I nodded with a soft laugh. “I do. I’m told I’m good at it. Let’s see what I’ve got to work with.”
As I turned away to walk into my kitchen, I considered that perhaps I needed to make a habit of surprising Jade. That seemed to knock her guard down slightly.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jade
“JJ, look!” Rylie called to me from the kitchen table where she was working on a drawing.
I finished loading the dishwasher and closed it before I turned. Crossing the kitchen, I slipped into the chair beside her. “Let me see.”
My niece turned the small whiteboard in her hands and held it up. An explosion of color covered the entire board. Angling my head to the side, I studied it. “Is that a pig I see there?” I smiled.
“Yes!” Rylie exclaimed, giving me a toothy grin. As soon as she set the whiteboard down, she promptly erased everything she’d done. I’d gotten her this whiteboard about a month ago, and it could keep her occupied for hours at a time.
“How loose is that tooth?” I asked when she distractedly wiggled a loose front tooth with her fingers.
“I don’t know,” she said. “It keeps wiggling. The last one hurt when it came out.”
My little niece looked so much like my brother it made my heart hurt sometimes. With her glossy dark hair that had a curl to it and her big green eyes, she was definitely a Cole family member. The only thing I could see of her mother in her features was her round button nose. I considered her blessed for that. Although a strong, bold nose looked good on Lucas, on me, I considered it too big.
I doubted Rylie would ever remember her mother. Melissa had an aneurysm when Rylie wasn’t even one year old, and it was over before she made it to the hospital.
Rylie brought my attention back to her. “Should we pull it out?”
“Nah. Let’s wait and let your dad figure out when it’s time for that tooth to come out.”
Rylie bent her head down, biting her lower lip as her brow furrowed once she began to focus on her next work of art. “Valentine promised she would decide this time.” Rylie had always called Valentina Valentine. With Valentina and Lucas going strong, I hoped they would make it official soon. No matter what Rylie called her, Valentina was becoming her mother in every way that counted as far as taking care of her.
“Oh, so your dad’s not in charge of that anymore?”
“Last time, Daddy said a tooth was ready to come out, and it wasn’t.”
“Always smart to listen to Valentina,” I replied with a solemn nod.
As if conjured by our discussion of her wisdom, the front door opened, and Valentina came in, her arms laden with grocery bags.
I jumped up from the table, hurrying over. “Do you need some help?”
Valentina’s red curls bounced when she shook her head. “There’s nothing left to get. I always carry more than I should.”
I helped unload from her arms, and we began putting the groceries away. Until Valentina had moved in, I’d spent three or four days a week at Lucas’s house because I was his main daycare person when Rylie wasn’t in school. She was only now finishing first grade. He paid me quite well, but having Valentina in their lives meant he didn’t need my help nearly as much.
Not that I’d ever minded taking care of Rylie, not even a little, but I was beyond pleased Valentina was here for Lucas and Rylie. It gave me the opportunity to get my focus back on track for my life. Sometimes that felt good, but I still felt like I was middling along.
I watched as Valentina leaned over and dropped a kiss on Rylie’s dark hair. The easy relationship they had warmed my heart. A small part of me suddenly wondered if I might ever have anything like that.
I’d comfortably lived with the idea that I didn’t even want anything like that. And then, Walker came along.
“How was today?” Valentina asked as she straightened.
I put a can of olives on the shelf in one of the cabinets, replying, “Just great. I wasn’t sure when you’d be back.”
Valentina shrugged. “Me neither. It took longer than I planned. I went with Lucas for his physical in Asheville, and then we did some errands. I dropped him off at the lodge and came home. I didn’t know if you were working tonight at the bar,” she said, glancing my way as she closed the refrigerator after putting away a few items.
“Not tonight.”
“Are you planning on looking for anything else for work? Dani is always scouting out wait staff for the lodge.”
I smiled. “Not that I would mind working there, but I make more money as a bartender. If she wanted me to cover some bartending shifts, I’d be all over that.”
“I’ll let her know. Another guy quit recently because he moved out of town with his girlfriend.”
“I’d be happy to fill in there.” I leaned my hips against the counter as I reached for the cup of coffee I’d left there earlier and took a sip. “I need to figure out what the hell I wanna do.”
I quickly slapped my hand over my mouth, realizing I’d said “hell.” I was usually pretty well trained around Riley, but every now and then I spaced it.
So absorbed in whatever she was drawing, Rylie didn’t even notice. Valentina flashed me a quick grin.
I took another sip and lowered my cup. “This is lukewarm, and I could use some fresh coffee. Should I make a pot?”
Valentina nodded. “That would be excellent. I didn’t get enough coffee this morning, and I’ve got some bookkeeping to catch up on tonight for the lodge.”
While I got the coffee started, Valentina paused beside Rylie, her hand on her shoulder. “I had a phone call on my way home. You know the new girl who lives across the street?” At Rylie’s nod, Valentina continued, “Her mom invited you over to help bake cookies. Do you want to go over there?”
I tapped the start button just in time to see Rylie’s head bouncing with her enthusiastic nod. “When can I go?” She scrambled out of her chair.
“As soon as you clean up the table here. Unless there’s more mess that I need to check with Jade about.” Valentina glanced at me.
“Not a thing. She’s all set. I heard about this new friend. Remind me of her name again,” I said.
“Torie.” Rylie dutifully picked up the eraser and wiped off what she’d been drawing. Needing no further instruction, she put all her markers and the whiteboard away in the little cubby she had on a bench by the kitchen door. “I’m ready,” she announced.
“Be right back. I’m just gonna walk across the street with her.”
With Rylie skipping at Valentina’s side, I watched as they departed. Moments later, Valentina returned, sitting down at the kitchen table with a sigh. “Today ended up being a long day.”
“Yeah?” I asked as I filled two mugs with coffee and carried them to the table. After fetching the cream from the refrigerator, I sat down across from her.
“Yeah, there was nothing in particular. It was just everything took longer than I expected. We had to wait for almost an hour for Lucas to get in for his physical and then ran around doing errands. Now, I’m going to bury my head in numbers for a few hours. I don’t mind telling you, it’s really awesome that Rylie has a friend across the street now. I actually like the mom, and we can give each other breaks.”