“Here!” Dane called from the family room.
I poked my head around the corner. “Is it okay for him to be pulling every Kleenex out of the box, licking them, and then putting them into one germ-infested pile?” I wrinkled my nose, unwilling to initiate an intervention unless Manda was absolutely over the edge with neediness and wouldn’t make a move to do it herself.
“That’s perfect, actually,” Manda said. She opened and shut drawers with slams and curses. “Kleenexes don’t kill people. But I just might if I can’t find those damn candles. Sorry, baby,” she said into Polly’s ear and then kissed her. Polly appeared unaffected by the profanity and the frenetic behavior of her mother.
“I’ll take Polly,” I said, pulling the baby from Manda. “And I’ll run over to Kai’s house to see if he can come over now. Maybe he has birthday candles.”
I nearly collided with Zara as I was leaving the kitchen. I heard Manda gasp and pause in her rummaging.
“Don’t I look beautiful?” Zara said, though it was difficult to distinguish individual words around the generous application of glitter lip-gloss. “My lips are shiny and gorgeous. And my eyeballs have blue powder on them that is awesome.”
“Good Lord in heaven, help me,” Manda muttered. I didn’t need to turn to feel the darts she was vaulting my way. “Zara, honey, did Auntie Charlie give you that makeup?”
Zara turned questioning eyes on me. “Maybe,” she said slowly, unwilling to betray her source.
I turned, biting my lip to keep from laughing. “I did, yes. And may I just say,” I curtseyed to Zara, “you are definitely ready for your birthday ball now.”
“I can only imagine the animal by-products in that crap,” Manda said to me as I hustled out of the room.
“Mommy said ‘crap’!” Zara announced through the swamp on her lips.
Polly and I covered the half block between the Henricks’ and Kai’s house in short order, but I was still sweating by the time I climbed the stairs to Kai’s front porch. The child was a little heat sink, cherubic and gurgling but the temperature of the earth’s inner core.
“Hey, ladies,” Kai said when he opened the door. His eyes took me in, and I felt my heart do an impressively acrobatic flip. “Do you always look this fantastic for children’s birthday parties?”
“You look good yourself,” I said as he pulled us into a three-person hug, kissed me on the forehead and Polly on her fat cheek. “And you smell good. And you just shaved.”
Pulling one hand across his chin, he led us into his house. “I thought a clean-shaven look would photograph well when I win.” He didn’t even try to sound like he didn’t care. “Victory is mine, Cupcake Queen.”
I rolled my eyes and sat with Polly on a worn leather couch. I breathed in deeply, taking in the delicious scent of Kai’s house, a mix of vanilla and spice and leather and man deodorant, and I couldn’t hide my surprise. “This is really nice.”
Kai lowered himself into an oversized chair opposite the couch. His mouth upturned into a wry smile. “I’d love to hear why you are shocked. Did you think I lived in a hovel? Maybe expected more squalor than you’re seeing here?”
“No, of course not.” The blasted redness in my cheeks betrayed me. “I just figured you were a bachelor and that bachelors don’t typically have a close relationship with Pine-Sol. Nor do they frame cool art posters.”
Polly started to hunt for something to chew on and settled on a face plant, right into the leather armrest. Kai scooped her up and walked to the kitchen.
“I clean, though not as often or with as much aerobic intensity as some,” Kai called over his shoulder. I followed him, loving the creaks of protest that the old hardwood put up as we walked. The light-filled living room gave way to a dining room that showcased a long rectangle table and mismatched chairs. The rooms were tidy, but lived in.
“I do vacuum on occasion,” Kai continued. Polly squawked her glee at grabbing two fists full of his hair. “I also brush my teeth. And use the self-cleaning option on my oven about once a year. And I use Q-Tips in my ears to remain wax-free.”
I tsked. “You shouldn’t do that, you know. Q-Tips only push the wax deeper in.”
We’d reached the kitchen, and Kai got Polly happily settled on the shiny wood floor by surrounding her with measuring cups and rubber spatulas. She made lots of happy, grunting noises and then commenced cramming items into her mouth, gumming them with enthusiasm.
Kai leaned against the counter and tugged me toward him. “How are you?” he said.
I had to concentrate fully on his words because his eyes and face and mouth were so much more interesting. “I’m well. You?”
He leaned into me, brushing his mouth on my neck. “My kitchen is a happier place with you in it,” he said softly against my hair.