Page 22 of Firefighter Midlife Wolf

“Uh, let’s…” Jessica pointed toward the kitchen door.

“After you.” He pushed it open, cursing fate all over again for being such a tease.

“Mom, look!” Paige said excitedly as they entered the living room.

Jack was there in his hospital bed, as usual. Paige and Ellie were on either side of him, and the blanket that covered his lap was spread with all sorts of makeup compacts, lipstick tubes, brushes, and hair ties.

“We gave Jack a makeover,” Ellie giggled. “Isn’t he beautiful?”

Hayden pressed his lips together to keep himself from exploding with laughter. His son’s face had been thoroughly painted, complete with two bright spots of blush and brilliant pink lipstick. Jack’s long dark hair had been pulled up into two pigtails.

“What?” Jack asked, batting his eyes so the glittery blue eyeshadow stood out. “Don’t you think I’m beautiful, Dad?”

There was no holding back anymore. He laughed so hard he nearly fell over. Jessica was doing the same, and she reached for his arm as support.

As serious as ever, Jack turned to Ellie. “I must need more eyeliner.”

Tears washed over his eyes. Hayden couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed this hard. This was his Jack. This was the boy who wasn’t afraid to go the extra mile just to make his sister happy, the one who knew how to goof around and didn’t take himself too seriously.

The kids were laughing right along with the adults, and Hayden’s tears of laughter threatened to turn into ones of joy. Jack was going to be all right. He was having some difficulty, and one evening of fun wouldn’t rid him of all that was bringing him down, but he hadn’t gone so far that he couldn’t be brought back.

“Dad, should we do you next?” Ellie waggled an eyeshadow brush in the air.

“No, thank you,” he replied with a grin. “Maybe another time. I think we’ve infringed on Jessica and Paige’s time too much already tonight. We’d better let them get on with their evening.”

“Awwww.” Both girls frowned and sagged their shoulders. Then they looked at each other and giggled.

Hayden felt much the same way. It was easy to imagine they could carry on this way, with him and Jessica exploring what they had together and the kids having a good time. But they weren’t a family. That kiss hadn’t changed their situation. He’d have to decide how to deal with his fated connection to Jessica, but not now. He had time.

11

“Is that everything?” Jessica set down the bags she’d brought in from the car and turned around to look at Paige, who’d just brought in an armload herself.

The work didn’t bother her, though. She was grinning from ear to ear. “I’ll go check the car!”

“Thanks. I’m going to throw something together for dinner. How about tacos?”

“Yes!” Paige ran out the door.

Jessica smiled to herself as she went into the kitchen and found the ground beef she’d defrosted earlier. She’d probably spent far too much money and definitely should’ve said no at some point, but she couldn’t help it. The divorce had created so much tension in the household they’d shared with Brandon, and Jessica knew it’d taken its toll on both herself and her daughter. They were having such a blast as they went from store to store, trying new perfumes, looking at new hair tools, and stopping for smoothies. Jessica hadn’t wanted it to end. Her savings account might not get its usual deposit this month, but every now and then, it was worth it.

“Just one last one we missed.” Paige held up the tiny bag containing a pair of dangly earrings she’d fallen in love with. “I can’t wait to show these to my friends.”

“I have a feeling there are quite a few things in that pile you feel that way about. Maybe we need to schedule a sleepover sometime.” Jessica dug in the cabinet for the taco seasoning. It was getting a little low, but she had enough for tonight.

“Oh, that’d be great! Wait, do we have enough room?” Paige looked behind her at the living room.

Jessica frowned into the cabinet as she pulled out a can of diced green chiles. Paige definitely had some benefits when they’d still lived with Brandon. One of them had been the large, finished basement she’d used for such an occasion as a sleepover. Jessica knew Paige’s life wouldn’t be over if she didn’t get to do that anymore since she didn’t think Brandon would agree to tackle a group of screaming girls by himself, but she still felt bad. “Oh, sure we do. We can push the dining table up against the wall and use it like a buffet table for all your snacks, and then there’s plenty of room for sleeping bags.”

A simple solution was enough. “Yes! That’d be perfect! Do you need any help?” Even as she asked, Paige was diving into the shopping bags.

“No, that’s all right. I’m just chopping the veggies while the meat cooks. Do you want tomatoes?”

Paige found her new curling iron and took it out of the box. “Yes, please.”

“I had a good time with you today, but just so you know, we can’t go nuts like this all the time.” Jessica hated to even say it, not wanting to spoil the moment, but neither did she want to spoil her daughter. Or at least, not too much.

“I know. I didn’t even realize we got so much stuff until now. I really do appreciate it, Mom. That was so much fun, and I can’t wait to try this all out.” Paige set the curling iron aside and unpacked several bottles of various hair products. She lined them up in a neat row on the breakfast bar, still smiling.

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