Parker returned. “Need help?”
“Yeah, you can take the bread.” Tristan put on oven mitts, picked up the lasagna dish, and followed Parker to the solarium.
“That looks great. Did you really make that yourself?” Skye asked when he set it in the middle of the table.
“Miss Katie helped him,” Everly cheerfully offered.
Parker snorted.
“Did she now?” Skye said with amusement in her eyes.
“Thank you for sharing that, Ev.” Little tattletale.
“You’re welcome, Uncle Tris.”
The lasagna was delicious, the bread warm and soft inside, Skye’s wine was good, and the conversation mostly from Everly as she peppered Skye with questions, sometimes whispering and sometimes forgetting to. Tristan was content to listen, learning more about Skye than he had in a year. She had a brother living with his girlfriend in the Netherlands, a sister who was married and didn’t have any children, and her parents were traveling the country in an RV. He had the impression that it was her brother she missed the most.
“A spaceship landed in our garage, Miss Skylar,” Everly said, her voice filled with wonder and her eyes wide.
“Wow. A spaceship?” Skye darted a glance at him.
“Imagine that, Miss Skylar.” Tristan kept his face blank, although he wanted to laugh. It was a great prank. “How do you think something like that could happen?”
She shrugged. “How would I know?”
Oh, you know, sweetheart.
“I wanted to see it fly, but it was gone when I got home from school,” Everly said. “Have you ever seen a spaceship, Miss Skylar?”
“Stop talking for a few minutes and eat your dinner,” Parker told his daughter.
“I love lashana,” she said after taking a bite.
“Lasagna,” he and Parker said together.
She dramatically rolled her eyes as only a five-year-old could. “That’s what I said.”
“I love it, too.” Skye took the last bite of hers, then grinned at Everly. “Yum.”
“Yum,” Everly echoed.
“If you’re finished, why don’t you take Miss Skylar to the studio and show her your painting while I clean up?”
“Uncle Tris, you forgot my hot dog.”
He hadn’t, but he was hoping she would. “Looks to me like you didn’t need it. Miss Skylar brought...” He glanced at her.
“Cupcakes.”
“Show her your painting, and then you can come back in and have one.”
“Cupcakes! Oh, boy.” Everly jumped up. “Come on, Miss Skylar. I painted Jellybean.”
“I should help you clean up,” Skye said.
“Thanks, but I got it. Go with Parker and Everly, and I’ll come down shortly.”
“Okay. Dinner was really good.”