6. Nice On The Eyes

6

NICE ON THE EYES

“ C an we ask Crystal to have dinner with us?” Elsie asked him five days later.

“We can,” he said, “but she’s busy unpacking.”

Crystal had made two trips with her little sedan loaded with clothes and a few boxes. He’d offered to help her bring things in, but she said she was set.

Most of her clothes were still on hangers and he suspected it was easier to transport and put them in the closet that way.

“But you won’t know until we ask,” Elsie said, putting her hands in front of her in prayer.

Phoenix didn’t want to tell her no to anything. Especially since Elsie seemed so excited over this and he couldn’t ask for much more than that.

They were in the family room off of the kitchen on the other side of the stairs. He couldn’t hear anything going on upstairs since that was above his garage. His bedroom was off the back of the house behind the garage so he’d never hear anything.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Probably a good thing since he couldn’t get her out of his mind.

Crystal was average height, with a nice toned body that she most likely got from never sitting still in her job.

Her hair was several shades of brown and blonde that looked more like the sun had done it rather than a stylist, but what did he know?

Her eyes were blue and clear. Wide and definitely not innocent, but he wouldn’t say anything was calculating in them either.

Something told him that she was open and honest. At least his mother thought that and he wanted to believe his mother. Carolina Westerly rarely steered him wrong.

He heard feet coming down the stairs and Elsie jumped up and ran toward the kitchen before he could stop her.

“Crystal, do you want to have dinner with us tonight?”

“I’d love to,” Crystal said. “What time are you eating?”

Phoenix got up and walked toward the kitchen so he wasn’t yelling. “Whenever works for you,” he said.

The only communication he’d had with Crystal since Monday night was her asking what time she could show up with her things. He’d been afraid she’d back out and was glad she seemed almost as excited as Elsie was about this.

“I just have to make one more trip to my apartment, but I think I’ll do it Monday if that is fine with you. Once I drop Elsie off, you said I can do what I need to during the school day, right?”

“Absolutely. I’ll be available if the school calls so you can finish up.”

“It’s not all that much more,” she said. “I didn’t think I accumulated as much as I have over the years. I would have left some of it there, but they wanted me to clean it all out for the next person. I did leave my furniture so that helped them some.”

“Glad it worked out,” he said.

“I’m just getting another box from my car. I thought I brought it up but didn’t.”

“Sure I can’t help you?” he asked. “I feel bad sitting around while you do all this work.”

“I’m good,” she said. “It’s just my bathroom stuff. Everything else is kind of put away. What isn’t I’ll do this weekend. I like to start organized. It doesn’t always stay that way, but if I start that way I feel better.”

He nodded his head. “Let’s go back to our movie, Elsie.”

He would have welcomed the break from whatever Disney movie was playing, but he needed to make sure Elsie knew they still had their time together.

“What are you cooking for dinner tonight?” Elsie asked him.

“I’ll cook tonight,” Crystal shouted as she carried a box up the stairs. She started to bang into the wall and lose her grip on it and had him running over to help.

Too late, the bottom opened and everything spilled on the floor.

Lots of female products that had her grabbing them all trying to stuff them back in a box. His eyes landed on one little bag that had the name of a toy company on it and he looked away quickly.

“I’ve got four sisters,” he said. “Nothing I haven’t seen, heard, or experienced.”

She laughed. “I forgot you had so many siblings. I can’t wait to hear about them.”

He grabbed her box and put the bottom back together for her and helped her put her hair products in there while she did all the other things.

“I want to hear too,” Elsie said. “I forgot some of their names. Will you tell me again, Uncle Nix?”

“Sure,” he said, running his hand over Elsie’s hair. Once the box was packed up, he stood up. “Let me carry this up so you don’t drop it. It’s bigger than your arm's reach.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll let you because I don’t feel like dropping it all again and I’m sure I would carrying it up the stairs.”

He lifted it, it wasn’t that heavy, and brought it up the stairs. There was no door to get to the living room, but she’d get privacy in her bedroom at least.

There were things all over the furniture and she seemed embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ll get it all cleared up. I’m not a slob. I’m really not.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “I know what it’s like to move someplace, but I will admit this house has more space than I need. If it wasn’t such a good deal, I might have let it go a few years ago. Glad I didn’t now.”

“It’s bigger than anything I’ve been in,” she said. “Though my sister’s house is pretty big so maybe that is a lie. It’s just laid out differently.”

“Which sister is that?”

“Taylor. She lives in Colonie, New York. Her husband owns a construction company so he builds some nice houses.”

Hmmm. “I’ve got a cousin that is dating someone from Colonie. What a small world.”

“Do they still live there?” she asked.

“No, they moved to Manhattan where my cousin lives,” he said. No way he was saying his cousin was billionaire West Carlisle. Some things you never share and that was one of them.

The last thing he needed was to be compared to him. Especially when it seemed he was sucking at the one business he owned.

“I’ve been there once,” she said. “When Taylor got married four years ago. I haven’t been since. Hard to find time and the cost of it didn’t always work out. But I see pictures of my nieces and nephews all the time. I’ve got lots of them.”

“I don’t have any,” he said. “We are all single, to my parents’ frustration.”

“Surprising you are,” she said.

“Why is that?” he asked. He should get downstairs to Elsie, but he knew she was fine watching TV and he couldn’t seem to get his feet to move.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re pretty nice on the eyes for whatever your tastes are.”

He choked on that statement. “I only lean one way,” he said.

She laughed. “Sorry. That was wrong of me to say, but I never assume anything. I just know that your best friend was Elsie’s mother.”

He’d have to explain that at some point, but he’d need more than a few minutes and worried about Elsie coming up.

“It’s not because I like men,” he said. “We’ll talk about it more later.”

“Got it,” she said. “When little ears aren’t around. I do want to cook for you tonight. I don’t want you to think I can’t when I said I could. No reason to have you fire me before it starts.”

“That won’t be happening over food. It wasn’t a deal breaker by any means. My mother left enough food in the freezer she made me buy to cover me for a few months, I’m sure.”

“That is the sweetest thing ever,” she said. “My mother wouldn’t do that.”

“I’ve got a pretty special family.”

“I can’t wait to hear about them,” she said.

“I’ll let you finish. Come down and join us when you’re ready for dinner. My mother stocked us up with groceries when she was here. I’ll make sure you’ve got a credit card too so you can pick up things for Elsie.”

“Oh,” she said. “Do you want me to grocery shop too? I can do that when she’s in school. I can do anything you need me to do in the house. I’m not sure I’m going to like just sitting around.”

“I’m not paying you to be a maid,” he said. He didn’t want to insult her. “But I wouldn’t mind some errands being run.”

“Perfect,” she said. “That will help if I’m making dinner each night.”

“You don’t need to do it nightly. Just if I’m running late.”

“Nonsense,” she said. “I can do it if I’m just sitting around waiting for you to come home.”

He wasn’t about to argue with her on this. They’d work it out if it got to be too much.

“Uncle Nix, you’re missing the best part.”

Crystal grinned. “She seems pretty comfortable. I like the shortened version of your name. Or does everyone call you that?”

“Only her,” he said. “She couldn’t say Phoenix when she was little and it stuck.” More like Maryn made it stick and now it was their bond.

Crystal looked at her watch. “I’ll be down in an hour. I’m not sure how much more I can do. My bedroom is set up and that was the most important thing for me. Tomorrow I’ll run to the store and get some food to keep here and coffee and stuff.”

He nodded. “If you don’t get a chance, just help yourself to whatever you want downstairs. I’m sure my mother bought way too much and I don’t want it to go to waste either.”

She smiled and went into the bathroom to finish unpacking and he returned to whatever Disney princess movie he was watching.

Oh, how times had changed and he hoped Maryn was getting a good giggle out of that.