Page 3 of Jaime's Story

The combination of the messy hair and full-on scruff looks so odd because he went from boy to man about two years ago for sure. Before that, he looked boyish at his graduation from college, but when he started working at the family’s construction company the boyishness went away and left behind a man that had women panting after him again. Which only made him run further faster.

“I’ve been buried in growth estimates for Serena and Jamison’s new line for the last three weeks so give me a break,” he grumbles heading straight for the fridge.

“And you’re here raiding the fridge instead of at your place on a Thursday night because?” Jillian leads with as he pushes things around, a loud grumble coming from him.

“I ran out of meals, and I didn’t want to go out anywhere,” he says looking back at us.

“Oh you poor, poor baby,” Jillian teases him as he shuts the fridge in annoyance when there’s nothing quick and easy he can grab and toss in the microwave or oven.

“Honestly, you need to either hire a cook or get married, because you are ten times worse than Johnnie and Jude ever were in the kitchen,” I add, pulling a dark look from him at the word married. “Why didn’t you just order delivery?”

“Because then they’d have my address and if it’s some crazy woman that’s the last thing I want,” he grouses, stealing a carrot before snapping it in half with an irritated crunch. “Mom already made dinner, didn’t she?”

“Yup and she’s with someone right now, so you won’t get any sympathy from her at the moment,” Jillian warns.

He mutters something under his breath with a pathetic look on his face, and I shake my head as I fight a smile. Going to grab eggs, bacon, and butter from the fridge. “Whatcha making?”

“An omelet. I didn’t get out of the office until seven, so I missed dinner as well.”

“Ooohh, can you do fluffy sheet eggs? We can make little pancakes to make a sandwich with them then instead,” Jillian suggests, and I can’t stop my laughter this time. “What?”

“I don’t know how you’re so tiny in every way, yet you can out eat the boys,” I tease her, giving her a hug when she flushes a bit. “I love that you can, I just don’t know where you put it.”

“She burns off all the calories jabbering,” Jeffery says earning a smack to the face courtesy of the strawberry Jillian threw at him.

“Serves you right,” I state when he looks to me for help while I preheat the oven and mix up a batch of eggs.

They’re in the oven nearly done, the bacon cooked, and I have a stack of small sized pancakes when Mom and Maia come into the room. Mom immediately smiles seeing her baby boy is here. Not that she has favorites, but since Jeffery is the youngest boy, he’s her baby boy, just like Jillian and I are her baby girls.

He has his back to the door and doesn’t see them come in while he watches me finish another set of pancakes. “You know what sounds better than breakfast sandwiches?”

“Seriously?” Jillian snorts staring hard at him. “The food is almost done and now you want something different?”

“Crepes,” he says, and I roll my eyes because the boy is obsessed with the things but it’s definitely not something I can make. I always burn them or make them too thick.

“Then you can order them the next time you go out,” Jillian states.

“She’s right,” Mom agrees, and I smirk a bit at his pouting. He pulls it back when he spies Maia, his jaw tightening a bit and I’m not about to let him upset her. It looks like she’s been crying already. She doesn’t need Jeffery biting her head off on top of it for nothing more than being a female. “We Cartwright women do not make crepes. Not even for you, honey.”

“This is Maia,” I tell Jillian mostly as Jeffery just stares hard at her and Mom. “Maia, this is Jillian, the baby of the family, and Jeffery, the baby brother. I came between them.”

“Nice to meet you Maia. Hope you’re hungry because we don’t know how to cook for a small group,” Jillian says, making Maia blush a bit.

“I missed dinner because I was working late. Jeffery ran out of Mom’s heat and eat meals. Jillian’s on her second dinner,” I add giving her a wink when it makes Maia relax and lose her blush.

“Maia’s going to be staying with us for a bit,” Mom tells us, and I fight back a laugh as my eyes meet Jillian’s because neither of us are shocked by it in the least. “You’ll have to forgive Jeffery, he doesn’t always look like a wild bear.”

“Just acts like one, and just to warn you, it’s Jeffery, not Jeff. Heaven forbid you shorten his name to make it easier to get his attention,” Jillian adds turning the tips of his ears red, and I can’t stop the laugh that hits this time. “The rest of us aren’t bothered by it. So, you can call me Jill and I’ll still respond, but if you call out ‘Jay’ when the family’s here, you’ll get both Jaime and our brother Jamison’s attention.”

“Where’s Dad?” Jeffery asks as his eyes run over Maia again and I know he’s curious about her, especially about her staying here.

“He’s waiting for the detective Chief Davidson sent out to get a statement we can add to our request for emergency guardianship of Maia,” Mom tells him, giving Maia a gentle squeeze as her head dips slightly.

“Well, how about we eat before that?” I suggest taking the eggs out while Jillian grabs plates and forks.

We’re only at the table for a couple minutes when Dad comes in with a man who’s almost his size—an inch shorter him at the most. His dark green eyes draw me in and everything inside me wakes causing me to nearly choke on my bite of food. It tastes like sawdust while I’m suddenly craving a long drink of the newcomer’s lips, which is completely not me.

“Breathe girl,” Jillian whispers into my ear pulling my attention to her. The tightness in my chest eases even though her little smirk says my reaction was noticeable. At least to her.

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