“Okay. Wait!” she called when he started toward the front door. She reached for a spray bottle she’d put on the counter and held it up. “Sunblock and mosquito repellent.”
His eyes glinted with interest as he walked toward her. “You want me to put it on you?”
“No. I already put it on. You should put some on, though.”
He shrugged. “I never wear that stuff.”
She shook her head, grinning when she caught his eye.
“You never worry about things like West Nile virus, Lyme disease, skin cancer?” she asked, amused, as they started out the door and across the large yard to Katie and Rill’s house. The forest chirped, twittered and creaked behind them, cheerfully alive and hopping in the early morning light.
“I worry about stuff, but not about those things,” Everett said.
“What things, then?” she couldn’t help but ask as they crept up the front stairs. What did a man like Everett Hughes worry about?
He opened his mouth to answer but paused as he opened the screen door and tested the knob. It was locked.
“They’re probably all still sleeping. I know Seth will be. He’s usually up all hours working and sleeps until ten or eleven. It’s only six thirty,” Joy whispered guiltily as Everett used some keys he had in his pocket to unlock the door. They were both clutching their coffees. The summer day was already so balmy, hardly any steam rose from the hot liquid.
“We’ll be the highest caliber cream thieves—get in, get the goods, get out,” Everett whispered.
She rolled her eyes and followed him into the silent kitchen. Barnyard rose from his reclining position on the floor and trotted up to them on short legs, his doleful brown eyes slightly accusatory. He sniffed Everett’s high-tops and waddled away.
“They must sleep so much more peacefully with a watchdog like that,” Everett mumbled.
He was about to pour some cream into her proffered cup a moment later when he suddenly raised his hand in a caution gesture.
“What?” Joy whispered, eyes wide.
“Did you hear that? Daisy’s awake.”
Joy strained to hear, but the big old house was silent.
“I don’t hear anything.”
Everett hastily poured some cream into her coffee and set her cup on the kitchen island. He signaled for her to follow him. She really did feel like a thief tiptoeing down the long hallway after him. They crept into Daisy’s confection of a little girl nursery, Everett several steps ahead of her. She saw him looking down into the white bassinet cradle. The next thing she knew, he was reaching in and lifting his niece into his arms.
He grinned at Joy and made a silent gesture toward the open door. Joy led them into the empty living room.
“Katie and Rill have both been sleep-deprived lately,” Everett murmured as they sat on the couch. “Is it okay if we watch her for a little bit and give them a little more shut-eye?”
“Of course,” Joy said, sliding over on the cushion so that she could look into the bundle tucked in the crook of Everett’s arm. Daisy blinked sleepy-looking eyes and looked up at her uncle. She pursed perfect pink lips and made a wet burbling sound. Joy grinned. Daisy had at first demonstrated some stranger anxiety toward her last night, but by the time the evening had been over, she’d warmed up and allowed Joy to hold her. The little girl had inherited Rill’s dark hair and Katie’s delicate features. As for her eyes, they were a striking combination of Rill’s blue and Katie’s green.
“Her eyes remind me of yours,” Joy told Everett, touching a tiny hand. Daisy bobbed her fist and turned her sleepy eyes toward her. “Hi, Daisy. Good morning, pretty girl.”
Daisy went still and stared at her for a second as if spellbound.
“Yeah, that’s how I feel when I look at her,” Everett murmured. Warmth flooded Joy at his casually spoken words. Daisy turned at the sound of his deep voice. He leaned down and kissed her on a smooth cheek, and Daisy pumped both of her fists at once, a definite sign of approval. Joy chuckled.
“She loves her uncle. You must spend a lot of time with her.”
“Not as much as I’d like,” Everett said quietly. “I can’t believe she’s already been on this planet for almost half a year. Time flies, doesn’t it, Daisy-girl?”
He continued to talk to the baby in a low, confidential tone about anything that crossed his mind. He asked her if the Dodgers would make the play-offs this year, if she liked Joy’s running shoes better than his, and what was her opinion on Tinkerbell—minx or misunderstood? Daisy stared up at him with a somber, adorable focus. After a few minutes, Joy transferred her gaze to his face as he charmed his niece. Her heart dipped in her chest. He looked easily as happy and transfixed as Daisy did.
“You’re going to get a big head, having a pretty girl look at you that way,” she murmured when Everett shifted Daisy to his lap.
“He already has one when it comes to Daisy. That’s why he comes up here and wakes her up, to puff himself up a little further,” a sleepy, beleaguered voice said. Joy glanced up to see Katie standing there, her long hair tumbling around her shoulders in a wild, mussed tangle of curls and waves. She wore shorts, a tank top, slippers and a fluffy robe partially tied around her waist. “I can’t believe you woke up my baby again, Everett.”