“No,” she said over the whine of the power drill, as Nick drove more screws into the sagging windowsill. “It’s a puzzle box. Look, I’ll show you.” She pushed at one of the strips on the side, and it slid out half an inch. Her quick jab at the end moved another strip past that one.
“Oh.” It was clever, the way the bits of the outside moved around, like a maze. Lori pushed a couple back, and did it another way. This time the lid popped open half an inch.
“There! Got it.”
Lori was great at stuff like that. Brian sucked at anything that required sequences and logic. He wondered if the baby would be like her or like him— “Wait. Don’t look in it.” He’d been distracted, and only realized what she was doing as she set the box down and opened it.
“What’s the harm?” She dug a finger into the contents. “It’s little stuff.”
“Nick’s personal little stuff.” He reached to shut the lid quickly before Nick could see. As he slammed it closed, she pulled her fingers back holding a girl’s hair ribbon.
“Hey, looks like your Nick likes to play girly dress-up,” she teased, holding the clip against her hair.
“Don’t!” His protest came an instant after Nick finished driving a screw, and his voice echoed in the sudden silence.
Nick looked over. “Don’t what?” Then his face darkened and he set the tool down. “What’s that?”
Lori gave him an innocent face. “Something fell out of this little box here.”
Brian muttered, “Lori! Give it!” through gritted teeth. Lori dropped the clip into his outstretched palm as Nick took a step toward them.
The look on Nick’s face as Brian closed his fingers on the clip shocked him. Nick just… stopped. Froze in place, eyes wide and fixed on that little bit of plastic and ribbon on Brian’s palm, face white as milk. His harsh intake of breath was clear. His hands clenched into fists.
Brian glanced down at the hair ornament. For this? It took a moment for the realization to come. “Nick?” He softened his voice. “Was this… hers?” He held back Ariana’s name at the last moment; he wasn’t spilling Nick’s secrets in front of Lori, or even Charlie.
“Yeah.” Nick snatched the clip from him. “Give that here.”
“You don’t want me to…?”
“Not now!” Nick grabbed the box, placed the ribbon into it, shut the lid and slid the veneer slats back into place. Squatting, he opened the lowest desk drawer, set the box inside, and slammed the drawer. Brian jumped at the sound. Without another word, Nick stalked back to the window, picked up the screwdriver, and powered it up.
Charlie looked as if he might comment, but then he turned and pushed the side sash in tight to the frame for Nick to set a screw, and another one.
“Well, excuse me,” Lori muttered just loud enough for Brian to hear.
“Hey!” He turned to her, glad to have someone to snap at. “You know you shouldn’t have opened it.”
“What’s his damage anyway?”
“None of your business.”
She huffed a breath. “If it was his mom’s or something, I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Right? Just habit, poking at a guy to see what falls out?”
“Poking at guys is more your style.” She leaned on the desk. “Ah, hell, I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore. I’m not a girlfriend, not a wife, not working with Damon, just cooking up this kid.” She laid a hand on her round belly. “You ever get scared about what comes next?”
“Sure.” His eyes strayed to Nick without meaning to.
“You think he’ll stick with you?”
“I’m sure of it.” Mostly. Except sometimes, in the occasional moment of realizing how mismatched they were and how Nick could do better anytime he wanted to try.
As if hearing his thoughts, Nick glanced his way and gave him a quirk of one eyebrow before moving to the other side of the window.
Lori lowered her voice still more. “Still no word from Damon. It’s been almost a month.”
“He sent that money to Charlie. That means he was doing okay.” Brian had put most of it down on this house rental, and Charlie insisted he keep a bit more, to have some cash in his wallet. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see Damon right now, but there was no denying that Damon was like a safety net. With thorns.
“That was weeks ago. You haven’t heard anything?”
“No.” He eyed the enormous shape of her stomach under the flannel shirt she was wearing. “I bet if you go into labor he’d show up.”
She patted herself. “No way. You hear me, baby? No coming out until after the holidays when everything’s ready.”
“You talk to it?”
“Sure. And don’t say ‘it.’”
“I thought you didn’t know if it’s a boy or a girl.”
“I don’t, but I’m betting boy. Damon would like if it was a boy.”
Brian didn’t think Damon would care, but he nodded. “So you talk to him.” He dropped to a whisper. “Does he talk back?”
For a second, Lori looked puzzled, then she jabbed a sharp elbow in his ribs. “No freaking way. With the emphasis on ‘freaking.’” She raised her voice. “Hey, Nick. I’m just sitting around getting into trouble. Why don’t you give me your car keys and I’ll go get takeout?”
“You have a fake license,” Brian pointed out.
“It’s as real as the rest of me.” Lori flicked her hair back, pushed away from the desk and held out her hand. “Nick? Food?”
For a moment, as he looked at her, Nick’s eyes flashed with something sharp and hard, but then he seemed to relax. “Sure, why not? Anything but pizza.” He dug into his pocket and passed over the keys. “And don’t get stopped by the cops, right?”
She blinked long, mascaraed eyelashes at him. “They never give me a ticket.”
“Unless you get one with a fat girl fetish, they would now.”
“Ooh.” She licked a finger and tick-marked the air. “For that, I’ll bring you Szechuan.”
Nick’s grin was all teeth. “I like it hot.”
“I don’t,” Brian put in. Watching Lori and Nick try to top each other was getting old. “Bring something we all like, Lor.”
“Sure.” She glanced at Charlie. “You’re the one totally good guy here. What do you want?”
“Burgers and fries. Hop to it, woman.” He grinned at her narrowed eyes. “What? You called me a good guy. That was a challenge, right?”
She tossed her head. “Men. You’re all pigs. Serve you right if I take the car and head for Canada.”
Nick said, “And gas it up while you’re at it.”
“Hah. Gas money?”
Brian dug out his wallet before Nick could and passed her some bills. “Gas and food. Thanks.”
When she’d left, banging the door shut harder than it needed, they glanced at each other. Nick sighed. “You know what you’re getting into, Charlie?”
“She’s not that bad.” Charlie leaned on the wall, massaging his bad shoulder with his other hand. His voice was soft as he said, “Was that Ariana’s hair clip?”