Page 60 of Carry Me Home
I blew out a breath. “She was in an off mood all day. You probably noticed it before you went to work.” I paused and Janie nodded. “I didn’t know what was wrong—I still don’t—but I knew she wasn’t feeling like herself. I made her go to the grocery store anyway, even though she told me she didn’t want to. I didn’t listen.”
Janie squinted at me and rolled her lips. “Okay. And then what happened?”
“I told you. A little kid grabbed the tongs out of her hand and she dropped the cookie. Immediate meltdown.” I shook my head. “I should have listened to her,” I muttered. “I set her up to fail.”
“Jack.” Janie’s hands settled on my chest. “You didn’t set her up to fail. Yes, she was in a bad mood. Yes, in hindsight it looks like it would have been better to go grocery shopping tomorrow. But that’s not how this works. Not every bad mood ends in a meltdown. Maya is perfectly capable of understanding that she doesn’t get everything she wants. It’s not like you took her to a parade, which she isnotcapable of dealing with. Anyway, it was my fault, too.” She chewed her lip and her gaze faltered.
My hands went to her hips like it was the most natural thing in the world. “How so?”
She sighed. “Yesterday she was a little bit anxious about the shift in my hours at the bar. She thought it meant you wouldn’t live here anymore since I don’t need a babysitter late at night. Honestly, that hadn’t even occurred to me until she asked me about it. I told her I didn’t know. There wasn’t time to talk aboutit this morning, so I figured it could wait until I got home from work.”
I stilled. Moving out hadn’t occurred to me, either. “You want me to leave?”
Her hands spasmed on my shirt. “I didn’t say that.” She didn’t lift her eyes from my throat. “But youareleaving, right? In September. Maya will be back in school, and you’ll—” Her eyes finally met mine with a question in them.
A question I still didn’t have an answer to. “I could stay. For the rest of summer, I mean. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to move out now when everything is working. It’s easier to stay.”
“Right.” She nodded quickly. “Right. Okay.”
Her mouth was close enough to kiss. Holding myself back felt unnatural. She wanted that kiss as much as I did. It was there in the way her breath quickened, her gaze dipped to my mouth, and she licked her lips. She wanted it—but she wasn’t going to take it.
So I thought.
But Janie always did surprise me.
She rolled onto her toes and pressed her lips to mine, quick and fleeting. “Thank you,” she whispered.
And then she darted inside, leaving me standing there with my heart banging against my ribs.
22
JANIE
Claire
How would you feel about Maya spending a few days with her aunts? We’re going to spend July 4th at the cabin, and we thought it might be fun for Maya to come along and avoid the fireworks. We don’t see much of her now that you’re never at the ranch.
Janie
How long are you going to be out there?
Claire
Three days. We’ll pick her up the morning of July 4th and bring her home Sunday night. Come on, you know Maya loves it. So many amphibians!
Janie
You mean frogs. There are frogs. We happen to have frogs here, too, you know.
Claire
These are special frogs, Janie.
Maya’s reactionto a long weekend with her aunts far away from the dreaded fireworks was an immediate yes. She had her bags packed and ready to go before she went to bed that night.
“You’re not leaving yet,” I told her as we settled onto her bed to read a book together. “Claire isn’t picking you up until Friday. You have a birthday party to go to tomorrow, remember?”
“Sam.” Maya nodded, snuggling deeper under the blanket. “I got him a Lego Minecraft set. Do you think he’ll like it?”
