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Touched, I didn’t know what to say. He’d paid for extra time, and he wasn’t going to use it? My mind dug for a suspicious reason but came up empty.
A phone started buzzing. Vienne glanced at her purse, then her gaze landed on the phone in her hand. “I’ve got a client waiting. Give me a schedule and a price, and I’ll see how many sessions I can swing.” She turned to rush toward the hybrid SUV sitting in front of her house. “Wait, you don’t have my number.” She waved her hands, her bracelets tinkling. “Ask Catherine. I’m sure she’ll be spying on you.”
“Mom!” resounded from inside the house. Vienne grimaced, and I bit back a grin. I needed to stay on Catherine’s good side if I wanted to work with her.
“Give Tova my number next time you see her,” Vienne called to a window and rushed off.
“Can I dance with you two?” Grayson asked. Worry swam in his eyes. Poor kid. So much had changed, and he probably feared his new passion was being taken away from him.
“We’ll have our own time.” I held a hand out, giving him something to anchor himself into the present with. “I was thinking we could work on a performance. Use those costumes your dad bought.”
“Really?” Ivy squealed loud enough to wake anyone who wasn’t already up.
“Sure.” I loaded into the pickup after helping Cody buckle the kids in the back. Inside, I was wrapped in his cedar and sage scent. He didn’t mention noticing me shiver, but he flicked the knob to red, and soon heat pumped out of the vents.
“Thank you,” I murmured.
“No problem, California.”
“California?”
“Born and raised?” he asked.
I nodded. Mom and I had moved around, but it’d been within the state’s borders. The corner of his mouth ticked up while his eyes stayed on the road.
“Milk Daddy,” he said quietly.
“Fair enough.” In the duel of nicknames, I reigned supreme.
“I was born in Montana,” Grayson said from the back.
“Where was I born, Daddy?” Ivy asked.
“Also Montana,” he said.
By the time we reached Aggie’s to pick up the kittens, I’d learned the name of the hospital they were born in and that their names came from some classmates of their mom’s. Law school buddies Cody said his wife had lost touch with. He really didn’t have many people in his life other than his family. More than me, but somehow still lonely.
At Aggie’s, we piled out of the pickup. I admired her sprawling farmhouse. The inside was spacious yet simple. Perfect for a family. I would’ve died and gone to heaven if I’d lived in a place like this. Would’ve been harder on me to leave too.
Cody didn’t go to the house but walked around the garage and straight to the barn. The kids sprinted ahead of him. I was in sandals again, but I rushed after him, clocking the echoes of family life I had rarely experienced, like being so familiar with someone’s home you knew where they were and were free to go find them. Grandma’s house used to be like that. Thelma’s apartment would be, too, if it wasn’t so small.
“I seem unprepared for farm life again,” I murmured. The air was still cool, but I was growing used to the milder mornings.
Humor gleamed in his eyes. “A little dirt never hurt anyone.”
“Says the guy covered from neck to toe.”
“You’re covered.” He grinned. “Except for your toes.”
I playfully scowled at him while pretending tingles didn’t spread through my belly at the same time my sex plugged in all the neon signs that said “Open for Business.”
Aggie was already kneeling with the kids. They each held one kitten. Concentration furrowed Grayson’s brow as he eyed my toes. I stood by the barn entrance just in case there was a getaway kitten.
Aggie waved at me. “Nice to see you again.” To her brother, she said, “I thought you, of all people, would come prepared.”
He smirked. “You think the kids would wait for a shopping trip after I said we’d foster the kittens?”
She laughed. I folded my arms, watching the family interact. Aggie scratched each kitten’s head. “I’ll miss them, but I’ve got my hands full with the six-pack.”
