A Silent Hope

Chapter Twenty Two

Mackenzie

I yawned into my fist as I walked out of my bedroom, eyes barely open and mind groggy. I looked to the sofa first to find it empty except for the small brown bear. I jumped when I heard something fall just a few feet away in the kitchen.

Dressed in my clothes that seemed to be drowning the woman, Thalia was standing near the stove. I cautiously walked to see what she was making. There, in the pan sat what looked like an omelet, only it was half omelet and half scrambled. The woman was glaring hard at the thing.

"Yummy." I murmured.

Thalia jumped, turned and directed that glare at me. "I was trying to do something nice for you."

"Oh, for me?" My mood lifted as sleepiness left. "Even better. Gimme." I reached for a plate and held it out.

"Apparently I can't make omelets. I wasn't aware of that before." Thalia muttered as she dished out the eggs.

"This is great. Thanks." I sat and dug in. Maybe it wasn't a perfect omelet but it sure was tasty.

The woman put the dirty dishes in the sink and leaned against it. "I wanted to say thanks for letting me stay here last night."

I finished chewing and swallowing before answering. "Uh huh. No worries. Stay as long as you like."

"Well, I am going to get somewhere else to stay. I have to see if anything in my apartment is saved first. You're working later today, right?"

I got up and poured myself a cup of coffee. "Yeah, I am. Are there any other apartment buildings in this town anyway? When I moved I only found this one and it was the last available apartment..." I trailed off when Thalia looked away from me. "Thal, you can stay here as long as you want. And if not, I'll help you look."

She sighed and started washing the dirty dishes. "There was a black metal box under my bed. I need it."

I set my eyes on her as she put on her blank expression. "Okay. Important stuff."

"My book. The, um, letters. I guess the other stuff is important too." She whispered.

"I'll make sure you get it." I sat back down with my cup to finish my breakfast.

Thalia sat with her own breakfast and we ate in silence until she broke it. "What happened to your arm?"

I looked down at the scratches and was reminded of the slight burn. "Lucy scratched me." The lifted brow told me to elaborate. "The, um, cat. The cat scratched me when I was at my parents'." I mumbled, casting my eyes down.

A chuckle escaped the woman's mouth. "What did you do?"

"Nothing." I gasped but the look on her face said she didn't believe me. "I just sat down on the armchair. The one she uses. That doesn't deserve the reaction I got." I fussed and got up with my dirty dishes.

"I'm sure it didn't."

"It didn't."

"Uh huh."

"I'm telling you, it didn't." I turned and directed a glare at her.

Thalia bit her lip to hold in a smile. "Mhm."