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I glance up at Knox. I think her eyes are lit up a little more than they have been, and I even think she could be suppressing a smile.
Knox shrugs like it makes no difference to her whether he’s home or not. “I guess.” She’s got this bad girl attitude down to a profession.
“After breakfast, I wanted to see if you wanted to go out on the boat. Just you and me? The dolphins are migrating this time of year, and I think we’ll get to see some.”
“Dolphins?” Knox sounds interested.
“Lots of dolphins.” He smiles. “Families of dolphins.”
Knox cuts her eyes at me again. “Is Mom coming?”
“Nope. Just you and me. Like I said.”
“Okay,” she agrees. “After breakfast.”
“After breakfast,” J.R. says, and then he glances at me.
I catch his eyes, and then I smirk, sipping my coffee to hide my enthusiasm.
J.R. and Knox have been gone for hours now, and I’m beginning to get worried. My brain always goes to the worst-case scenario, and I imagine Knox pushing J.R. overboard or something like that. I know it’s not true, but still, I worry.
I’m working on getting dinner ready when I hear the back door open. Knox comes skipping through the house, and she meets me in the kitchen. Before I can say anything, she’s got her arms wrapped around my waist. I look down at her little head, and her big, blue eyes are staring up at me.
“I’m sorry, Mama,” she says. “For being a brat.”
I’m a little taken aback and probably at a loss of words, too, but I run my hand across the top of her head and smile down at her. “It’s okay.”
J.R. appears in the kitchen, and he’s leaning against the counter with his arms folded across his chest and a grin on his face. Whatever he did or whatever he said to her, he’s proud of himself.
“I want to paint something. For the baby’s room,” Knox says to me, releasing her arms from around me.
“Okay. I think we can arrange that,” I tell her. “We’ll go get a canvas and some paints this weekend.”
“Okay,” Knox says.
“Did you see any dolphins?” I ask them.
“We saw lots of dolphins!” Knox exclaims. “Just like Daddy said. Entire families.”
“I’m sure it was beautiful. Go wash up. Dinner will be ready soon.”
Knox nods her head and then takes off down the hall.
I look at J.R., and I admire the big, prideful grin on his face. I move toward him, and I wrap my arms around his neck. “You are a brilliant, brilliant man.” I smile as I lean into J.R. for a kiss. “I don’t know how I ever lived without you.”
J.R. smiles and returns the kiss. “What can I say? I know how to talk to the ladies.”
“She’s like a different kid. Less demonic. You must show me your ways,” I beg.
“It’s a secret,” he whispers, leaning forward.
I kiss him again. “I love you.”
“And I you.”
I do want to know what they talked about. I want to know what J.R. told Knox to cause her to come around, but maybe it’s not for me to know. Maybe I don’t need to know. I think I can breathe again, though, and that’s worth something.
Night has fallen, and I’ve found Knox curled up in J.R.’s lap on the couch. I stop to admire them. Knox curls so perfectly in his lap, and I know that one day soon, she’ll be too big to fit there. Knox is covered in a blanket, her head against J.R.’s chest, and it’s obvious that she’s fallen asleep.
