Page 35 of Trouble Comes in Threes

“No, I’m fine. I can do it on my own. We’re going to put a stop to this, so we’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” I said, feeling relieved. “I’ll pick up the kids and work on the design for the earlier consultation at home.”

“Work on it tomorrow,” she said. “Enjoy the afternoon with the kids.”

I started to protest, then I decided she was right. I was going to take them home and just be with them.

“Are you going to tell Joe?” she asked.

I drew in a breath. “I don’t know.” I hesitated. “I don’t want to keep secrets from him, but I don’t want to worry him. Besides, there’s nothing he can do. It’s just a vision.” I turned to face her. “Are you going to tell Jed?”

“If you don’t tell Joe, then no. But I don’t want him hearing about it from Joe either.”

“Let’s see what’s in the box, then decide.”

“Okay.” She shifted in her seat. “You’re sure you don’t want to come with me to open it?”

“No. Just tell me what you find.”

“Okay.”

She dropped me at the office, and I grabbed my stuff and headed to the daycare to pick up the kids. The elementary bus had just dropped off the older kids, so I grabbed Ashley and Mikey before they’d checked in and picked up the little kids. We stopped for ice cream cones and ate inside the restaurant while the windows became coated with drizzle. I tried to find out how Ashley’s day had gone and get some details about her breakfast with Joe, but all she’d say was that she’d enjoyed spending one-on-one time with Joe, there’d been a substitute teacher, and the kids had been fine. I could tell there was more bothering her, but she was adamant about not talking about it, so I gave up, figuring I’d find out more about the breakfast part from Joe later. After we finished our ice cream—Liam, of course, was a sticky mess—and we headed home.

Ashley helped me make dinner—a chicken and noodle casserole—then she and Mikey worked on their homework while Hope, Liam, and Muffy played in the living room. Neely Kate still hadn’t called to tell me what was inside the box, and it took everything in me not to call or text her. She probably hadn’t had time to get to it yet.

Joe had texted while we were eating ice cream to say he’d be home around five-thirty, but he walked through the door a few minutes after six, right as the timer was going off for the casserole to come out of the oven. “Perfect timing,” I said as I opened the door, pulled the casserole dish out, and set it on the stove burners.

He walked over with a sheepish look and gave me a kiss. “Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s okay. Did something come up?”

Grimacing, he shot a glance at the kids and lifted his brow.

He didn’t want to talk about it in front of them.

“Should I be worried?” I whispered. My vision was fresh on my mind.

He kissed me again. “Nah, but…”

It wasn’t something he wanted them to know about.

The kids were excited to see Joe, and he scooped them up one by one and showered them with kisses, then told them to wash their hands for dinner while he ran upstairs to change out of his uniform.

Hope and Liam were too little to take part fully, but we still liked to go around the table and talk about our days. Ashley was usually chatty, but tonight, she was subdued and told us a few facts about her day without saying anything of substance. Mikey made up for her lack of enthusiasm, telling us how he’d convinced his friends to play soccer at recess instead of kickball, but to his dismay, they’d had an indoor recess because of the rain. He followed up by telling Joe about getting ice cream before we came home.

“Was there some kind of celebration?” Joe asked.

“No!” Mikey exclaimed. “Aunt Rose said it was just because! She’s the best!”

Joe gave me a warm smile before returning his attention to our nephew. “She sure is.”

When it was Hope’s turn, a huge grin lit up her face. “I colowed with mawkas and made lots of Ts.”

“Ts?” Joe asked. “Like golf tees or iced tea?”

“No, silwy.” She covered her mouth with a giggle. “The letta T. I colowed twees and tuwtles green. Miss Mandy let us use mawkas, Daddy!”

“Markers!” Joe exclaimed, pretending to be shocked. “You don’t say!”

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