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“He knows which horses are available.He’s not stupid, you know.”
I snort and roll my shoulders.I want a hot shower and some time with my kids.“I’m headed in.”
“Me, too.See you tomorrow.”
I wave at Brady as he heads toward the cabin, and I set off for the house.Since the weather has been better, I’ve been walking to the barn every day.And when I reach the house, I see the Suburban is parked out front, and the lights are on inside.
It’s been almost a week since the bonfire and the kiss right here in the driveway, and so far, things haven’t been at all weird between Erin and me.Neither of us has mentioned the kiss, and I’ve been careful to maintain a friendly but professional distance.
In return, Erin has been funny, calling me Grumpy in front of the kids and making them laugh, efficient, and her usual sexy-as-fuck self.
“You’ve gotta get over the sexy factor,” I whisper to myself as I climb the stairs to the back door and find all three of them in the kitchen, huddled around the island.“Hey, gang.”
“Dad!”Johnny’s eyes are bright and full of excitement as he pops his head up to greet me.“You have to come see this.”
“Weallhelped,” Holly is sure to assure me as I walk toward them.I crane my neck to see what’s on the counter and find…a cake.
“You baked a cake?”
“The best cake ever!”Holly holds her arms out to me, so I pick her up.“It’s blue and purple inside, and Erin let us decorate it ourselves, without any help from her.”
“That explains the blue icing on your neck.”I lean in and make a fuss about licking the frosting.“Mmm, delicious!”
Holly giggles and wiggles out of my arms, and I turn to Erin, who’s smiling at us all.
“They wanted to help,” she says simply.
“What’s the occasion?”I ask her.
“For what?”
“The cake.”I eye the tall, round cake on the counter.“Usually, it’s someone’s birthday or something.”
“Dad,” Johnny says, “it’sErin’s birthday.”
My eyes fly to hers, and I watch with fascination as she blushes.
“Really?”
“Yeah.I let it slip because my sister called to sing to me earlier, and the kids heard, so they insisted that I have a cake.So, together, we baked me one.Oh, I have a casserole in the oven, if that’s okay.Your mom actually made it and brought it over.”
“Welovecasserole,” Holly informs her.“Come on, let’s cut our cake!”
“Not until after dinner,” I reply, without looking away from Erin.“You’ll stay and eat with us.I know there’s plenty, and the kids will want to help you celebrate your birthday.”
Erin smiles and nods.“That sounds like fun, thanks.We can eat any time.”
“If you don’t mind getting things ready here, I’ll go clean up.”
“You got it,” she says and turns to the kids.“Who’s going to help me set the table?”
“Me!”both of my children volunteer in unison as I head for the stairs and up to my room to clean up.I don’t even want to think about the fact that when I ask the kids to help with dinner, they both whine and complain, as if I’m asking them to dig ditches rather than simply set the table.
They like her, and I’m happy about that.She spends a good amount of time with them, and if I can talk her into working full time through the summer, she’ll be spending even more time with them.So, it’s good that they want to help her and don’t give her a hard time about things.
Fifteen minutes later, I walk into the dining room and find that everyone has food on their plates, along with some salad and a piece of bread, and the other three are waiting for me to join them.
“This is fancy.”I sit at the head of the table and take it all in.Not only did I not have to do this myself, but it looks nice, and no one is yelling or arguing over anything.
