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“It’s not much, but we can make it yours.”
“Leo, this is too much,” I hissed when she ducked back inside to explore.
“The only thing in here was my lawn mower, leaf blower, and a few other tools, and I have plenty of room for that in the garage. Can you get the things she wants for the inside? I don’t know anything about play kitchens. She’ll need pretend food and dishes, right?”
I swallowed. “Yes. But you don’t have to do this. She’s happy playing with it as it is. She has a good imagination.”
“But it could be so much better. I’m sure she won’t be the only child in the family who’d like to play in here.”
He hadn’t called her a niece or a grandchild, but he’d lumped her in as family. It was nice, but at the same time, I didn’t want to be a charity case. “I’ll pay for the upgrades,” I finally conceded. I was saving for a new apartment or even a house, but I couldn’t let Leo do this himself.
“Why don’t you mark the things you’d like on the computer later, and we can order them?”
“Yeah, okay,” I acquiesced.
“Is this mine?” Evie asked, her head popping out of the doorway.
Leo smiled wide and said, “It is.”
I didn’t want to ruin this moment for him or her, so I stayed silent.
Evie grabbed sticks and rocks and pretended she was making stone soup.
“She needs the real thing so we won’t always be eating stone soup,” Leo murmured when she gave him a handful of rocks.
I laughed at how silly he looked sitting cross-legged on the ground, playing pretend restaurant with my daughter. He was always so confident in the restaurant, but with Evie, he was a softie.
Leo cocked a brow at me. “I think your mom would love some soup.”
“Oh. I forgot about Mommy. Be right back.” Evie hunted in the grass surrounding the playhouse for more rocks.
When she returned, I accepted the soup and thanked her, pretending to eat it. “That was good soup.”
Evie sighed. “Wasn’t it?”
When she grew tired of the game, we went inside for a snack and drinks. Leo arranged crackers and cheese for her on a plate, then pulled out his laptop and set it on the counter so we could search for a play kitchen.
Evie pointed out the ones she liked.
“I’ll measure it and see if it fits,” Leo said.
“You don’t need to buy her a kitchen,” I said, unable to stop myself from saying it.
“I can’t leave the playhouse empty. That would be silly, wouldn’t it, Evie?”
“Uh-huh,” she said around a mouthful of crackers.
“Don’t forget to drink something,” I prompted her.
Leo crossed his arms over his chest. “Besides, she was having so much fun.”
My heart melted a little at his words. I would have thought that he would have gotten annoyed with having us here all afternoon. Kids could be a lot for people who weren’t used to them.
“I want to clean out more of the house and the garage. Gia’s put me in touch with a contractor.”
“You’re going to renovate?”
“My parents always say you should do it yourself, but I’ve lived here for a couple of years now, and I haven’t had time to do any improvements.”
