Trick or Treat Murder by Rachel Woods

Author:Rachel Woods [Woods, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BonzaiMoon Books LLC

17

“Eat your eggs, bud,” instructed Beanie, giving Ethan what he hoped was a warning glance.

Leaning against the sink, Beanie sipped coffee as his oldest son sat at the kitchen table, scowling at the fluffy scrambled eggs he pushed around his plate with a fork. Ethan had devoured the waffles, which he’d drenched in syrup, despite an admonishment from Noelle, and he’d polished off two goat sausage patties, but the eggs were proving to be a struggle.

“Do I have to, Daddy?” asked Ethan, his voice plaintive, but with hints of subtle manipulation. Beanie recognized the tone. Whenever Ethan didn’t want to do something—like make his bed, or stop playing video games, or eat nutritious foods—he would affect the sweetest little, pitiful whine. Beanie tried not to fall for his son’s machinations, but the tyke was so cute, with his big brown eyes. It was hard not to give in and let Ethan have his way.

“Yes, Ethan, you have to eat your eggs,” said Noelle, strolling into the kitchen, holding Evan, who was dressed and ready for pre-school.

“Eat eggs!” echoed Evan, clapping his hands. “Eat Eggs!

“Your brother ate his eggs,” Beanie pointed out. “You don’t want a two-year-old to outdo you.”

“Roland, don’t encourage competition,” said Noelle, passing Evan to him.

Placing his coffee mug on the counter, Beanie said, “I wasn’t encouraging competition, I was just—”

“Ethan, here’s the deal, little man,” said Noelle. “You either eat the eggs, or you don’t get any dessert tonight.”

Negative reinforcement, thought Beanie, kissing Evan’s chubby cheeks. He wasn’t sure it would work, but he wasn’t going to point that out to Noelle. For the most part, she was the better disciplinarian.

His gaze shrewd, Ethan asked, “What’s for dessert?”

Beanie chuckled as Noelle threw up her hands and shook her head.

“Go and get dressed for school,” ordered Noelle, grabbing the plate of cold, picked over eggs as Ethan, his grin triumphant, skipped out of the kitchen.

“Dress for school!” said Evan. “Dress for school.”

“That kid of yours,” said Noelle, scraping the uneaten eggs into the garbage disposal.

“That kid of mine?” asked Beanie as Evan laid his head against Beanie’s shoulder.

Noelle faced him. “You spoil him. He’s always testing the limits, trying to see what he can get away with, and he knows that he can get away with pretty much anything.”

Beanie didn’t want to believe her assessment was fair, but he had a feeling it was. “Well … he’s a kid, Elle. That’s what kids do. They try to get away with not doing what they don’t want to do.”

Folding her arms, Noelle said, “You should have backed me up about the eggs.”

“Back up eggs,” said Evan, giggled. “Daddy, back up eggs.”

“You little parrot,” said Beanie, tweaking Evan’s nose.

Laughing, Evan pressed his little fingers against Beanie’s nose.

“Roland …”

Recognizing the irritation in his wife’s voice, Beanie said, “How about this? I’ll back you up about the dessert.”

“You promise?” asked Noelle, her gaze dubious.

“I promise,” said Beanie.

“Because you know he’s going to make a case for why he should have dessert even though he didn’t finish his eggs,” said his wife.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.