"I''m not going. Have someone run the errand and deliver it," Theodore stood firm, raising his voice so Phoebe could hear him outside.


    Indeed, Phoebe heard everything. She was embarrassed and hurt that Mrs. Reynolds would ask Theodore to go downstairs to get medicine for her and that he refused. She said, "Mom, I''ll call for a delivery, let''s not trouble Mr. Reynolds."


    Theodore was speechless...


    He jabbed a verbal barb at her and she fired one right back. Impressive!


    He was about ready to blow a gasket but kept a smile stered on his face and said to Mrs. Reynolds, "Mom, did you hear that? Ms. Ziegler can handle herself."


    Mrs. Reynolds chuckled, "You two with your formal ''Mr. Reynolds'' and ''Ms. Ziegler,'' anyone listening would think you were ying some flirty game."


    "Bang!" Vanessa, who was on potato-chopping duty, missed her mark and the knife thudded into the cutting board, narrowly missing her fingers. Heart racing, she barely registered Theodore swooping in across the kitchen counter to take the knife out of her hands.


    "It''s too dangerous, let me do it."


    As he moved to the other side of the counter, Mrs. Reynolds felt like whacking him. He doesn''t care enough about his own wife, but fusses over another woman. Serves him right to be single and lonely.


    Unwilling to watch, Mrs. Reynolds turned and left the room.


    Phoebe was cing an order on the app. With the rain, delivery fees had surged. After finalizing her pharmaceutical purchase, she tossed her phone aside.


    She fumed to herself, having a man in the house is sometimes less reliable than a delivery runner.


    "Phoebe, did you order the delivery?" Mrs. Reynolds brought her a hot cup of water. She had once thought Phoebe could never do anything right.


    However,pared to Vanessa, Phoebe was a million times better.


    Take chopping vegetables, for instance. Vanessa would whine and y the martyr, making Theodore do it for her. However, Phoebe wouldn''t-not even if she cut herself. She''d wash off the blood under the tap with a stoic face and keep chopping.


    If Vanessa became her daughter-inw, she might not even taste the food Vanessa made before Vanessa had her son wrapped around her little finger.


    What she didn''t like about Vanessa was her fussiness.


    "The delivery''s ordered, but with the rain, it might take an hour to arrive." Phoebe had cleaned out the medicine cab earlier, tossing any expired items, and had ordered recements.


    Mrs. Reynolds couldn''t help but grumble, "The drugstore''s just outside theplex-a ten-minute trip! What if your condition worsens? Theodore is really clueless sometimes."


    "It''s no big deal, Mom, just a little cold. I''ll be fine with some hot water," Phoebe reassured her, taking a few sips of the hot water. "See, it works fast. I already feel like I don''t need to... Ah-choo!" "It''s like you''re tempting fate every time you speak," Mrs. Reynolds said with a mix of amusement and concern as she watched Phoebe sneeze continuously.


    Phoebe gave her a rueful smile in response.


    "Don''t coddle me, go charm your husband instead," Mrs. Reynolds quipped.


    Phoebe could only respond with silence.


    Hearing the word "husband"e out of Mrs. Reynolds'' mouth made her cringe with a sense of embarrassment that was almost eerie. Her rtionship with Theodore was nothing close to intimate. At most, they were just bedfellows.