Of course, her decision to accompany him might have been hastened by Charlotte explaining all the steps for an appendectomy, but I wasn’t going to risk Charlotte hearing that complaint. I loved how into collecting medical facts she was, and the rest of the world could adjust its expectations accordingly rather than try to force her into some box.
“Do you think you’ll have someone by next weekend?” Gabrielle tapped a pink nail against her glass, the sharp sound putting me on edge as much as her question.
“Why?”
“I had an idea.” Tone crafty, she leaned forward, silky top swishing. My back stiffened. Her ideas were usually expensive or impractical or both. She’d received the bulk of my father’s estate, and tended to forget that the rest of the world had rules and budgets.
“I’m worried already.” I kept my voice light but wary.
“I want to take the girls to Vancouver. There’s a play an old friend is producing—very kid friendly.” She smiled broadly, but I wasn’t buying it.
“You said that about the one you took me to as a kid where everyone died.”
“Not everyone, darling.” She gave a dismissive wave of her hand. She hadn’t been a terrible stepmother and she had instilled my passion for the performing arts in school, but she’d also had rather flexible ideas about what was age appropriate. “This one is more for families. There’s singing and dancing and big set pieces. Even Miss Hard-to-Please Madeline will love it. And we can do Granville Island and Forest Park and a bunch of other sights.”
“I don’t particularly crave a weekend of sightseeing.” Damn it. I did want to be somewhere else. I wanted to be at the cabin, cooking for the kids, snuggling with Calder, and even the social aspect of meeting his friends and playing cards sounded better than traveling with Gabrielle. I liked her, but we had way different ideas of fun when it came to places to eat and how jam-packed to make a schedule.
“Oh, I didn’t mean you.” She took a sip of her wine before continuing. “You’d be miserable. A girls’ weekend for me and them. We’ll do high tea, get our hair done, and I know just the place to stay...”
“You want the girls for the whole weekend?” Such was my life that this offer had come for next weekend, not this one, when I might have been more tempted.
“That is what I said, is it not?” Tilting her head, she regarded me like I might be feverish.
“You’d fly?” I bit my lip. Madeline was a nervous flyer at the best of times, even with me there to coach her through it.
Gabrielle grinned like Calder did when holding a winning card. “The train. More fun with the girls.”
“Well...” I drew out the word. Madeline was far better with trains, and Charlotte loved the whole experience from getting the tickets to the dining car. She would love this trip with Gabrielle.
“You’re considering it.” Her eyes went wide, thick lashes fluttering.
“Don’t look so startled,” I teased her because we both knew my practicality compared to her starry-eyed ideas was legendary.
“Darling, you put the over in overprotective parent.” She laughed along with me. She was right, which was why I’d probably end up vetoing the idea or reluctantly going along. But Gabrielle wasn’t giving up easily, sliding the platter of gourmet cookies closer to me. “Let me do this, please? You need a break and you never ask me to take them.”
I pursed my mouth because I could have asked for this weekend. I’d known she was back from Aspen, and for all that she was flighty, she did love the girls and they adored her and her whimsical ways. If I’d asked, then I wouldn’t have to be here now, missing Calder something fierce.
“I don’t want to overburden or overly count on you.” That wasn’t the only reason I hadn’t asked and I knew it, but I didn’t want to dwell on the other reasons I’d used as excuses to not go with Calder.
Gabrielle frowned. “That’s not fair. I’d drop everything if you needed help, and you know it.”
“I know.” I patted her hand. She was a help, and it wasn’t that I didn’t trust her with the girls. I had custody because she hadn’t been up for full-time parenting and had made noises about sending them to boarding school as she’d done with my half sister, collecting her for whirlwind trips on breaks. I’d wanted more stability for Charlotte and Madeline, more of the traditional home life I’d had with my grandparents. However, Gabrielle was excellent in the fun-time grandma role and I shouldn’t discount that.
“You’re always telling me everything is handled.” She wagged a manicured finger my direction. “When it rather clearly is not. This lack of a childcare solution is running you ragged.”
“It hasn’t been easy,” I admitted. I’d been calling in favors at the practice, working fewer hours so I could pick them up from school, but taking more on-call hours in exchange. I’d also been relying on piecemeal solutions of play dates and after-school activities, but those also weren’t long-term fixes.
“Let me give you a weekend off and the girls a fun break.”
“You do seem rather enthusiastic about the idea.” I was wavering and I knew it.
“Of course, I’m the glam-ma. Sprinkling fun is what we do!”
Shaking my head, I chuckled. “The fact that you just called yourself the glam-ma should disqualify you.”
“Felix. You’re the day-to-day guy. Let someone else handle the fun?” She was smiling again, likely because she knew she was close to winning this battle.
But before I could give in, Charlotte wandered into the dining room. “Calder is fun. He can be in charge of fun.”
“Charlotte,” I groaned, but was too late because Gabrielle’s eyes were already lighting up, a terrier spotting a treat.
“Who is Calder?”
“Uncle Felix’s friend. We thought he might be a burglar, but it turned out he’s nice.”
Gabrielle tugged Charlotte over to her lap and slid the cookies back in front of her. “Do tell me more.”
“He got Uncle Felix to ride a sled down a big hill.” Charlotte helped herself to a cookie, totally oblivious to my please-stop-talking vibes.
“Did he now?” Gabrielle shot me a knowing look. For all she could be impractical, she was also one of the sharpest people I knew.
“Gabrielle.” I so was not having this conversation in front of Charlotte. Or at all.
“This is another reason why you should let me have the girls for the weekend. Go out. Be an adult. Get drinks. Go ride a sled.” Her smile was downright devious.