She looked around the apartment. “Nice place. I like the park across the street.”
“We’ll see,” Olivia said. “Some parks turn into drug dens and homeless camps at night.”
Cindy bit back a smile. “I think Jonas mentioned the crime rates in this neighborhood are pretty low, but it’s definitely a good idea to keep an eye out and see what it’s really like.”
“You’ll let me know if there’s anything questionable,” Jonas added.
Olivia nodded. Tasha played with her food.
“Olivia, if it would help, Tasha and I could go to the store to get your groceries while you get some more boxes unpacked.”
“I can pay for our groceries.”
“Mom!”
Cindy wasn’t sure how to respond, but Jonas leaned in and looked into Olivia’s eyes. “She wasn’t thinking about money one way or the other. Just about helping you get settled. It wasn’t very long ago that she moved, and she remembers what a pain in the butt it is.”
Olivia watched him for a second, then turned to Cindy. Whatever she saw on Cindy’s face seemed to reassure her. “All right, then. I’m sorry. That would be very helpful, I can give Tasha my card.”
“That’s perfect then. We’ll just get the basics, unless you want to take a minute to do up a list?”
“No, thank you. Tasha will know the basics, and we can do a big shop tomorrow.”
“Excellent. You need anything while I’m there, Jonas?”
“No, baby, I’m good.”
When they climbed into her car, Cindy slanted a look at the quiet teenager. “Have you had a chance to explore the local radio stations?”
Tasha shook her head.
“Want to give it a go?” Cindy gestured towards the radio.
She headed towards the store as the radio jumped from commercial to music to talking and back again. It was a short drive to the market, but by the time they pulled into the parking lot, Taylor Swift was signing and Tasha had sat back in her seat with a smile to Cindy.
“Good choice.” She pulled into a parking space and cranked up the volume. Then she met Tasha’s gaze and started singing along. Loudly. It took a few seconds, but then the girl joined in, a wide grin on her face as they sang the chorus with considerable lack of skill.
When the song ended, Cindy turned the car off and laughed. “We suck, but in a totally awesome way.”
“Yeah.”
It was said softly, but Cindy visualized high-fiving herself while playing it cool on the outside. Tasha grabbed a cart and they headed inside.
An hour later, Cindy was feeling pretty good as she returned to her house. Mission accomplished. She’d gotten to feed and kiss her man, make Olivia feel welcomed, and she’d actually had a conversation with Tasha where the teenager had participated fully.
Now she could finish up the plans for the weekend party at the pack house while Jonas was off helping his mom plant her herb garden. Apparently it was a tradition they’d had when he’d lived in New York, that they hadn’t been able to enjoy together since he’d moved away. They’d invited her to join them, but she’d thought they could use the time together. Besides, she had a black thumb.
She got to work printing out some colorful printables that were supposed to make party decorating easy for anyone. Cindy was ready to post them on the blog, if they worked as advertised. Which she thought they probably would. She had a nice stack of them going, but had to keep a close eye on them to make sure the paper was lined up correctly, so when her phone rang with her mom’s ringtone. She bit back a sigh.
Jonas wasn’t worried, exactly, as he walked into the house several hours later. He just had a niggling of concern. Cindy always met him at the door if she was home when he arrived, usually with a drink, always with a kiss. He knew she was home. He could feel her nearness along that amazing link they shared.
He dumped the grocery bag he was carrying on the side table and headed for her office. She was sitting with her chin cupped in her hand, staring at her computer monitor. He came all the way up to her and kissed the top of her head. She blinked at him for a second, then nearly bonked his chin as she jumped to her feet.
“Oh, wow, sorry. I was a million miles away.”
“No need to be sorry for that. You okay? Is it the party?”
“No, that’s pretty much squared away.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and went up on her tiptoes to give him a proper kiss. He hummed his pleasure and pulled her in tighter for a minute, before letting her loose and pulling back a bit so he could see her face.
