Page 57 of Just Come Over
Jenna smiled at him approvingly. “Yes. That would be helpful. Gentle perspective. You don’t... shove their noses in it. You sort of slide in sideways. Reading is good, for example. Stories, so they can make the connection. Do you read?”
What, was he literate? What did she think? She laughed and said, “I mean, do you read with her, ever.”
“Oh. Yeh. At bedtime. We’ve read a dinosaur book, though, mostly.” They’d read a dinosaur book always. He should’ve bought something else, he realized now. He still thought that social worker should have given him a brochure. There should be a rule book. Everything else had rule books, and kids were trickier than anything else. You needed guidelines even more, and you had exactly zero. He’d buy a parenting book, maybe. Heaps of time in hotel rooms to read it.
“That’s a good thing, that you’re already reading,” Jenna said, which meant he’d done something right, anyway, even if it had happened by accident. “You could read books about mothers and kids, maybe. Fathers and kids, too, though those are harder to come by. She’ll be worried about you leaving. Tomorrow may not be easy for her.”
“I know she’s worried,” he said. “She asks if I’m coming back every time I leave.”
“And you do come back, which is the most important thing. But... hang on a second.”
She jumped up and headed into the other room, and Rhys lifted his brows at Finn. Finn said, “She has a plan, mate. No worries, she’ll tell you what it is. She’s brilliant at this.”
Jenna came back holding a hardback book. A slim one, with not many pages to it, and with—what else?—rabbits on the front. She handed it to Rhys. “This one. Borrow it. You may have to read it more than once. Kids like to hear their favorites every night. It’s meant for younger kids, but I’m guessing it’ll work for her.”
He read the title aloud.“The Runaway Bunny.You must know Casey. We got rabbits today. Four of them. She has a bit of a thing about rabbits.”
“Even better,” she said. “Look for more bunny books, then. Or better yet—I’ll send you a list. And you got rabbits for her? That was a great thought. Are you surprised that you’re such a good dad?”
His hands stilled in the act of opening the book. “I’m not a good dad.”
“Oh,” she said, “I think you are. Anyway, it’s the baby bunny who talks about running away in this one, but the mother bunny tells him, over and over again, that no matter where he goes, she’ll be there, too, because he’s her little bunny. That security message is one kids need anyway, and for a girl who’s lost her mother and is in a new place with a new dad, especially if she’s been in foster care, the way Finn said? It’s a message she’ll need to hear even more. That you’ll come back, and that she’ll never be alone.”
“Thanks.” He tried to think of something else, but he didn’t have it. “If you have other ideas, other books, definitely let me know. A parenting book, I was just thinking. Is there aFatherhood for Dummies?That’s the level I need.”
“I do have another idea,” she said. “This is a good one. Why don’t you and Zora bring Isaiah and Casey to us this evening, after dinner, say, and let them stay over tonight? That could help, too, for when you’re gone, to know she has other people besides you and Zora. A rugby team’s a family, too. She won’t know that, but if she comes here and stays with us, she’ll find out.”
“Wait,” he said. “I’m leaving tomorrow, but I should bring her to another new place tonight?”
“With Isaiah,” she said. “He was so sweet at the game. When she had to go to the toilet, he took her, and he held her hand so she wouldn’t get lost. He’s her buffer, and her guide. So, yes, I think so. I think you should bring them over, and pick them up in the morning, and show her again that you’ll come back.”
Finn closed the door behind Rhys, then headed back into the kitchen. Jenna had the mixer out already, was pulling out her measuring cups, but he got in there early, coming up behind her, wrapping his arms around her, and kissing her neck. She jumped, laughed, and sighed, and he smiled and pulled her down into his lap and kissed her neck some more. He palmed a breast, too. It was right there, and it was one of his favorite things to hold.
“I’m going to miss you,” he said. “Is it nap time yet?”
She was humming. “Half an hour.” She sounded a little breathless.
“Also,” he said, because it wasn’t nap time yet, “I’m expecting to hear exactly why it’s a good idea to have six kids here tonight. That explanation made no sense.”
She turned around so she could see him, wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed his jaw, and smiled at him. He did love his wife. “Because they’re dying for each other.”
That distracted him for a minute. “Who? Drago and Zora? She’s his sister-in-law.”
“Mm-hmm. Doesn’t matter. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, and she couldn’t look at him. Something’s going on there. Rhys is a volcano. Everything’s under the surface, but it’s about to blow, and I think it needs to. So—he’ll either get an evening to be serious and prepare more, which he needs like a hole in the head, if you ask me, or he’ll grab his chance and let the explosion happen. I can’t tell which it’ll be, but I can offer the opportunity. I like Zora. I like her a lot. I think she’s had a rotten time, and I think Rhys is a lot like you, which means he just might be the man she deserves, and vice versa. Sometimes it takes two tries to get it right.”
“I can’t argue with that,” he said. “I can’t argue with any of that, in fact. Not a volcano, though. A dragon. Been holding his fire, you think?”
“What was he like, really?” she asked. “Dylan?”
He made a face. “Not too bad. All show and no go, that’s all.”
She eyed him soberly. “Did he cheat?”
“Yeh.” Not a subject he enjoyed discussing with her. She trusted him, like he trusted her, but still... not something you brought up.
“Did Rhys?”
“No.”
