“I think he’s pretty special too.” Maisy responds, earning a chuckle and a kiss on the cheek from her dad.
I’m not sure if it’s my imagination or not, but I think I hear a sigh from one of the women.
“Judge says you’ll be staying in Malus,” Gillian directs at me. “Let any of us know if you need anything. We’d love to show you around. Maybe take Maisy and we all get mani-pedis.”
I nod. “That would be nice. Thank you.”
After I find out exactly who these women are to Judge, that is.
“How did you get here? You should have called; I would have grabbed you from the airport.”
“But then it wouldn’t have been a surprise,” Maisy states matter-of-factly.
“I rented a car. It’s due back in San Antonio in a few days,” I answer.
“I’ll take you. And I’ll call tomorrow to move up the date for the movers.”
“No need. Declan said he’ll pack up and drive our stuff down. He’s going to tow my car behind the truck.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” I pull Maisy’s shirt down where it’s ridden up in the back. “It’ll give us the chance to see him again.”
He tips his chin in agreement. “I’m sure you’re both tired from the flight. Let’s get you home. Not to mention, if we don’t get out of here now, we’ll have more company to deal with than you need right now.”
Not my home, but his home. And I guess Maisy’s now too. I’ll start my search next week to find a job. The sooner I find one, the sooner I can get my own place, the sooner the temptation of Judge will turn into a part-time struggle instead of the full-time one I know I’m going to be facing.
He turns back to the women and says something low enough that I can’t hear. I don’t worry about it, because he still has Maisy in his arms. He wouldn’t say anything that would bother me with her in hearing range.
Pulling his wallet from his back pocket, he tosses some bills down on the table.
I give the women a small wave, and they smile and wave back. Judge puts Maisy down, but grabs her hand. He places his other hand at the small of my back and steers me to the door. We just pass the threshold when he stops.
“Damn it.” His eyes shoot down to Maisy. “You didn’t hear that.”
She giggles. “I did hear it.” She looks at me. “We’re going to need to start a swear jar.” Her head swings back to Judge. “We had one at home. Anytime Uncle Declan or Momma said a swear word, they had to put money in the jar. At the end of the week, they gave the money to me.”
He chuckles as he slips his phone from his pocket. “I’m afraid you’re going to be rich before your sixteenth birthday.”
She pats his hand. “You’ll get better at it.”
Judge taps something on his phone before pocketing it again.
“I’ve bought us until tomorrow. I’m sure you don’t want to be bombarded with meeting a lot of people, but there’s no way I can’t hold off Mae longer than tomorrow. And I’m sure she’ll invite my brothers and their women.”
We come to a stop between our cars. “It’s okay. I know Maisy will love meeting everyone. She’s only had me and Declan for a long time.”
“I get to meet Grandma tomorrow?” she asks enthusiastically.
“You do. She’s very anxious to meet you,” he answers. He opens her door and waits for her to climb into the back seat.
“I can’t wait to meet her. Maybe she can teach me to make cookies.” She leans toward Judge and lowers her voice. I nearly choke on a laugh when she faux whispers, “Mom’s cookies aren’t that great, so I never asked her to teach me.”
Judge’s amused gaze meets mine as he says, “They weren’t that great when your mom and I knew each other before either.”
I roll my eyes, but I can’t keep my lips from twitching. I have to agree with them. My homemade cookies do suck.
“I know Mae will love to teach you. And her’s are the best. She makes good blueberry muffins too.”