“Andrew?”
I shook my head, pulling myself from my trance.
“What was that?” I asked.
“I said, ‘thank you for breakfast.’ It was very kind of you to come in here and cook for us.”
“Well, I don’t cook like Dylan can, but your friends ate it so it must’ve not been bad.”
“I’ll get to eating it once my headache goes away.”
“Take another Tylenol. You only took two,” I said. “You can take a third one. Won’t kill ya.”
“I will. Thanks.”
“Not a problem. I’d love to stay and chat, but I figured I’d leave y’all to recuperate. I’m off today, but if you need anythin’, Dylan’s got the front desk again downstairs.”
“Got any plans for your day?”
“I’m plannin’ the family reunion.”
“The O’Conner Family Bash is coming up soon?” she asked.
“Next week, actually. Gonna be a good one.”
“They always are,” she said.
“You know you can come if you want.”
She raised her head from her hands and chanced a look at me. I could see her squinting her eyes in pain, and it killed my heart. But it was odd to me that she was experiencing a hangover this bad. Even with the wine she had with the girls, she only had two beers.
How long had it been since she really let loose like that?
“I think I’m going to take my breakfast to bed,” Katie said.
“Whatever you want. I’m gonna start this dishwasher, then I’ll get outta y’all’s way,” I said.
“Goodnight, Andrew.”
“It’s ten in the mornin’, Katie.”
“Well, I’m falling back to sleep sometime today. So goodnight.”
I chuckled as she smiled at me, gracing me with that sparkle in her eye just before she shut her bedroom door. I heard the other two girls giggling up a storm in the bathroom. Probably listening in on our conversation or some shit. I started the dishwasher and left the room, ready to start the last leg of planning for the reunion.
Then I ran straight into Dylan.
“Checkin’ on the girls?” he asked.
“Yep. They’re all back asleep. Cooked ‘em some breakfast.”
“Hope you didn’t kill ‘em,” he said.
“My cookin’s not that bad, asshole.”
“Language, Andrew. And since I have you here, I want to talk about the family reunion comin’ up next week. Anythin’ you need me to do?”
“Nope. I’m gonna go double-check with Caleb on food. He’s supposed to go shopping after his half shift today. Then I’m gonna talk to Wyatt and make sure no one has RSVP’d last minute for this damn time. And yes, I know. Language. Got it.”