“I’m still learning the ropes.” I gestured for her to come in, and she did, scanning the foyer with an appraiser’s eye.
I watched her take in the half-unpacked boxes, the stack of same-day Amazon packages courtesy of my extreme makeover billionaire edition, and the paint samples taped to the wall. The place looked less like a home and more like a set for an in-production reality renovation show, but it would have looked a lot worse if Maddox, Alex, and Nick hadn’t used their substantial resources today. They’d waved their magic billionaire wands and had trades here in under an hour. Plumbers, electricians, painters, drywallers, landscapers, and even new appliances were delivered. I owed them all, big time.
I was trying to get their Venmo’s, but they kept refusing. I was going to figure out how to pay them back, I just didn’t know how yet.
“Wow, this looks…” her voice trailed off as she took it all in.
“You should have seen it this morning. It was uninhabitable.”
I closed the door, and she followed me into the kitchen. I looked online and saw that Luigi’s was still open. I started typing but then realized I should double-check with her, I looked up. “Is it still thick crust, pepperoni, mushroom, olives?”
Her lips pursed slightly, but then she dipped her chin in a decisive nod, and I pressed send. When I finished, she was typing, so I walked over and put on the TV for the girls when they came down. Actually, I wanted to make sure they weren’t getting into anything up there. Most of the rooms were empty, but still.
“Girls!”
A stampede of horses galloped above our heads and then down the staircase before Joey rushed into the kitchen, demanding, “We want the room with the shelves! Can we have that room?”
“Oh, sure. Yeah. You can have that room.”
It had been my dad’s office, and it had built-in bookcases, so I hadn’t even considered the girls wanting it, but it was fine by me if they did.
“Yay!” Joey jumped up and down and cheered, while Andi celebrated in a much more refined way beside her sister.
“Thank you.” Andi politely smiled.
“You’re welcome.” I opened the fridge and handed them each a Capri Sun, which was their favorite drink. It was the one thing I’d learned over the week I’d had them. “Why don’t you guys hang out on the couch and watch TV until the pizza gets here.”
They both took their juice pouches and skipped off to the living area, flopped onto the couch, and instantly became engrossed in Peppa Pig’s misadventures.
By that time, Billie was off her phone. I reached into the fridge and offered her a Capri Sun. If memory served, she’d been a fan of the heavily sugared pouches as well.
“Wow, you do know how to treat a girl right on a Saturday night,” she teased as she took it.
I grinned, loving that even though things obviously weren’t back to normal, it still felt like us.
The girls giggled, and she looked over at them. “I don’t know, it looks like you’re doing a pretty good job to me.”
“What?” I asked, the comment seemingly coming out of nowhere.
“You said you’re still learning the ropes.”
I moved closer to her, so I stood only a foot away, and her eyes widened slightly. I hadn’t meant to invade her personal space, I just didn’t want the girls to overhear what I was going to say. I did notice how her cheeks flushed and her pupils dilated slightly. I also noticed how she still smelled like vanilla and flowers and how my pulse rate quickened just being near her.
“I didn’t know they existed a week ago,” I explained quietly.
Her brow furrowed. “What?”
I told her the entire story: the email, Jasmine, Australia, Maureen, San Antonio, all of it, right up until Maddox was dropping them off and we were standing in the kitchen.
“Holy shit,” she breathed.
“Yep.”
“So what about the Navy? Are you on leave or…?”
Right. I hadn’t told her that. “I’m out. I retired. I will say the timing for all this couldn’t have been better. I had already sold my house and was moving in a week, so everything was packed and ready to go.”
“Moving? Where to?”
