Page 104 of Renewal After Dark

“Oh my God. I didn’t want him to just blurt that out.”

“Why not?” he asked. “You need help, and my mom is right there. Now you’re all set.”

“What am I going to do with him?” Kelsey asked.

“He’s always been unmanageable,” Sarah said. “It’s a baby-of-the-family thing.”

“Hey! That’s not true.”

“Oh please,” Sarah said. “You had every one of us wrapped around your little finger from the minute you were born.”

“It’s not my fault I was impossibly cute.”

“Yes, you sure were, and you still are.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re thankful I didn’t die.”

“That’s right. And, Kelsey, honey, anything you need, just let me know. You’re part of our family now.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Grandchamp. It’s really nice of you to say that.”

“My name is Sarah, and I mean it. You’re family. It would be my pleasure to help you with your hair.”

“I’m a mess today,” Kelsey said as new tears leaked from her eyes.

“What else happened?”

“Mr. McCarthy, Big Mac, deposited a shit-ton of money into both our accounts,” Jeff told his mother.

“Oh wow. How lovely of him!”

“That’s what I said, too. Kels thought it was too much.”

“It’s way too much,” Kelsey said.

“Things like this can get crazy expensive very quickly. Charlie asked me this morning if you kids were doing okay for money. I was going to try to find a way to bring that up with you today.”

“It’s so nice of him to think of that,” Jeff said.

“Just like Kelsey is family to me, you’re family to him. That’s how this works.”

“Kinda nice to have a dad who cares. That’s a first.”

“You definitely have a dad who cares now.”

Kelsey reached for his hand. “We have a lot of people who care.”

“We sure do.”

Chapter22

By the time McKenzie brought Jax home to nap that afternoon, she had three new clients. Laura had texted her to say that Stephanie McCarthy, owner of Stephanie’s Bistro, as well as the woman covering for Abby McCarthy at Abby’s Attic 2, were both interested in retaining her bookkeeping services.

She’d no sooner put Jax down to play with his toys than the phone rang with a call from Martinez Lawn & Garden.

“Hello, this is McKenzie.”

“Ah, yes, the goddess of bookkeeping who’s come to our fair shores to save us all from ourselves.”

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