“
When breakfast is finished, Mrs. McKleski hands out plates, slipping one in front of me on the table before Maddie settles in on my right with her own plate piled high with bacon. Jonathan’s comes last, and I stifle a laugh as Mrs. McKleski shoves it at him, the food sloppily thrown on it, his toast burned and bacon extra-crispy.
“Uh, thanks,” Jonathan says, picking up a piece of bacon and taking a bite, cringing as it crunches.
“Don’t like it? Don’t eat,” Mrs. McKleski says. “Nobody likes a whiner, Cunningham.”
She strolls out of the kitchen, and he watches her as she leaves, mumbling, “All I said was thanks.”
“You didn’t say it with meaning,” she calls back at him. “It’s no wonder you haven’t gotten an Oscar. You’re terrible.”
I stifle another laugh as Jonathan glares at the doorway.
“Don’t worry,” Maddie says, munching on a piece of bacon. “You can get the Oscar someday.”
He grins at her. “You think so?”
She nods. “All you gots to do is get better at it.”
This time, I do laugh.
“Wow,” he says. “I can sure feel the love.”
Maddie smiles, not sensing his sarcasm. “It’s ‘cuz I love you.”
His expression shifts. I see it as those words strike him. “You love me?”
Maddie laughs. “Duh.”
Duh. She says that like he’s being ridiculous asking that question, like he’s supposed to just know, but love isn’t something he’s had a lot of.
“I love you, too,” he says.
“More than bacon?” she asks, munching on a piece.
“More than bacon,” he says quietly. “More than everything.”
She smiles at that and continues to eat her breakfast, satisfied by his answer.
”
”
J.M. Darhower (Ghosted)