The little girl reaches for her toes and then falls backward with a laugh.
JJ kneels beside Avery, forcing a calm expression. “The only person you can control is yourself, Avey. Remember? Sometimes people get things wrong, and that’s okay.” His blue eyes flit in my direction, and he totally catches me staring.
My cheeks flame and the urge to disappear into the wall behind me flares to life.
With a deep breath in, JJ looks up at Hope. “She saw peonies on our way home. Pink ones. I told her we couldn’t steal them from someone else’s yard.”
I snort. “Oh, Lennox’s peonies. I get it now.”
Uncle Aiden put in the most gorgeous flower bushes for my aunt. “How ’bout I take you over after dinner, Gracie? Auntie Lennox would love to cut a few of her pretty peonies for you.”
Gracie’s eyes go round. “Really?”
“Pretty sure you’ve just made a friend for life,” Hope mutters, hand to her chest. “My god, living here isn’t going to be for the faint of heart, is it?”
Finn, who has returned sans little boy terrors, wraps an arm around her, steering her toward the kitchen. “Don’t worry, I’ll be here every step of the way.”
“Even though he doesn’t live here,” JJ grumbles.
“I wish we didn’t live here,” Avery mumbles, kicking at the floor.
“Maybe Addie would let you have a pink penis too if you were nicer,” Gracie says with a saucy shake of her shoulders.
“It’s not apenis,” Avery yells.
“Okay, I’m getting her out of here.” JJ tosses Avery over his shouldersand heads for the stairs. “Let’s go wash our hands and change our attitude.”
“She doesn’t change her attitude,” Gracie says to me with a laugh. “She changes her clothes. Uncky JJ is so funny.”
I blink down at the three children I’ve somehow found myself alone with and mutter, “Yeah, Uncle JJ is a hoot.”
The front door flies open, and Winnie steps in with a flourish. “Sorry I’m so late. What did I miss?”
SIX
JJ
Theo: Any idea why Gracie was asking me to bring her a penis when I come to visit?
I chuckleas Finn picks up his phone, knowing he’s about to read the same text.
Bray: Who is Gracie?
Finn: Hope’s daughter. And she wants peonies. Blame your cousin. He was in charge of her.
Scoffing, I point at the phone. “Dude, what the fuck?”
Finn clasps his phone to his chest, his head whipping from one side to the other, his eyes wide. “Watch your language. In this house, we use duck.”
I scowl. “That’s absurd.”
“You’ll see. Give it a couple of months, and you’ll be making friendship bracelets and singing ‘Duck, Duck, Goose.’”
I shake my head. What the fuck is he talking about? “Anyway,” I sigh, “thanks for making dinner. It was a little less awkward with you here.”
He roughs both hands through his curly brown hair. He wears itshaggy enough that it bounces as he moves, and the media in Boston goes nuts over it. “Awkward? How so? You mean because you and my sister do everything you can tonotlook at one another even though you can’t look away?”
I give him the middle finger salute. “I’m gonna go help with bath time.”
