Or, I think so until I hear Vince mutter, “Stop mauling the guests, asshole.”
Since he’s Carly’s husband and I don’t want her to hate me, I reach back and remove Rafe’s hand, explaining to Vince, “He was just making fun of my shirt.”
“There’s no seashell print on your ass,” Vince states, opening a drawer and grabbing the tape. Then, to Rafe, he says, “Why don’t you come outside and help us hang all these fucking balloons?”
“Below my pay grade,” Rafe states.
Now that he has his tape, Vince goes to help Sin, making disparaging remarks about Rafe’s character under his breath.
I smile at Rafe, leaning against the counter again and watching me. “He really likes you.”
“A lot.” He misses a beat, glances off toward the arch his cousin disappeared through, then says, “I should go pull up a seat and watch those assholes hang balloons, really piss Vince off.”
I shake my head at him. “This is why people want to poison you,” I call after him as he leaves the kitchen.
The guests have all arrived and the party is off to a great start. Nicholas fell asleep when we were setting up, but as I glance up from my cup of rainbow punch, I see Laurel closing the sliding door and hauling him outside. She has been running around, trying to make everything perfect for Skylar’s party, so I decide to go over and offer my babysitting services. I haven’t had a chance to cuddle Nicky all day, anyway.
Leaving my punch on the table, I approach Laurel. Most of the guests remain at one set table, but Laurel is bouncing around, trying to visit everyone. Right now Sin is talking to Adrian, so Laurel is showing Nicky off to his wife, Elise.
Adrian glances up at me first, Sin follows, and finally Laurel looks up. “Hey, Virginia. Having fun?”
“Oh, yeah. They can barely keep me out of the bounce castle.” I crouch down, waving at Nicky. He offers me a gummy smile in return. “I wanted to see if you needed help with anything,” I tell her. “Especially this little cutie. If you need someone on cuddle duty, I would like to formally call dibs.”
Chuckling, she leans down and kisses his forehead. “Cuddle duty is certainly the most fun. You can take him for a little bit, if you want.”
“I definitely want,” I offer, reaching out grabby hands at him and making him smile again.
As she hands him off to me, she seems to remember something. “Oh, you know what? I actually did want to ask you for help with something. You know how someone usually keeps track of which gift comes from which person and records it all for thank you cards? I don’t want to treat your mind like a party trick, I’m not even sure if it works that way, but I was wondering if you might take that job?”
I shift Nicky to hold him more comfortably. “Oh, yeah, no sweat.”
“Great, thank you. I’ll get you a notebook and everything, just to be safe.”
I shake my head. “Don’t need one. I’ll watch and keep track. If you need me to write it down for you later, I can.”
Flashing me a smile, she says, “You’re the best. Thank you.”
“From memory?”
I glance up at Adrian, who just asked the question. “Huh?”
“You can write down a list like that from memory?” he questions.
I nod, tilting my head away from Nicholas as he grabs a fistful of my hair and yanks. “Waitress skills for the win.”
Laurel expands on my explanation, telling Adrian, “She has an eidetic memory. How cool is that? I wish I did. It sure would make studying less time-consuming.”
I don’t like the way he’s watching me, so I snuggle Nicholas and tell Laurel, “We’re gonna go watch the kids in the bouncy castle, if you need us.”
“Okay. Thanks, Virginia.”
29
Virginia
I sit on the ground in the middle of purple and teal pillows and look out at the children assembled in front of me. They’re all sitting here waiting for cake, but before the cake comes storytime.
So, I begin my tale.