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My cheeks heat as I look away, afraid someone else might’ve heard him.
“Come on, sweet girl,” Em says as she approaches.
Seeing Sutton reach her arms up to Em makes my heart clench, wishing my own mom were here and healthy.
I’m glad Sutton has someone she can see as a grandmotherly figure, but it also stings a little that she’ll never really have that from my mom.
I take a deep breath and stand as Vincent pulls out the bottom drawer below the sink. There’s a step stool built in, making it easier for Jace to reach the water faucet so he can wash dishes.
“We’ll see you in a few hours,” Em says. “Tell Momma later alligator.”
Sutton attempts to repeat the goodbye, but it’s a mashup of vowels and consonants that don’t make much sense.
I wave at the smiling girl before they disappear around the corner.
The last week and a half since we got here has gone by fast, but at the same time, each day since Albuquerque has been effortless. It’s as if the stress I felt every second of every day has just faded away. I no longer have to worry about bills or groceries or getting up and getting the kids ready so I can go to a job I hate.
I’m sleeping better, and I know a lot of that has to do with everything that Vincent has offered me, and it’s not just the safety and security.
He’s been generous with his time, helping any time he sees a need, and without asking. He’s even gotten the boys to be more cognizant of others’ needs.
He mentioned last night that they’re going to be leaving for work soon, and although I know it will be out of the country, he didn’t give me much more information than that. I’m left wondering if I’ve somehow managed to jinx everyone, that maybe my bad luck has ended but has shifted to someone else just because I’ve entered their orbit.
“Are we ready to get started?” Misty asks as she walks into the kitchen. “I brought my picture hanging kit.”
She holds up a drill of some kind and a clear box that has a ton of different screws and brackets in it.
“Are you trying to put me out of a job?” Oracle asks as he walks in with his own drill and supplies, his looking much more professional than Misty’s.
“I would never,” she says, laying her tools and kit on the table, a hint of relief in her eyes.
She told me once last week that the quickest way to get a man to fix something is by saying you’ll do it yourself.
I huff a laugh at her when she winks because she just proved herself right.
“I figured you’d be in the garage with the guys,” I tease.
He shakes his head. “I can ride a bike, but I’m better at handyman stuff than mechanics. I don’t think my skills would leave any bike safe to ride. So hanging shelves is the plan for today.”
“Don’t let him lie to you,” Devyn says as she walks up with a wide grin on her face.
She offered to make curtains for the little salon we’re working on getting up and running and offered it in trade for a haircut.
“He fixed one of my sewing machines the other day,” she adds.
“He broke that sewing machine first,” Legacy says, walking up and wrapping his arms around his wife.
Oracle scrunches his nose, making a mocking face at his friend.
Legacy and Devyn recently got married, and they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other. No one bats an eye at them, but I’m a little more reserved than that. The kids haven’t asked questions about Vincent and me yet, but I see Jace watching us every time we get close to each other. It makes me wonder how much Jace remembers from more than a year ago. Does he remember me being single when Sutton was born or all the times I came over to his parents’ house alone with her? Does he still think we’ve been together this whole time?
“You boys ready to learn about brake pads?” Bishop asks as he approaches. Ryder, his fiancée’s son, who is about Jace’s age, is right behind him. He and Jace formed a very quick friendship.
“We’re ready!” Luca declares animatedly.
Vincent stays behind as the boys are led out of the kitchen by Bishop.
“Can I speak with you for a moment?” he asks, nodding at Misty as he approaches.
