Chapter 17
JACK
Mateo
When are you coming to Wyoming? Jay said he made you an offer a week ago.
Jack
September at the earliest. There’s this girl…
Mateo
Yeah?
Jack
Red hair and the prettiest eyes you’ve ever seen. Cool hobbies. Makes me laugh so hard I cry.
Mateo
Bring her! I’d love to meet your girl.
Jack
I don’t know how you do things in Wyoming, but here in Colorado, kidnapping 7 year olds is frowned upon.
Mateo
What the hell is going on at that ranch
Jack
Career change. I’m a manny now.
Mateo
Dude.
You’re still seeing that therapist, right?
RIGHT??
Two hours into this whole manny gig and I was crushing it. Breakfast? Eaten. Dishes? Done. Janie? At work on time. Maya? Happy. Hell, she hadn’t complained once when it was time for PT. This summer was going to be a piece of cake.
“Is there anything you want to do today?” I asked as I wiped down the wet spots on the kitchen counter.
It was the first day of summer vacation and the possibilities were endless.
Janie had warned me that Maya didn’t always do well with wide-open questions, so I tossed out a few options.
“We could go for a hike before the afternoon thunderstorms roll in. Or we could go to the library and pick out some books for the week.”
Maya was walking circles around the kitchen table while I cleaned, like she had nervous energy to work off. It was probably nothing more than the excitement of being done with school, but I’d mention it to Janie this evening, just to make sure.
“Can we go to Denver?” she asked.
Okay, that caught me off guard. “Why?”
“I need to start my summer project. It’s the metamorphoses of an amphibian. I’m going to watch a tadpole turn into a frog, but the closest pet store that sells tadpoles is in Denver. Mom said it would have to wait until this weekend when she’s not working, but I want to go now.”
I hesitated. “That sounds like a cool project, but I think your mom might want to do it with you.”
Maya shook her head emphatically, her red braid swinging from side to side.
“No, she doesn’t. She hates driving to Denver because of the traffic.
She didn’t want me to ask you because it would make you feel bad if you didn’t want to go.
” Her eyes were big and hopeful. “I have the money to buy the tadpoles and the aquarium tank. It was a birthday present from Aunt Claire.”
“Hm.” Denver was a two-hour drive each way, and there was always traffic.
It would be a waste of Janie’s day off—I knew how important it was to her to spend quality time with Maya.
Plus, we had switched vehicles so I could take Maya wherever she wanted to go, since Janie didn’t like Maya riding in the front seat and my truck didn’t have a back seat.
It wouldn’t be a problem to drive out to Denver.
“Please?” Maya begged. “Mom will be so happy. She does everything. I think she’s tired.”
Shit, this kid was such a sweetheart. Who could say no to a kid who cared so much about her mom? And she was right. Janie was exhausted. Her time with Maya was too precious to waste spending it in traffic.
“All right. Let’s go.” I tossed the sponge onto its little tray by the sink and wiped my hands dry on my jeans.
Maya jumped in the air, pumping a fist. It was awkward and clumsy and the cutest fucking thing I’d ever seen. “Yes!”
I laughed. “We leave in fifteen minutes. Grab your headphones and a book. I’ll pack snacks.”
“We have dart frogs,” the sales associate said. He looked about sixteen. His nametag said Dave, but it was the third Dave I’d seen in the store and I suspected either no one was named Dave or the manager was. “We don’t have any dart frog tadpoles in stock, but we have leopard frog tadpoles.”
“I want a dart frog,” Maya said firmly. “A blue dart frog.”
I could forgive Dave for looking a little exasperated, since it was the third time she had said that.
“We have blue dart frogs. We do not have dart frog tadpoles. If you want a dart frog tadpole, I can order it for you. It should be here in about two weeks.”
Maya’s lower lip trembled. “It has to be today.”
“Look, kid, I told you. I have leopard tadpoles and I have blue dart frogs.”
“I want a dart tadpole.”
“Then I can order it for you. Two weeks.”
“It has to be today. It has to be today. It has to be today,” she chanted.
Shit, she was in a loop. Janie had warned me about this. Getting stuck in a loop could lead to a meltdown. Janie had given me a few tips on how to interrupt the cycle, and I’d watched her put those into action once last week. I’ve got this.
“Dave,” I said, and it took him a beat to respond. Yeah, that definitely wasn’t his name. “Give us a minute.”
Looking relieved, Not-Dave disappeared toward the saltwater fish.
I spun to face Maya and dropped down to her level. “Maya.” I squeezed her shoulders gently to pull her focus to me. I’d left her fidget toy in the car—a mistake I wouldn’t make again. “Seven deep breaths. A color for each breath.”
She breathed. “Red.” Another breath. “Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue.” Her gaze shifted to the frogs and I quickly squeezed her shoulders again. “Indigo.” One more. “Violet.”
“Okay. Now, we have two options. You can have a leopard tadpole today, or a dart tadpole in two weeks. If you don’t decide in the next twenty seconds, we go home. Maybe your mom can help you decide.”
She stilled. Her gaze went sideways. “Leopard tadpole today.”
Well, that was easy. Too easy? Nah, I was overthinking it. I straightened. “Great. Let’s get your amphibian.”
The tadpole aquarium was set up and I had dinner ready to plate up by the time Janie got home from work.
She paused in the doorway of the kitchen like she didn’t want to intrude. “You don’t have to do that,” she said.
“I had time, so I figured I might as well. You want something to drink? Wine? A beer?” I asked over my shoulder as I scooped enchiladas onto plates.
“Water.” She made a face. “Something about working at a bar makes alcohol less appealing. I still like to drink every now and then, but it’s not how I unwind at the end of the day.”
I handed a plate to Maya to take to the table. “Yeah? How do you unwind?”
“Mostly it’s a mug of chamomile tea. Sometimes I’ll read in bed for a while. If I’m really keyed up, I like to sketch.” She took the next plate from me and set it down across from Maya. “So how was your first full day?”
I grinned at Maya as I took the seat next to her. “It was really good, right, Maya? This summer is going to be awesome. We’re going to learn so much about frogs.”
Maya’s eyes went wide. “Tomorrow we’re going to the library to get books,” she said quickly. “That’s how we’re going to learn about frogs.”
The way Janie’s head whipped toward Maya, I knew something was amiss. “Sure, but we’re also going to witness metamorphosis firsthand, right? Tadpoles to frogs.”
Eyes closed, Janie pinched the bridge of her nose and pulled in a deep breath through her mouth. I had the feeling she was counting to ten. “How, exactly, do you plan to do that?”
My gaze darted from Janie to Maya and back again. What the hell was going on here? “Maya’s summer project. We drove out to Denver to pick up the aquarium and tadpoles. It’s all set up in her bedroom.”
Janie’s eyelids flew open and she stared daggers at her child. “Maya. I said no.”
My mouth dropped open as I turned to Maya. “You tricked me?” I sounded shocked because I was. This sweet little girl with the mismatched eyes and the big heart had fucking tricked me? Assets trained in espionage couldn’t trick me, but Maya had slipped right past my all my defenses.
Maya blinked rapidly. “You didn’t say no, Mother. You said you couldn’t keep another thing alive because you had your hands full with me and you. But Jack is here—”
“I said no,” Janie interrupted sharply. “That should have been enough.”
“I thought it would be okay!” Maya’s eyes were big and suspiciously shiny.
“You tricked me, Maya,” I said. “That is not okay. Now I can’t trust you, and your mom can’t trust me. She might even think I’m not responsible enough to take care of a seven year old.”
Maya’s lower lip trembled as she spun to her mother. “It’s not his fault.”
Janie twitched slightly as she rolled her lips together. Mad as hell but still struggling to hold back a laugh. “He should have known better.” She cut me a disappointed look. “Seriously, Jack, you didn’t think to call me?”
“It never occurred to me,” I admitted. Rookie mistake, but shit. She’d lied right to my fucking face. The kid had zero tells. Janie couldn’t lie to save her life, but apparently that trait wasn’t genetic.
“I’m sorry,” Maya said, not sounding all that sorry. Her furtive glance shifted between us. “But we can’t return the tadpoles. The store said so. And you can’t flush them down the toilet because you’d feel bad.”
This kid actually thought she had me. Like hell was I going to be bested by a seven-year-old. “I’m sad, Maya. I was really looking forward to this project, but now it won’t be fun. Since we can’t return the tadpoles, they have to stay in my room now.”
From the devastated look on Maya’s face, this was a punishment she hadn’t considered. “For how long?”
“Until your mother thinks we can trust you again.”
Maya gasped. “But I lie a lot.”
“Then I guess the tadpoles are mine forever.” I cut into my chicken with feigned nonchalance. “I think I’ll name them Thing One and Thing Two.”
A suspicious sound from Janie made me glance her way. She had a hand over her face, hiding behind it. It took a moment, but she regained her composure. “Eat your dinner, Maya.”
Maya ate her dinner, pouting the whole time.
Neither Janie nor I paid her any mind. We kept a light conversation going about everything except tadpoles.
The second Maya jumped up from the table and rushed to her room—to say goodbye to the tadpoles, I figured—Janie put down her fork and buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
“It’s not funny, Janie. She told me she didn’t want to make you drive out to Denver on your day off because you were so tired. I thought she was the sweetest kid I’d ever met.” I was actually mortified.
Janie snorted. “Yeah, Jack. You got played.” She dissolved into giggles again but fought her way through it to drive home her point. “Mr. Special Forces got played by a little girl.”
God, she was pretty like this. Cheeks pink, eyes sparkling. I couldn’t even be offended that she was laughing at my expense. “Well, if you’re laughing, that means you’re not going to fire me, right?”
“I’m not going to fire you.” Her expression turned serious as she considered me. “You’re not going to quit, are you? She’s a good kid. Lying is a phase most kids go through. She’s not mean or vindictive. She’s just…” Her voice trailed off as she searched for the word.
“Cunning,” I supplied. “No, I’m not going to quit. I like cunning. It keeps things interesting.” I rubbed my hands together.
Janie rolled her eyes. “Famous last words, I guess.” Her smile was quick and bright. “She’s going to drive you crazy this summer. A good kind of crazy, I hope, but still crazy.”
Just like her mom.
“Bring it,” I said. “I’m ready.”