“Forty-two!”
Jake laughed as he placed a hand on her head, giving it a rub. “Sure, peanut, forty-two sounds perfect. Do you want me to keep going?”
Addie cheered, I melted. I mean, what in the world was happening right now?
Jake grabbed a scoop, pancake flipper, and some plates. As he did, he continued, “So Princess Addie watched as the Little People marched in their band right up to her house. The line slowed down, but Addie didn’t stop observing as the first people in line stood together and placed their hands against the third brick from the ground. Slowly, it slid into her house, creating an opening. Quickly, quietly, as the band stopped playing, the parade of Little People came into her basement…”
“Momma!” Addie squealed upon seeing me. I watched as Jake’s cheeks heated up. Damn, the man could blush. That was new.
Moving across the kitchen, I pressed a kiss to Addie’s head. “Morning, pumpkin. Did you wake Jake up?”
Addie immediately looked away, a sure sign she thought she might be in trouble. “Um…”
Jake had apparently recovered, because he let out a laugh at Addie’s reluctant admission. “It might not be entirely Addie’s doing,” he said as he continued working on the pancakes. “I woke up to both her eyes and Chief’s watching me from the side of my bed. My guess was that she woke up, Chief found her, and then she followed him as he worked to be allowed to go outside.”
“That must have been an interesting way to wake up.” I grinned.
Jake laughed. “Sure. I first heard a sweet little voice saying, ‘Chief, quiet.’ At that point, I rolled over and saw four beautiful eyes, two blue-green, two brown, peering up at me from the edge of my bed. It was a little creepy, to be honest, but not unusual for Chief.”
“Mine were the blue-green ones!” Addie cried.
Jake rubbed her head. “That they were, Miss Addie. Chief’s are brown.”
I glanced around. “Where is he?”
Jake nodded toward the windows that looked out on his backyard. “It’s fenced in, so he’s running a few laps and letting the neighborhood dogs know he’s up.”
I glanced out, and sure enough, Chief was running around the yard, letting out a bark every so often, seemingly in his element. The joy of dogs did something to me. I wondered if it was time to buy one for my tiny family of two. Addie would love it, but with the hours I put in at the bookstore to get it off the ground in the first year, I felt like it would be unfair to the pup.
Coming back to the present, I looked around the grass and past Jake’s fence to the street. It seemed to be ice-free. “Looks like the warm-up came as forecasted.” Turning to look at Jake, I saw a look pass fleetingly on his face before he nodded and put a few more finished pancakes on a plate. I wondered what that was about.
“Yup, you guys are good to go home after you eat.” He cocked his head toward the pancakes. Like I would turn that down.
I moved toward the island right as my cell began to vibrate. Teri’s name popped up, Addie’s day care provider. Looking at Jake and Addie digging into the pancakes, I held my phone up. “I need to take this.” Jake nodded, and I moved back to the windows.
“Hey, Teri,” I murmured, watching Chief now digging in the back corner of the yard. Crazy pup.
“Ivy, I’m so glad I caught you. Sorry to call so early on a Saturday.” Teri sounded frazzled, and the woman watched anywhere from eight to fifteen kids a day. Nothing frazzled her. I straightened.
“You okay?” I looked over at Addie and Jake as he turned and caught my eyes. I reluctantly turned away from his heated gaze and focused my attention on Teri once again.
She sighed. “I will be. I just got off the phone with my mom. She lives down by St. Louis and fell last night on the ice. She’ll be okay, but they thought she broke her hip. Fortunately, the X-rays are saying she’s okay, but I need to go be with her this week, make sure she takes it easy. Since my dad passed, she’s on her own—”
“Say no more. I totally understand. Do you need me to call any of the families?” I thought about my schedule for the week and wanted to groan and crawl back in bed. With the holidays coming up, I had several items on my agenda that were going to be beyond boring for a four-year-old to sit through. However, it could be worse. At least I had the luxury of bringing her to the store. I had to be there. After our initial opening, the summer had had a dip in sales. We were just starting to build back. And beyond all that, Teri was amazing. We were so lucky to have her. I’m sure she was overwhelmed, and I wanted to ease any burden I could.
“No, no, I’m fine.” Teri’s sigh of relief was audible. “Thanks so much for being understanding. I’m so lucky with the families of the kids of my day care.”
I laughed even while my mind raced. “Teri, we’re all lucky to have you. Focus your attention on your mom. We’ll make it until you can get back. And I’ll send you a payment for this week through our payment app as soon as we hang up.”
“No, that’s too much.” Teri sounded choked up.
“Nonsense. Remember, I’m a small business owner too. We need to look out for each other. Now, message me tonight and let me know how your mom is. Take all the time you need.”
Teri was clearly crying quietly. “Thanks, Iv. You’re the best.”
“Back at you, babe. Take care.” I tapped to hang up and quickly opened our payment app to send her the funds for the week. As I did, I thought about my freezer. I had a few casseroles in there for quick meals. I dashed off a text to Teri to ask if she wanted to swing by and grab one in a half hour or so before she hit the road. That way, their dinner for tonight would be taken care of.
“Momma, was that Miss Teri?”
