“Jeanie always lets me have cereal.”
He glanced back at Rue and found her wearing a sad expression again. How odd that whenever she said anything about missing someone, it was the nanny and not Paige. Or maybe not. In the note, she’d said motherhood was impeding her career. Had she been gone so much that Rue was now used to her absence?
“I know you miss Jeanie. Did she find a different job?”
“She got married and moved away. Then Mommy said I could visit you.”
Eb didn’t miss Rue’s use of the wordvisit. What had Paige told her?
“Why don’t you have food?” Rue asked.
Before he could answer, his doorbell rang. Who could it be? People needed a key card to enter the building, and he’d only met his neighbors in passing. When Rue slid from the chair and ran to the door, he swept her up.
“You mustn’t open the door to strangers.”
When Eb looked through the peephole, a shock of surprise zapped through him. Walt Kinkade stood with a box in his hands next to a pretty woman with long white hair who held a dish. With a quick side glance at his messy house, he opened the door.
“We’re so sorry to drop in unannounced,” the woman said, slipping past him into the condo but giving Rue a grandmotherly smile.
“Sandra mentioned you had a new family member and might need sustenance this morning. I’m Walt and this is my wife, Linda,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you finally.”
“Oh, you sweet thing. You must be Rue. You’re all Grace could talk about last night.” Linda held out her hands, and Rue practically threw herself into the woman’s arms. It was then Eb saw the resemblance to Merry.
“You’re Grammy!” Rue gave the woman a tight squeeze.
“I am.”
“It can take a little getting used to,” Walt murmured, watching the two. “We just brought a few things to tide you over.”
Eb looked in the box, not knowing what to say. It held a box of cereal, a container of milk, peanut butter and jelly, bread, and a frozen lasagna.
“I can’t accept this,” he said. “We’ll just go to the store.”
“But you said you’d take me swimming.” Rue’s face scrunched up like she was about to cry.
“What a perfect way to spend the day with your daughter and get to know each other.” Linda squeezed Rue and set her down. “We’ll leave you to your breakfast now, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other often.” She slid her arm through Walt’s and pulled him out the door.
“Bye, Grammy!” Rue cried, running after them. “Bye, Grampy!”
Walt glanced back at the name, and something flashed across his face, which Eb understood completely. The couple stepped into the elevator and gave a quick wave as they left. What a decent thing to do. It really was a gift.
Eb took Rue’s hand. “We’d best get breakfast and see if the recreation center is open today because, if it is, it looks like we’re going swimming.”
Rue squealed and dragged him back inside the condo.
CHAPTERSEVEN
“That’s everything, boss,” Sandra said, giving her tablet a final glance to make sure she had missed nothing. “It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks.”
“Yes, it is.” Peering out the window, Walt pulled a face. “I hate traveling when Linda can’t come with me.”
Sandra felt for him. After having gone separate ways for thirty-five years, they had only reunited a year ago and married in January. Technically, they were still in the honeymoon phase of their marriage.
“Ready for takeoff,” the pilot announced through the speaker. The sole flight attendant checked their belts and then strapped herself in.
Sandra could get a lot of work done in-flight. There was always so much for her to keep track of when Walt did a bunch of talk show visits. Their trips were an odd assortment of super busyness and twiddling her thumbs, waiting for responses from the many problems which always came up. Still, she loved her job.
Her thoughts drifted to Eb and Rue, and she wondered how they were doing. Sandra had kept busy with laundry and packing yesterday. She’d purposefully not contacted him, thinking he needed the time to get acquainted with his daughter before regular life intruded.
