“Oh.” I looked back down at my little sister, who was happily smearing dirt all over a squealing Jessie. “I’d actually kind of wanted you to get to know my family a bit better. I mean, you’ve only met them once.”
She was silent. Several seconds passed by. Finally, I heard her take a deep breath. “You know what? You’re right. Just give me some time to find a weekend that would work. Okay?”
I nodded as though she could see me. “Okay. Sure.”
“Bye, Derrick.”
“Bye. Love you.” My chest felt heavy as I put the phone back in my pocket, but I did my best to smile as I rejoined Jade and Jessie. Right now. I would just focus on this moment and worry about the rest of it later. We’d get it all worked out, and someday, Amy would realize how much fun Jade really could be.
“All right, Tiger.” I took Jade’s spade, which she was using as a paintbrush to dab mud on Jessie’s pants whenever Jessie wasn’t looking. “Let’s dig for some diamonds.”
The visit itself actually didn’t go so badly. I had the unfortunate fate of getting rather sunburned, and then the worse humiliation of Jessie insisting on spraying me down so I didn’t burn further, but other than that, it really was fun. None of us had found any diamonds after the first hour and a half, but the time outdoors and the sound of Jade’s laughter seemed to melt the boulder that had been sitting on my chest, and soon, I was just as dirty as the girls were.
Jessie really was a good sport, particularly about the dirt. She had dirt everywhere, thanks to my sister. In her hair, on her face, and one time, I caught Jade trying to put it down her shirt. But none of that seemed to faze her. In fact, none of Jade’s obstacles seemed to bother Jessie, as long as I wasn’t making them worse.
I really had been horrible to her in the beginning. I had reasons to have my doubts, of course. But the longer I watched her, the more I realized that she loved Jade the way…
Well, the way I wished Amy would.
“Derrick.”
I turned to see Jessie holding an arm to her left eye. “I think I’ve got some dirt around my eye. Can you grab a wet wipe for me out of the backpack?”
I rummaged through Jade’s green backpack, the one we brought everywhere she went. It took a moment, but I finally found it in the side pocket. Just as she wiped the corner of her eye, however, we heard a shout from behind us. When we turned to look, we found Jade several rows away, where she stood looking up into the face of a very angry man.
“Give that back!” The man growled down at my sister.
Jade stared up at him, unresponsive until he tried to yank the frame from her hands. Then she shrieked like she was being eaten by a bloody ghost.
“That’s mine, you brat!” he bellowed as Jade screamed louder.
Jessie and I were at her side in a flash. I grabbed Jade up in my arms, but before I could get in the man’s face, Jessie was already there.
He was probably six feet tall, just an inch or so shorter than myself. And he was no feathery thing. But that didn’t seem to bother Jessie in the slightest as she stood on her toes to get inches from his face.
“What is wrong with you?” she snapped. I stood behind her, leveling a dark look at him over her head.
“She stole my tools, that’s what.”
“I’m sorry.” Jessie didn’t sound sorry at all. “But she’s six. It was just an accident. No need to scare her.”
“I rented these, and I’ll be—”
I put my free hand over Jade’s ear as he let loose a string of profanities.
“…if I let some brat take them so this park can charge me ten times what they’re worth.”
Jessie snorted. “It didn’t occur to you to ask her nicely?”
“Wouldn’t have done any good.” The man gestured at Jade. “Don’t know what you’re here for anyhow. Shouldn’t let kids like that free unless they’re on a leash.” He snorted. “In fact, my sister’s on the state senate, in case you didn’t know. Maybe I’ll have her start some sort of action to keep kids like her under control in public places.”
“Kids. Like. What?” Jessie enunciated each word slowly.
People were staring now, and a few had started to step forward. The man glanced around as our onlookers began to murmur and several more sent him scathing looks.
“Keep talking like that,” Jessie hissed, “and I will have a lawyer so far up your butt that you’re not going to need a colonoscopy this year.”
“And if you so much as look at my sister the wrong way again,” I added in a low voice, “I will make sure you leave this park on a gurney.”
