He seemed almost relieved to hear that. “Okay. Good.”
“But you know you don’t have to hire a party planner, right?” I eyed him as he guzzled down some juice. “I love planning parties, especially for kids.”
“No, Octavia. Absolutely not. That would be askingwaytoo much of you.” He sliced a hand through the air, as if that were final. “Handling Aleesa is a lot already.”
“Aleesa is an angel. I don’t mind at all. Really. Just tell me all the things you want, and I can figure it out.”
“No. I could not put you through that.”
“Javier.” My eyes locked on his. “If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have offered my help.”
He sighed, training those dark-brown irises on mine for several seconds. “Fine. Okay.”
“Yay!” I did a tiny clap with my fingertips.
“Well, if we are doing mermaids, I was hoping to have an undersea theme. I would like there to be activities to keep the kids busy, and to have food catered. I would also like there to be a few games.”
“That all sounds doable.”
“And of course I would give you the money to arrange all of this.” He raised a hand, as if to pause the entire situation and make that abundantly clear. “You would not have to come out of pocket for a single thing.”
I fought a smile. “Okay.”
“You can use the credit card I gave you for whatever is needed.”
I blinked, a little surprised by that. “Are you sure?” The most he ever let me use the credit card for was groceries, gas, and miscellaneous needs for Aleesa. Each month had a budget, and he had made it very clear when I first started that he did not want me going over it.
“Yes.”
“Um ... okay. Sounds good. What’s my budget for the party?”
“There is no budget,” he answered with finality. “Just make it a wonderful day for her.”
Holy shit.
“What?” Javier’s shoulders slumped. “Your eyes are very big. Do you think that I should have a budget?”
“I can’t tell you what to do with your money, but I will tell you that you don’t have to break the bank to throw an enjoyable birthday party. Sometimes the simpler things are, the better. Kids don’t care as long as they’re having fun. And, like you said, I seem like the type to have fun. Let me put that quality to good use.”
He cracked a smile. I was proud of myself for getting that out of him, even if it didn’t fully spread across his face.
“Okay, sure. I will trust you with this.” He studied me briefly, as if seeing me for the first time. “Thank you, Octavia.”
“Of course. We have to make sure our girl has the best day ever, right?” I squeezed Aleesa’s chin, and she scrunched her nose and laughed.
She was such a happy child. It surprised me sometimes how completely opposite she was to her father.
It made me wonder how her mother was. Was she just as bright and bubbly? Was she sweet? Did she love to cook? Dance? Sew? Sing?
There were pictures of her in the foyer and in Aleesa’s bedroom. She was a gorgeous woman, and in all of them, she seemed happy.
But I of all people know smiles can be misleading.
Javier placed his fork down with a light clatter, then yawned. His plate was clean—hardly a scrap left.
“You should go lie back down and get some more sleep,” I suggested. “At least another hour or so.”
“I should be up for Aleesa. She will not see me tomorrow.”
