Page 8 of Jag

Yeah, one more item for me to analyze later when I was alone.

“Not at all. She is so cute and funny. I bet she’s a handful. How old is she?”

“Five, going on twenty.” Sami laughed. “And you are being kind. The girl is nosey, and she doesn’t understand boundaries. Nor does she have any type of filter on what comes out of her mouth.”

“You don’t find many her age who do. Will she be in kindergarten this year?” I asked. Small talk I could do, it was the whole making of new friends that was foreign to me. One more thing to change.

“Yes. She recently finished preschool and is out for the summer. But she is looking forward to being inrealschool as she calls it.” Sami rolled her eyes, and I chuckled.

“Well, I’m glad she is looking forward to it. It will make my job a lot easier. That is if she is in my class. I’m the new kindergarten teacher at Shades Valley Elementary. I’m replacing Mrs. Staples who retired at the end of this school year. At least that was what I was told when they hired me.” I smiled, and Sami nodded.

“Yes, when we received the letter about pre-registration for Ally, it mentioned her retirement along with the hiring of her replacement. They didn’t give a name, though. So, congratulations.”

“Thank you. I’m looking forward to finally using my teaching degree.”

“I’m surprised you would move from the east coast to the west coast for a teaching position. Were there not any openings at schools in your area in Connecticut? That’s where you are from, right? I can’t imagine moving across the country. You must have—” Sami abruptly stopped mid-sentence, then grinned sheepishly as her daughter had previously done. “God, River, I’m so sorry. Feel free to ignore everything I said. Seems my daughter comes by her nosiness honestly. Either that or this baby is draining my brain cells from the part of my brain that controls manners and my mouth.” Sami grinned, rubbed her stomach once more, and shook her head.

“You’re fine. I didn’t take it like that. But to answer, I just needed a change in scenery.” The more we talked, the more relaxed I became. Everyone I’d met and spoken with since I moved to town had been friendly. With the exception of one, which I refused to focus on.

“It’s so nice getting to talk with you more, River. The time Carly and I stopped by, I was still fighting morning sickness. Thankfully that seems to be over.”

“Glad you’re feeling better. Do you know what you’re having?”

“Ah, see, now I know Ally talked your ears off. She has been relentless on having a sister. But she isn’t getting her wish. I had a sonogram this morning at Dr. Minton’s office, and the baby was more than cooperative, so definitely having a boy.”

“Congrats to you and Kane!”

Sami nodded. “Thanks. Though I wouldn’t have cared either way, it would have made it convenient since I have all the baby girl things from Ally.” Sami smiled. “With the cost of baby items, it would have been nice not to have to purchase everything over again. However, with this one, I won’t have to fight about clothing when he gets older. I never got to have the mother’s experience of dressing her daughter in all the cute girly things. Once Ally turned old enough to complain, it wasn’t worth the fight. I couldn’t get the girl in a dress. Now it’s jeans, biker boots, and t-shirts. Kane, on the other hand, will buy everything in sight for a boy and do it without complaint. Don’t get me wrong, he would be just as happy to be getting another daughter. He was more worried that with another girl he wouldn’t have any hair left.” Sami chuckled.

“So, it isn’t because boys can pee standing up?” I asked teasingly, then laughed when Sami’s eyes went wide.

“Oh my God, that girl. I don’t know what I’m going to do with her. I’m going to go ahead and apologize right now for anything else she said.”

“No worries, we’ll call it even if you tell me the kid named Benji is older and there isn’t any chance he’ll be in my class, too.” I lifted a brow, and Sami laughed in earnest.

“Oh, River, I should go ahead and set up monthly or weekly visits with you,” Sami said and continued to laugh.

“Hmm...and I was looking so forward to teaching. I’m beginning to think I may have bitten off more than I can chew.” I chuckled along with Sami. I couldn’t remember ever talking with someone so easily. I had a feeling it was Sami. She was sweet and made it easy to relax around her.

“Better yet, I’ll send Kane and his brothers to the meetings since it’s their fault Ally is like she is. They spoil her unashamedly. But in their defense, she has them wrapped around her fingers and takes full advantage of the fact that not one of them can say no to her.”

“Hey, at least your life isn’t boring, right?”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Sami answered as the sound of another vehicle had us both turning. We watched together as it pulled to the curb in front of Sue’s house.

When the driver’s door opened, a dark-haired man with a goatee got out, then leaned into the backseat. As he stood from inside the car, he held a little girl with hair a few shades lighter than his. We continued to watch as the small child said something that made the man smile, then he placed his large hand over her face and rubbed down. The little girl laughed, leaned in, and blew a raspberry on his cheek, which had the man making gagging noises, and the little girl laughing harder.

“He is so good with her. He’s going to make a terrific dad.” When I glanced at Sami, I must have had a questioning look on my face because she chuckled and explained, “That’s Devil, and the little girl is Neely, his sister.”

“Oh, Ally mentioned Neely,” I said, and left out the rest Ally had shared with me.

“Yes, Ally and Neely hit it off right from the start when Devil brought her home.” I wanted to ask Sami more, but it wasn’t my place. Whatever happened to bring the siblings together wasn’t as important as how happy they looked with each other.

“Hey, hot momma, your old man in the house? You know I’ve got to congratulate him on creating a baby with a stem,” the man said as he walked toward us. His eyes gleamed with mischief and, between that and the smirk he wore, I didn’t need an explanation on why he was called Devil.

“You’re an as...butt, Dev.”

“Nice catch, Sami. And yep, Bailey tells me frequently.”

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