"Make sure Holly knows all the bedtime rules," Remmi answers, pinching a bit of shredded mozzarella between her fingers, tipping her head back and dropping it into her mouth.
"And only three books before bed," Gavin says.
"Two," Jovi says. "You get two books tonight."
Gavin makes a face but then smiles as though remembering something. "And then tomorrow morning we get Biscuit Barn!"
"That's the deal," Jovi says, and I can hear the smile in his voice. "Alright," I can feel him leaning closer to my ear again, "Time to say good night, Liz."
I suck in an annoyed breath, not sure where Jovi's audacity is coming from, but I let him boss me again. To avoid arguing in front of the kids. And that's all. "Good night, guys." To steer clear of theflour mess, I opt to blow them all kisses. Holly included. "Call me if you need anything."
"Jovi said to call him, not you," Holly says with a smug grin that only serves to grate on my nerves more. "So don't expect to hear from us."
I swallow down the desire to remind everyone that this isn't Jovi's decision to make. That none of this has been Jovi's to decide. Instead, I plaster on a smile, tell the kids I love them, and let Jovi lead me outside where we stop in front of his truck. I've been so used to driving it, I'm almost surprised when he reaches for the passenger side door and gestures for me to get in.
Once we're both seated in the cab and he places the key in the ignition, my keychain dangling from the set, I realize why he claimed them before we left the house. I guess that was a fair move after all. It being his truck and all.
Still, I can't help feeling unmoored by how he's taken over the evening. And how easily I've just...let him.
JOVI
Liz is silent for all of three seconds after we pull out of the driveway and onto the road leading us into town.
"What do you think you're doing making all these plans without consulting me?" she demands, cheeks pink, and I can't tell if she's flushed from anger or something else. "Asking Holly to babysit? Telling the kids you'll take them to breakfast tomorrow. What if I had other things going on?"
"Do you?" I ask, arching a brow at her as I try not to smile. I already know the answer is no. I'm not a complete asshole. Ichecked with Holly about their plans first. They were having pizza with the kids tonight, which Holly is still doing. Then Liz was going to juggle the kids and trying to fit in another shoot with Holly in the morning. Taking the kids to Biscuit Barn is something I would have done anyway if she had told me she needed help.
She doesn't answer, just crosses her arms and stares straight ahead. "You're being weird," she mutters after a moment of silence. "I don't like it."
"I'm not being weird," I tell her. "I'm being decent. Doing what we agreed to do in a way that helps us both out. We need to have our regular check in," I remind her. "And I also need to swing by The Penny Luck so I can make sure I'm not dropping the ball on my other obligations." I tap the steering wheel. "Tomorrow morning, I'm going to take the kids out for a bit so you can focus onyourother responsibilities. That's all this is."
Unless she lets it be more.
"You couldn't communicate with me in some way that didn't involve a total ambush?" she asks, turning toward me again.
"You don't exactly make it easy to help you, Liz."
She lets out a huff. "You're not so great at being a team player either, you know."
I bark a laugh. "How do you figure?" Unlike her one-woman business, I've been working with a team since I was fourteen. One that's only grown as the business expanded. "Do you have any idea how many people it takes to run seven different venues?"
"That's my whole point," she says, "You run everything. You're used to being in charge. You make decisions for everyone and expect those around you to go along with it."
Fine. She may have me there. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like that tonight. Yes, I'm used to playing that role," I concede, "butI don't view you as someone I have to manage. I swear. That's the last thing I ever want you to feel." If anything, I was trying to take care of her. Give her one night where she didn't have to carry the weight of being solely responsible for everyone else. "We're partners."
"If we're partners, why don't you tell me anything that's going on with the horse business?"
I frown. "What are you talking about? I tell you everything on that front. I forward every email from the account to you. Let you know weekly where we're at with the horses we have under contract. You have full access to the bank account. Shit, rodeo nights have been blowing up all because of the pictures and videos you've been posting all over social media, so you know firsthand how those events are going."
She nods, biting the inside of her cheek. "Cas told me you've been having some problems with one of the horses coming on Friday nights."
I almost curse under my breath. Cas and his damn mouth. I should have known he'd mention it to her. "I'm handling it."
"He said some of the other riders aren't comfortable keeping their horses around this one. That it's aggressive," she continues to press the issue. "If you don't want to tell this rider to stop coming to the event, maybe we just need to come up with stronger guidelines that automatically disqualify them from participating."
"The rider is Brennan," I tell her, giving up the name I didn't want to throw between us. "And the reason I haven't told you, is because I didn't want to put you in an uncomfortable position given your relationship with him."
"I don't have a relationship with him."
