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“I missed you too, sweetheart. I’ve got some fun planned for today.”
“Yay,” Joelle said, her answering smile a welcome sight.
“Good morning, Madison. You’re just in time to meet my Uncle Bill.”
“It’s nice to meet you. Caleb has nothing but good things to say about you, and I know you’ve been a big help to him.”
They shook hands. “I do what I can, but it’s not enough,” Uncle Bill said, slightly on the defensive.
Caleb hated that his uncle felt responsible for anything happening at the store. If he hadn’t pushed his responsibility for Bigsby’s off on him, this might not have been a problem. Either that or it would have happened anyway…if the problem was the new store in the next town over.
“We’ll get through this. We must. My parents entrusted me with Bigsby’s when they went off on the adventure of a lifetime. And even though they’re gone now, I don’t want to let them down. I know they’re watching over me from heaven, and with any luck, I can figure out how to save the place.”
At the mention of his parents, his uncle had grown quiet, his face void of expression. Perhaps the memory of losing his sister still had the power to hurt his uncle. The same way it hurt Caleb. And much the same way he hurt losing Lauren.
“And I’m helping Caleb go over the books, which would seem to be even more of a blessing to him than I originally thought given the antiquated system he has in place,” she teased, glancing at the stack of papers in his hand.
“At least there is a system. It was good enough for my dad,” Caleb said, trying to defend his lack of modernization.
“Times have changed, and it’s a lot easier to figure out mistakes when the computer systems are running data checks,” Madison said.
“You’re an accountant?” his uncle asked.
Madison shrugged, lobbing her head from side to side as though unsure how to answer.
“Yes, and no. I was a glorified gopher assistant to my last boss, who required me to handle her finances,” she explained.
Uncle Bill nodded; lines of tension firmly etched on his forehead. Either that or they were from years of playing golf in the sun. “I see. Guess some experience is better than Caleb’s lack of it.”
“Time will tell.” Madison laughed.
His uncle glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to run. Let me know if you find anything,” Uncle Bill said, waving a hand as he headed for his truck.
“What do you two have planned today?” Caleb asked.
“We’re going to make the pipe animals, since we didn’t get to it yesterday. You know…with the pipe cleaners you were highly suspicious of,” Madison teased.
“I want to make a pink elephant,” Joelle declared, taking Madison by the hand. “Come on,” she said, pulling her nanny toward the house. It would seem his daughter had all but forgotten her earlier request to help with Star once Madison arrived.
“I’ll be down at the barn taking care of Star, and then I’ll be in the dining room if you need me. Digging into data…you know, the boring stuff.”
“Not to mention it gives you a better way to keep an eye on us.” Madison shot him a wink. “Yes, I can tell. You’re not very subtle…but I don’t mind.”
Busted.“It’s not…”
“Sure, it is.” Madison’s laughter trickled his way until the screen door closed behind her.
Caleb was left standing there, more than a little mortified at having been caught out. He hadn’t thought he was being obvious, but clearly, he was wrong.
Thirty minutes later, he had accomplished next to nothing. The sound of laughter in the kitchen caught his attention, as well as the image of watching Joelle and Madison creating their pipe animals. The two were having loads of fun, something he wanted to be doing with his daughter. But lately, Joelle found everything they did boring, as though she were itching to do more, but not knowing what. And Caleb didn’t have a clue how to entertain a child her age…safely. The older a child got, the more that was out there that could trip them up.
Tossing his pen on the table, he stood and crossed the room to join them. “Sounds like fun in here. Don’t tell me the animals are coming to life?”
“No silly, Daddy. It’s just us making animal noises.” Joelle held up her elephant and made a loud trumpet sound. Madison caught his gaze and hid her laugh. Joelle sounded more like a horse whinnying, but no one cared. “Your turn, Miss Madison,” Joelle said.
“Hmmm. Well, since I made a lion…roooaarr,” she said, moving the lion toward Joelle. “I’m King of the Jungle,” Madison added in a deep voice.
Caleb grinned. “I hate that I’m missing all the fun.”
