She leaned in to peek around a corner she couldn’t reach. “No, it’s not!”

Her balance wavered when she stretched too far. No reason to piss off Lily. Charley snuck her way across, one toe at the corner of each square, as close to the grout as would fit her sole. Satchel dropped to the sideboard, she continued with measured precision.

Charley relaxed her gait when she stepped from tile to the soft, ivory carpet. Artwork adorned the walls, some created by her family, others purchased. She passed the maple banister, brick fireplace, Cael’s wide screen television and the man himself in full repose along the length of the sable, leather couch.

“Hey, Cael.” She received a grunt in response.

Her smile grew. He’d had a long night-an even longer week. She opted to let him recover rather than rouse him for kicks.

Three more steps and she found Lily at work, dropping orange and yellow sticks into a pot as droplets of water bounced out. Lily continued to sweep various shapes from the maple cutting board. Color by color, the rainbow of food plopped in to boil.

“What’cha makin’, Lil?”

Lily tilted her gaze up from her pot. She froze, hands midair, eyes wide, as if she’d been doused with ice water.

Charley mirrored Lily’s head tilt.

“You went gold.”

Charley shifted her head the other way, confused at Lily’s answer.

“Your hair… it’s a cross between Nicole Kidman and-” Lily scrunched her eyes. “-that actress from Titanic.” She left her pot, walked around the island and ran her hands through Charley’s curls.

“You like?” Charley kept Nicole’s pale skin but added a rose blush to her entire body. She’d added inventive ringlets with a soft bounce, too.

Lily mm’d and huh’d for a moment. “You look…” Her eyes scanned the length of Charley’s body from her mocha knee-boots to her eighties leggings and up to her paisley skirt and raspberry sweater. “You look, young. And hip. And quite hot, actually.” She added the last with wiggled eyebrows.