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I watched Troy talk to the kids. He was really good at it, breaking things down simply and keeping it in a way they could understand.
“I want sparkles too,” Rory said.
“How about we add food glitter to the pancakes,” I offered, remembering my sister had edible glitter in the pantry, “and then we put sparkles on the pancakes?”
“It will be like a storm cake,” Troy said.
The kids all cheered and ran to the kitchen.
“Wow,” I said. “That was sweet. Who would have thought you could talk to kids that way.”
“I’m a man of many talents,” Troy said.
“If only you knew how to communicate with adults the same way,” I said jokingly, a smile playing around my mouth.
Troy laughed and shook his head. “Thanks for that.”
“A lot more where that came from.”
“A fountain of insults.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” I said, and we followed the kids to the kitchen.
7
TROY
Yeah,babysittingwasn’twhatI’d had in mind for a work visit, but shit happened and we had to compromise, right? I would have been just fine with Mackenzie submitting her proposal later. In fact, Johnson could just give me the contract and get it over with, as far as I was concerned, but she’d invited me over and here I was, watching her make pancakes with three kids who looked exactly like her… and not at all.
Seeing her like this was different from the business shark she could be. She was sweet and patient with the kids. I admired people like that—I could never be like that with kids.
Not because Icouldn’tbut because I didn’t want to be. I didn’t want kids, so I’d never bothered to figure out who I should be with them and try to understand them.
These kids were adorable, though, and when they were that cute, it was hard not to just melt and get caught up in their little world of magic. The eldest one was smart and quieter than the other two. The boy tried to impress me all the time, like he didn’t spend a lot of time around guys. The little one played on her own and sang songs, except when lightning cracked, and then she’d curled into a ball like the world was going to self-destruct around her.
We ate pancakes with glitter and sprinkles, which was weird, and for dessert, the kids were allowed a glass of milk and my sugar-free cookies. I’d brought them because I couldn’t arrive empty-handed, and the kids seemed to love it.
After supper, Mackenzie got them all through the bath with practiced ease and then allowed them half an hour TV time before she kicked them off to bed.
When she came out of the rooms, she let out a breath.
“They’re down,” she said.
“They’re a handful.”
“Yeah.”
“Rather you than me."
“You’re not a fan?”
“I think they’re adorable,” I said. “But I don’t want kids of my own.”
“Oh, me neither,” Mackenzie said. “I’ll babysit them, but after a couple of hours, I like to give them back.”
I laughed. She was a lot more on the same page as I was, and I liked that about her. There were a lot of things I liked about her.
“Right,” I said. “Let’s get this thing started.” We opened our laptops on the dining room table and started working. Outside, the storm raged on. The water came down so hard it was a permanent roar, accentuated by thunder and lightning that sounded like the world was going to end. I wondered how the kids—who had been terrified of the storm—slept through it.
