Page 82 of Loving at 40

“I’ve got it.” I challenge. “What else do you need done today?”

“I have gym class on Tuesdays.”

“It’s Monday,” Jenna states before remembering it’s not. “Shiitake.” Her head tips back for the ceiling.

“What does this mean?” I ask.

“She has a gym uniform.”

“On it,” I state.

Jenna glances at her phone. “No time for the washer.”

“You didn’t wash it?” Talia groans. The ice queen isn’t happy to wear a dirty uniform.

“She doesn’t sweat much. It’s fine. Spritz it with some of my perfume,” Jenna grumbles to me under her breath before looking around her. “Okay. Okay.” The wheels spin inside her head as she ticks off a silent checklist of items. Laptop bag over her shoulder. Purse in hand. Stack of papers in another bag. She looks like a bag lady, and a sexy one at that.

“Coat,” I demand, and she glances down at the straps looping here and there over her body. She shakes her head, but I quickly have her keys out of her purse, remote start going on her SUV, and her winter jacket in hand. I hold it out for her, and she rearranges everything to slip into it. Rushing for Talia and Rosie, she gives each of them a kiss, rubs noses with them, and tells them she loves them. She adds, “Have a good day. Learn something new,” to Talia, and turns for the front door.

While she kissed the girls, I slipped into my boots. I walk her to the car as the sidewalk still looks icy, and she’s wearing those killer heels.

“You don’t need to do this,” she mutters, taking shuffling steps to her vehicle with my arm around her.

“I want to do this, ’Locks. End all.” Arriving at the side of her SUV, I open the door, and she tosses her bags inside.

“Shiitake. Car seats.”

I glance into the back seat and notice two seats. One for Rosie and a booster for Talia. “Got it.” After a brief struggle with the safety belts, I’ve freed both. Jenna scrambles into the driver’s seat, and she’s tugging at the door when I stop it with my body.

One-handed, I cup the back of her head. “You have a good day. Learn something new.” Then I lean forward and press a kiss to the corner of her lips and rub my nose along hers.

A soft intake of breath follows.“Okay,” she whispers.

I step back, closing her door for her.

As she reverses, I stand in the driveway and hold my breath for a moment as she pulls away. Then I remind myself there isn’t a chance I’ll let her get away from me. She’s late. She’s frazzled, and it’s been an honor to witness her morning. I want to experience everything with her, and I’m here to prove myself. With that in mind, I turn back toward the house with car seats in hand to feed two little girls who stand at the door watching me.

“What kind of cereal do princesses eat for breakfast?” And so begins my day.

+ + +

With breakfast done and Talia off to school, I head to the grocery store before returning to the house with Rosie. Once the groceries are put away, I start the laundry and prep for dinner. It’s all mundane, and Rosie keeps a watchful eye on my progress, but I’m enjoying the simplicity of it all. I don’t like to cook for myself and wasn’t as concerned about picking up all my stuff when it was only me in a small-ass apartment. But that apartment is gone, and everything I own fits into two rucksacks. Those sacks are here in Jenna’s home. She doesn’t have a guest room, just two small bedrooms on the second floor with one full bathroom up there. Over the weekend, she explained how this house was her place at first, and when she married, they had plans for something larger someday.

She needs more space. Her little girls are going to grow into bigger ones, and this house can’t hold four adult-sized people. And yes, I’m including myself in that body count.

With Rosie settled, watching a video that teaches the alphabet, I search real estate listings in the area on my phone. I have forty minutes until I need to be somewhere, and I take a moment after the rush of the morning to sit on the couch with little princess number two. Every time Rosie’s thumb heads for her mouth, I pluck it away, reminding her warriors and pirates and any other thing I can think of do not suck their thumbs.

Despite the months of recovery, sitting still feels strange, especially as the past three months have been another race against time. I needed to get back to Jenna.

Between Viviana’s death and the investigation into the explosion, time moved so slowly. I also had to argue my case again against the WPP by reminding the department not every DEA agent lives in seclusion. I didn’t want to be alone anymore. I’d been Hunter Gray for so long, being Archer McCaryn felt like I already entered the program. Disappearing into this small town and returning to my own family would be enough disguise.

Although I was no longer hiding and just wanted to be me again. I wanted to discover who I was without the department. It would be a struggle to sit still, but it wouldn’t be that much of a hardship. With the case wrapping up and only six weeks remaining on my one-year mandatory furlough, I took a leave of absence. I didn’t have physical clearance to continue hard-core fieldwork anyway, and I couldn’t handle a desk job. I was too young to do nothing, but for now, I wanted to breathe in the bayberry scent of this home and the waxy-crayon fragrance coming off the little girl next to me. She tried to color pictures on her skin like I have on mine. Thankfully, Jenna doesn’t have markers easily available to her now four-year-old. I’d missed Rosie’s and Talia’s birthdays, but I didn’t plan to miss any more important dates, including one I have around eleven fifteen this morning.

33

[Jenna]

“Who is that?” Tiffany Miles asks from across the lunchroom table.