Ava flew to her father and hugged his waist. He scooped her up in his other arm and squeezed both Ava and Silas. Ava giggled and even Silas gave the lopsided smile that was as close as he got to showing true joy.
Cody kissed Ava on the top of her head, spun her around a couple of times then set her back down.
Yes, he worked hard, but when he was here, Cody focused completely on the kids. He was a great father.
She knew plenty of women in town who would love to have a husband like Cody, who worked hard and adored his family.
No, he wasn’t perfect, but he was doing his best.
She vowed that she would spend the next twenty-four hours trying to remember that, instead of focusing on all the areas that could use a little work.
14
Jess
She watched them go, Rachel still stony-faced and Cody doing his best to entertain Silas.
Something was definitely wrong between Rachel and Cody. The tension in the room had been thick enough to drive a Humvee through.
Jess frowned, worried about them. At random moments, Rachel seemed desperately unhappy.
Rachel’s problems were her own, Jess reminded herself. Her sister had made it plain over the years that she didn’t need Jess interfering in her life.
Jess’s only job right now was simply to enjoy herself with her nieces.
She spent the time until Grace came home from school going over the scarily efficient three-ring binder Rachel had left her while Ava finished her show.
Jess closed the binder just as Grace burst into the house, looking adorable with her hair in braids and her backpack almost as big as she was.
“Hi, Aunt Jess!” she exclaimed. She dropped her backpack and hugged her. Jess hugged her back, warmed by the spontaneous affection.
“Hi there. How was school today?”
“Good. I got to be the teacher’s helper at recess today and make sure everybody got in line the right way when it was time to go inside. And we had a spelling bee in our class and I won.”
“That’s terrific. Congratulations!”
Jess had never been that kind of student. She had been mostly bored and uninterested, happiest at recess and when they could have free reading time.
After she gave the girls a Rachel-approved snack of oatmeal and raisin cookies and almond milk, she suddenly realized she had left her phone charger and her favorite pillow in the Airstream.
She could get by without them, but why stress about it when Whitaker House was only a mile or so away? “All right, girls. I’ve got to run to my place for a couple of things. Who wants to come?”
“Me!” Grace exclaimed.
“Me!” Ava echoed. “And Freckles does, too.”
“Can we ride bikes? I love riding my new bike and I’m really good at it.”
“That does sound like fun but I’m afraid I don’t have a bike.”
“Mommy has a bike,” Ava said. “She rides her bike and Si and me and Freckles sit in the trailer. You could use that one.”
She calculated that bike riding to her Airstream and back to the house would probably take them all the way to dinner. Exercise and fun at the same time. Seemed like a win-win.
“Good idea. Let’s check it out. Is it in the garage?”
“You shouldn’t borrow things without asking, though,” Grace said with a worried look. “Maybe you should text Mama and ask if you can use her bike.”
Grace was definitely the rule-follower in the family. That was obvious. Jess supposed every family needed one but the girl was going to have some serious mental health issues later in life if she didn’t relax a bit.
“I don’t want to bother her right now while she and your dad are busy driving to your brother’s appointment. I’m sure she won’t mind a bit. Can you tell me where we can find bike helmets?”
Grace jumped on the chance to be helpful. “They’re always hanging on the bike handlebars in the garage. I’ll show you.”
Soon after, she and the girls were on their way, the dog and Ava in the bike trailer already attached to Rachel’s beach cruiser and Grace riding along on her cool-looking retro banana-seat bike.
“Are you okay riding up the hill?” she asked Grace as they started toward Whitaker House.
Her niece nodded, offering up her gap-toothed smile. “I have strong leg muscles from all the swimming we do. That’s what Mama says.”
Her sister was a good mother. These girls were lucky to have Rachel on their team. She would never put her own fulfillment, her own obsession, above their happiness.
Jess considered herself healthy. She ran, she lifted weights, she jumped rope. Not to mention that her job was usually physical, moving boxes, carrying out furniture, hauling bags of trash to the garbage.
When she was in the military, staying fit had been a necessity and she had carried many of those healthy habits with her after she left the service.
Still, pedaling a bicycle she wasn’t accustomed to up a hill pulling a trailer containing a little mixed-breed rescue dog and a particularly adorable preschooler was harder than she might have expected. By the time she reached Eleanor’s house, she was sweaty and her leg muscles ached.
Grace didn’t seem at all fazed by the exertion. In fact, she kept up a running commentary about her school, about her friends, about the trip she wanted to take to Disneyland someday.
Her conversation was punctuated by Ava’s occasional contributions, usually centered around when she saw a dog or a cat or a pretty bird at a house they passed.
Jess should have brought water along, but at least she had cold water in the Airstream.
“The ride down will be easier,” Grace said cheerfully as they turned into the Whitaker House driveway. “We won’t even have to pedal!”
Just as she pulled up to the Airstream, she spied a figure in a black wet suit walking toward the path down to the cove with a long, curved surfboard.
For a wild instant, she thought it might be Nate and her heart rate accelerated. All day, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that incredible kiss.
As soon as she got a true glimpse of the surfer, she realized her mistake. It wasn’t Nate, it was his daughter.
“Hey! That’s my friend Sophie,” Grace exclaimed. “Hi, Sophie!”
The girl paused at the top of the trail, her surfboard under one arm and her cell phone in her other hand.
“Hey there. What are you guys up to today?”
“This is our aunt Jess. She’s our mom’s sister. She’s staying over with us tonight,” Ava announced.