Chapter 4
Four
“ I know a good mommy for me.”
The pancake slipped off the spatula and unceremoniously flopped onto the counter top. John picked it up with his fingers and threw it at the plate next to the griddle. Shit, it was hot!
“Oh, you do?” He shoved one of the pancakes that had been sitting on the plate cooling off into his mouth. Breakfast wasn’t really his forte, but they had turned out okay. At least they weren’t burnt. A nice steak on the grill, now that he could handle.
His brother, Jackson, had invited him and Katy to tag along with his family that morning to the farmer’s market, and John had wanted to start the day out with something special for Katy. Now, ten heart-shaped blobs were stacked tall on the plate in front of him.
He tried to answer Katy with no emotion, but his heart was breaking for his little girl who so longed to have that love in her life. Sure, there was a part of him that had tried to be ready for that phase. The one with princesses who had tea parties, or little ballerinas who danced in the living room with their moms. But there was another part of him that hoped it was still a few years away. His baby was hurting. Yearning for something he was failing to give her.
“Ms. Abby.”
John choked on his pancake. He grabbed his glass of orange juice off the table and took a big gulp.
“Why do you think that, sweetheart?”
“She’s so nice. I be line leader. Color wif my fwends. She has mermaid ducktakes for class!”
“I’m glad you got to have cupcakes with her, but Ms. Abby and Daddy are just friends.”
“Right! She has princess eyes.”
“Princess eyes?”
“Mhm,” Katy smiled. “When Uncle Jackson sees Aunt Gracie, she has princess eyes.”
His daughter opened her eyes wide and smiled, fluttering her eyelashes at him.
“Eat your breakfast, kid. You’re killing me. We still need to do your hair before we leave for the farmer’s market.”
“Piggy tails!”
“Yeah, I think I can manage those this morning.”
The doorbell rang and John looked at his watch. Shit. He was already running behind.
“I get it!”
“Katy, sit on your butt and eat your breakfast. It’s just Uncle Jackson and Aunt Grace.”
“And Jack Jack.” Katy added as he got up from the table.
“Yes. I’m sure they have Jack Attack with them, too.”
“Hey.” Grace looked him up and down and smiled as he held open the door for her. “Running behind this morning?”
“Aren’t we always?”
“Definitely harder getting out the door with kids. I hate being late, but this little goober seems to only ruin his outfits when we have somewhere we have to be at a certain time.”
John’s nephew gave him a big smile, complete with his five adorable teeth and tons of drool.
“God, he’s getting so big.” John held out his hands to Grace and she passed her baby right over to him. “Hey Jack, are you ready for a fun day at the market?”
“I’m sure he’ll be happy to flirt with Emma. She’s currently his favorite person,” Grace said as she walked towards the kitchen.
“That’s my boy. Already got all the ladies falling for him.” Jackson smacked John on the shoulder.
“Yeah, he clearly takes after his Uncle Johnny.”
Jackson rolled his eyes. “If that were the case, I think you’d be dating a certain school teacher you can’t stop talking about.”
“What the hell is going on today?”
“What?”
“Katy told me a few minutes ago that she knows who would make a great mommy.”
“Let me guess. Ms. Abby?”
“Bingo.”
“She’s probably seen the two of you shooting love eyes at each other during pickup.”
“Or, Abby is her teacher and she sees how kind and incredible she is.”
“Kind and incredible, hmm?”
“Fuck off.”
Jackson laughed. “Don’t let my wife hear you saying those naughty words around our innocent son. She’s got a swear jar and about a hundred dollars from me in it already.”
“Wait… is the money for Jack or for Grace?”
“You know, I’m not sure.”
“Hey! I’m going to do Katy’s hair and then I think the kids should be ready to go,” Grace yelled from the kitchen.
“Perfect. Thanks, Grace.” He turned towards his brother. “At least my sister-in-law isn’t being a royal pain in my ass over my dating life. I’m about to make Jordan my favorite brother.”
“Don’t hate me for telling you the truth. You’ve been stuck on Abby since all that shit went down with Emma and Marco. It’s time, man. Make a move, or let it go. Just do something.”
“There’s my favorite boy!” Abby looked over to Daisy’s booth at the Bell Ridge farmer’s market as Emma’s exclamation filled the air. Her eyes scanned the crowd. Grace was there, handing her son over to Emma. Where Grace was she knew she’d find… Jackson. And right beside Jackson was the reason she found herself ducking down to organize the coolers holding the cuts of meat she was trying to help Sam sell that morning.
“Abby? What the heck are you doing?” Sam asked as she frantically started stacking the last few packages of ground beef they had.
“I’m fixing the coolers. All the cuts are mixed up because you just grab things willy-nilly for customers.”
“Okay… you think you can take over here for me? I’m not expecting many more sales, but Derrick sent me a text saying he needs me to call, so something must be going on back at the ranch.”
“Yeah, go ahead. I got this.”
She turned back to the task at hand, and after only a few minutes she’d been able to put two empty coolers into the back of the ranch truck. All that was left was to put a few of the frozen porterhouse cuts back into the cooler that was out for customers.
“Ms. Abby! Whatcha doin’?”
She knew exactly who that little voice belonged to. Looking up, she saw John smiling down at her, Katy perched on his shoulders.
“Hi, Katy. Are you having a good weekend?”
“Yes! My daddy make pantakes and do my hair in piggy tails. They’re my favewit!”
“I can see that. You look so beautiful, and I bet the pancakes were extra yummy.”
“Daddy made too many. I said we should share them wif you!”
“Katy. Remember what we talked about?” John reached up and pulled Katy off his shoulders.
“You and Ms. Abby are fwends. Fwends share food, Daddy!”
“Come on, Katy.” Grace smiled. “Let’s see if we can’t find you and Jack Jack a cupcake to share from Aunt Emma.”
“Ducktake! Ducktake! Bye, Daddy.”
“Bye, Trouble.”
“That’s not my name!”
“It should be,” John mumbled under his breath. “Sorry about that.”
“About what?” Abby stood up from the cooler. “Katy’s the best. And it sounds like you two have already had a very exciting morning.”
“She’s really giving me a run for my money these days.”
“That’s her job as a four year old.”
“So true.” John looked at the price sheet she’d placed out for the farmer’s market. “Where’s Sam? I can’t remember the last time he wasn’t here.”
“Oh, he’s here. Had to take a call from one of the guys at the ranch. I can help you if there’s something you want to order? Or we have a few cuts left in our coolers if you want to take something home today.”
“Hm. I’m not a great cook, but Jackson and I were thinking about grilling tonight.”
“That’s nice. I bet it’s fun to spend time with your nephew.”
“Yeah, it’s the best. It’s fun for Katy to have someone to play with now, too.”
“I really wish Sam would settle down. I’m never going to get nieces or nephews at the rate he’s going.”
“You don’t get sick of the craziness from teaching?”
“No. I love it! I mean, I’d rather be home with my own kids one day, but for now, I love teaching. Kids are so pure at Katy’s age. They still want cuddles and to be seen as good friends. Honestly, I think the teachers with kids any older than ten are the ones who need to be checked on.”
“True.” John’s eyes darted down to the cooler. Right. She was supposed to be helping him pick out what cuts he wanted, not rambling on.
“So, did you and Jackson have a cut in mind that you wanted to cook tonight?”
“Nah, we’re not picky. Maybe some New York Strips if you have them?”
“I just so happen to have a few left. How many do you need?”
“Four. Unless,” John paused. “You should come hang out.”
Her eyes jumped up from the cooler.
“I mean, you and Sam. It’s been a long time since we saw him.”
Oh, that made more sense. She felt her heart sink a little as she realized it was a pity ask. John wanted to see Sam, and she was the little sister tag along.
“I’ll definitely pass the invite along to Sam. I’m not sure what’s going on at the ranch, but if it’s anything serious, he’ll probably be tied up.”
“Oh. And you?”
“I don’t want to intrude on your family time.” She slid four packages across the table.
“You wouldn’t be intruding.” His hand raised to his neck and he rubbed it back and forth. Nervously? The idea that John would be nervous talking to her made Abby want to burst out laughing. So, no. That couldn’t be it. Maybe she was making things awkward. “I could give you my number and you could just text me later if it works for you.”
“Oh, that sounds good. But I have Grace’s number, I’ll text her if I’m able to. That way I don’t have to bother you.”
John’s face fell as she passed over the bag with his steaks in it. “Right, okay. That sounds good. Here you go.” He handed her the cash to pay for the steaks. “Have Sam text me if he’s going to make it. See you later, Abby.”
“Yeah. Maybe. See you soon.”
John turned, grabbing the bag off the table, and walked towards Katy, whose entire face was covered in pink frosting.
“So?” Grace asked as John caught back up with their group.
“What?”
“How did that go?”
“Jesus. What did Jackson tell you?”
“Hey, man. I didn’t say anything. You’re just pretty fuc?—”
“Jackson! Our son and niece are right here!”
“Sorry.” He cringed and started again. “You’re just pretty freaking obvious. Did you ask her out?”
“No. I asked if she wanted to come back and hang out while we grilled. Actually, I asked if Sam wanted to come, too. Figured she’d be more comfortable if it was just like a friend’s hangout.”
“How the hell did you used to be the player in the family? Did having Katy just take away every bit of romantic sense you used to have?”
“No. Actually, yeah. I just feel so off balance when I’m around her. Did I mess up?”
“She probably thinks you were trying to hang out with Sam and just invited her along as a pity thing,” Grace said as she bounced Jack on her hip.
“What? No. I invited her first. And I tried to give her my number, but she already had yours and refused to take it.”
“Do you want me to talk to her? I can go make sure she knows you want her to come over.”
“I would rather put fire ants down my pants, Grace. But thanks for the offer.”