Page 40 of Wanting You

“Hey, Jade,” Chloe murmured.

“Billie, I just got the email that the new mixers are coming next week! That’s a month sooner than we were expecting! Isn’t that great!”

“That’s awesome! Oh, I can’t wait to use them and…”

Chloe tuned them out and gave Tanner an apologetic smile before leaning over slightly. “Maybe we should have stayed at the school.”

He waved her off. “It’s not a big deal. I’m sure they’re eager to head home after a long day and we’ll be able to work on our stuff.”

“Mom! Mom! Grandma said I could have two snickerdoodles because I got an A on my math test!”

Yup, Jade’s son Silas ran over to join them now too.

“Great job, buddy!” Jade said as she hugged him.

“Hey, Aunt Chloe! Check it out, I got an A on my math test! And you know how much I hate math!”

“I know you do,” she said with amusement. “But you’re a natural at it. I’m proud of you!”

“Thanks!” And then he ran off.

“What are you guys up to?” Jade asked them. “We’re not interrupting anything, are we?”

“Well, um…we need to go over a unit we’re starting next week,” Chloe began. “I thought this would be a good and quiet place to do it, but…”

“Oh, this time of day is usually chaos,” Billie explained. “Once all the schools let out and the cars are through with carpool, a lot of the families stop here for a snack and to get a jump on homework. You would have been better off staying at the school.”

Note to self…remember that.

“Anyway, I need to go. I’m heading up to the hospital to see Mom. I’m going to stop at home first. I’ve got a pot roast cooking in the slow cooker that I’m going to bring up and share with her. She hates the hospital food. I’ll talk to you over the weekend!” Waving, she turned and walked away.

“I don’t know how she does it all,” Jade said with a sigh. “Or when she sleeps. It’s crazy how much she does every day. Levi and I really worry about her.”

Chloe nodded before taking a sip of her tea.

“Who do we worry about?” Levi asked as he came up behind Jade and kissed her on the cheek.

You have got to be kidding me! Chloe quietly fumed.

“Hey, kiddo,” he said as he stepped over and kissed her too. “How’s school going?”

Rather than be annoyed that she and Tanner were clearly never going to be alone to talk about anything, she simply smiled at her brother and told him how much she was enjoying her new class. Then he asked Tanner the same thing and he replied the same way.

“You guys are genuine heroes,” Levi told them. “I have trouble doing homework with just Silas every night. I don’t know how you do it all day, every day, with so many kids.” Laughing, he shook his head. “All I’m saying is that I’m thankful for teachers.”

“Yes, we know, honey,” Jade said with a grin as she patted his arm. “Now how about we take our boy out for pizza? He got an A on his math test!”

“That’s amazing! Let’s do it!” Smiling at Tanner and Chloe, he wished them a good night as Jade waved and did the same.

Chloe let out a long breath. “I think that should be all of my siblings,” she said with a weak smile. “I’m so sorry. I know we’re a lot.”

“Nah, I think it’s awesome. I’d like to think if my brother were still alive, we’d want to hang out whenever we ran into each other.” He took a sip of his coffee, and all Chloe wanted to do was hug him. As much as she was just majorly annoyed by her family, she was incredibly thankful for them.

“Mr. Westyn! Look! My mom bought me the pug book that we read today in class!”

Both she and Tanner smiled at the little girl who ran over to their table.

“That’s great, Evie! Are you going to read it to your mom?”

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