”
“But I might not be back until four o’clock in the morning.”
Her teasing voice disappears in an instant. “Don’t wake me up. I don’t want to be up before six.” She goes back to smiling. “But I will have breakfast with you, and we can talk all about it then. And you can tell me about your exciting night working with the handsome Lucky doing undercover ops.”
A dark cloud instantly settles over me. “Don’t say that.”
“Don’t say what?”
“Don’t say undercover ops. This is just a job. I’m the person on the no-risk crew. Lucky and I don’t get involved in all that commando bullshit.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t be so sensitive. I was just joking around.” She tilts her head at me and narrows her eyes. “Are you worried about something in particular?”
I sigh out an annoyed breath. May is a really smart girl, but sometimes she can be really dense. “Of course I’m worried.” I gesture toward the kitchen. “I have three kids. I can’t afford to do something risky that might put my life in jeopardy.”
May looks at me like I’m off my rocker. “Calm down, Jenny. You’re just going to be working on computers in an empty office.”
“Exactly. But what if somebody comes in? What if the person who’s doing this embezzlement or whatever decides to come work in the middle of the night? If they’re taking as much money as Lucky thinks they are, they’re going to be really pissed. Maybe they’ll have a gun or maybe they’ll throw some punches. I can’t afford to have black eyes the next time Miles comes over here to get the kids. He’ll take them away from me.”
May walks over and puts her hands on my shoulders, staring deeply into my eyes. “First of all, you’ll have Lucky there. Lucky will be carrying a firearm, just in case. Don’t freak out about it! Second . . . nobody’s going to come in there in the middle of the night to work. Who does that? And, last but not least, Miles is not going to take the kids from you. He doesn’t want that responsibility, remember? He can’t even take them for an entire weekend, for shit’s sake.”