“What?”
“Two hours ago, I was her favorite.” I pouted.
“What can I say, your daughter is fickle.” Kellie laughed as she stabbed a piece of steak with her fork and popped it into her mouth.
“That kid’s going to run this place by the end of the week,” Nash offered unhelpfully.
“End of the week, I was going to say end of the weekend,” Sawyer added his two cents, and I hated to think it, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t wrong.
We finished our supper and started to clear the table when Cassie bashed through the door and crashed straight into my leg.
“Watch where you’re going, princess. You don’t want to get run over,” I told her as I juggled the salad bowl and a pile of plates above her head.
“You can’t run me over, Dad,” Cassie assured me with a dramatic sigh. “You’re not a car.”
I looked over at everyone staring at me like I’d grown a second head. “She’s got you there, boss man,” Nash offered helpfully before laughter engulfed the table.
It was weird.
I never thought I’d be able to sit around the table out on the back porch and laugh again. Not after everything. And certainly not with Kellie by my side.
“What have you got there, missy?” Kellie asked as Cassie set her bowl on the table and tried to scramble into her seat, only for Sawyer and Nash to vault out of their own chairs to help her. Damn kid was treated like royalty.
“Grandma found me chocolate ice cream and sprinkles.”
“And sprinkles? Gee, you must’ve been a good girl today,” Kellie told her as Mom reappeared, taking the dirty dishes from my hand.
“I’m always good, Mom,” Cassie informed her as she picked up her spoon and dived into the gooey goodness.
“Yeah, okay. Let’s go with that.”
“Are you going to share?” I asked.
“No, silly. This is mine.”
Well, I guess sharing wasn’t something Cassie excelled in, not when it came to food, anyway.
Nash and Sawyer helped with the clean-up before excusing themselves and disappearing into the darkness. I didn’t blame them for tapping out early. Around here, we were up with the sun and faded fast, and today had been no different. If anything, it’d been even more exhausting than a normal day. I’d managed to be up and hard at it before dawn broke and the sun rose over the hill. I’d been on a mission. I was determined to get up and get my fair share of the chores done before Kellie and Cassie arrived so I could spend quality time with them. With all the shuffling back and forth between places, I didn’t really have a lot of time with them, so I was determined to make up for it with quality.
Inside, Mom and Cassie were chatting animatedly while they watched television and ate their ice cream, leaving me sitting out here with Kellie, only the sound of the insects chirping breaking the silence.
“I’d almost forgotten how beautiful it is out here at night,” Kellie commented dreamily as she stared at the stars dotting the inky black night sky.
It was undeniable. A beautiful night. Completely cloudless and still.
“Soon you’ll be able to see it every night.”
“Huh?”
“From our place. It’s gonna have a huge wrap-around porch with the porch swing you’d always wanted.”
“Jake.”
The way Kellie said my name had me sitting up and paying attention. Nothing good ever followed the sad, hollow way it sounded when it fell from her beautiful lips.
“What is it, Marshmallow?” I pressed, not entirely sure I really wanted to know.
“You need to stop calling me that.”
