A Short Break

Today is family dinner day for the month, and it covers birthdays for both oldest son and hubby. It's a nice break, too, heading up to their house, even though it's only about 40 minutes away. Now I know that when I get a weekend with no medical stuff (vaccines next Saturday, colonoscopy prep the following weekend), or events (checking out a potential event for 2026 the weekend of the 24th with a writing group buddy), I need to head to the boys' to do some garden clean-up, and I'm okay with that. Early spring was the last time I did that, and the gardens need some TLC heading into winter. Might even need two weekends for that, we'll see.

For now, though, the afternoon was nice, hanging out and having good food (and cake!).

This week, I have a snippet for you from Protecting Medusa.

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            She frowned into the skillet, stirring more vigorously than she needed to. Had he really been spying on her? For how long? She didn’t even remember the last date she’d had. 

            When her mother’s car pulled into the driveway beside hers, she inhaled deeply, forcing some of the tension from her shoulders and neck. After three days of forced solitude, she wanted to see her family. Very much.

            Jason burst through the back door. “Aunt Phila!”

            She smiled and held out her arms, bracing when he flung himself at her. “Hi, baby.” She scooped him up, even though he really was getting too big for that. She kissed one of his cheeks, then his mouth, then his other cheek, while he giggled. It was their ritual for whenever she’d been away. A kiss for each day they’d been apart.

            He wrapped his arms around her neck, tight. “I missed you.”

            “You know I missed you, too.” She caught sight of her mother coming in and gave her a strained smile. Her mother lifted one eyebrow, and Philomena shook her head. “How was school today, buddy?” She set him on his feet and unzipped his coat.

            He shrugged out of his superhero backpack and his coat, bouncing the whole time. “You know the hamster in our room? Harvey? He got out of his cage during recess today, so we had to crawl around looking for him till Nita found him hiding under the bookcase in the back corner. Oh, and we got a new girl in our class today. Her name is Rose, and she has red hair and a million billion freckles on her face. And Eddie brought a picture of his new German Shepherd puppy with him. Eddie’s gonna train him to be a guard dog an’ keep bad guys away. He said I should come see him this weekend. Can I go?”

            Philomena relaxed a bit more, listening to him while she heated some frozen vegetables and set the table.

            When Jason came up for air, he frowned at the table. “Hey, how comes there’s four plates, Aunt Phila?”

            Her spine stiffened, and she took a quick breath as she turned from the stove.

            “Because I came to visit, little guy,” Ryder said from the foot of the stairs.

            “Daddy!” Jason shrieked and met his father halfway across the room.

            Ryder’s grin was as big as Jason’s, and he swung his son around in a big hug while Jason clung tightly to him.

            Philomena watched as they greeted one another, doing silly guy stuff--funny handshakes and high-fives, and hugging again--and her heart squeezed in her chest, painfully. She’d never seen such naked delight on her nephew’s face. Or imagined it in his father’s.

            “What’s got you so uptight?” her mother asked quietly.

            “You should have told me he was coming.” She kept her voice low, too, and shot a sharp glance at her mom.

            Agatha Gregory smiled instead of looking abashed. “You needed to come anyway, and I couldn’t tell him ‘no’.” She shrugged with one shoulder. “You’ll have to deal.”

            Philomena opened her mouth to tell her mother what she thought of her suggestion, but Ryder crossed the floor to them, Jason at his side. “Supper’s ready,” she said instead.

            “Let me help.” Ryder winked at her.

            “I’ve got it.” She moved around Ryder to the stove, shutting the burner off and scooping the beef mixture into a bowl. When she turned around, he blocked her way, a dangerous glint in his brown eyes. “I’m fine, Ryder,” she said stiffly.

            “Yes, you are,” he breathed, leaning closer and cupping the bowl, his hands directly over hers, sending bolts of heat shooting along her arms. “But I’m going to help whether you like it or not.”

            “Here. Take it.” She slid her fingers free and let him have the bowl. Somehow, though, she didn’t think he just meant supper preparation, and that made her nervous.

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I hope you've all found time for a break this weekend, some time for something that makes you happy, whether it's reading, or family dinner, or just turning on your favorite music to dance for a few minutes. I'd love to hear about it if you did, or, if not, how you plan to make that happen in the next week!

Until next week, happy reading!