“But my hair is full of sand too,” Sam added.“Can I go shower?”
Her cousins both said, “Me too.”
“Of course,” we all said.“Go wash away the day.”
“What are you going to do?”Austin asked, already on his second cookie.Then he bobbed his brows.“Raise a little hell?”
Naomi reached for another cookie too.“If it wasn’t the truth, I’d tell you to watch your language.”
“Naomi, you get to calling other like-minded parents.Hit that phone tree like it’s the best bottle of merlot you’ve ever tasted.Not a drop left behind,” Gabrielle said, going into boss-lady mode.“Raina, you rally the McEvoys, since we know they feel the same way about Pickford as the rest of us.They’ve had issues with him too, and we can use their strength and pull.”
Raina nodded.“On it.”
Then Gabrielle met my gaze.“You and I are going to go have a littlechatwith the Pickford-Whalley family and make sure they know they’ve messed with the wrong people.”
Normally, I avoided confrontation like it was the Bible.I’d had enough of both to last me a lifetime.But when it came to my kid—to my family—I’d pull up my boring, beige, big-girl panties and do what had to be done.And with Gabrielle there with her fighting spirit and gift for rhetoric, I knew I could basically just stand back and let her tear a strip off them one side and down the other.
A little prickle of giddiness trilled through me at the thought of getting to witness her in full fighter-mode.It rarely came out of her anymore.And certainly not since she started dating Maverick.He’d tamed and subdued her to an almost unrecognizable level.It was good to know the “bitch” was still in there though, when we needed her.
She pointed toward the front door.“To the bus!”
I glanced at Raina.“Please let this be a normal field trip.”
Raina snickered.“With the Gabs?No way.”
We pulled into Pickford’s driveway at the same time a familiar, handsome figure carrying two big buckets of potted yellow and pink tulips emerged from the woods.
“Do you think he subconsciously knew you were coming at the same time?”Gabrielle asked.
Heat filled my belly.“Shut up.”
She chuckled and parked her SUV.“He really is a very nice-looking man.A silver fox.”She glanced at me.“Do you know how old he is?”
“Forty-eight.At least that’s what his online bio said.And he’s got a son in his twenties.”
She made a noise in her throat.“Oh god, he’s old enough to be Maverick’s dad.”
That made me chuckle.
“Age is just a number.Age is just a number,” she repeated, before climbing out from behind the steering wheel.“Mr.Barone, what brings you here?”
Tom’s eyes were on me, curiosity and excitement burning hotter than the sun.But because he was polite, he transferred his attention to Gabrielle.“My donkey ateSignoraPickford’s tulips yesterday.I am here to replace them.”
“I see you made sure to get the yellow and pink ones,” I said, which earned me a lip twitch of a smile from Tom.
“Si.No garish or whorish red and purple.”
“I believe purple is for harlots,” I corrected.
Gabrielle’s head swiveled back and forth between us.“What the hell?”
“Why are you here, may I ask this question?”Tom said, stepping past us to place the tulips on the small mosaic table near the front door.
“Clyde kicked sand in the girls’ eyes today on the playground,” I said.“Then Pickford took just our kids into a separate room and threatened them.”
His jaw dropped.“May I stay?”
Gabrielle’s head reared back a little.“Uh, sure.”
