Kinleigh grinned. “You got it.”
I checked in with Gideon. He was happy to have the extra few hours to get some woodworking done now that my crisis was averted.
And still, I wasn’t allowed to see.
I helped Vee with the tray of sandwiches and paninis she made. I managed to heat half of one before the vultures descended. Namely, a certain eight-year-old that seemed to have a hole in her stomach. That or a hollow leg.
We all cleaned up after mowing down the food. Kinleigh spread out a tube of brown paper over the table and taped it down. Dani kept flashing me pictures of the galaxy pumpkins on her phone.
She was very organized with the steps we needed to take for each layer of the pumpkin. I went into the back and got some old aprons so we could keep the splatter to a minimum.
Of course they didn’t wait for me.
Laughter and the familiar sound of ball-bearings rattling in a spray can swamped me with memories. My brother had always been working with that kind of paint. Nothing as traditional as brushes and tubes of color for him.
But the things he’d created with tag art and the finicky medium of spray paint had always amazed me. It had been years since that smell had filled my senses. The sudden flood of sadness was staggering. I’d walked away from so much more than just a broken heart.
I spotted Kinleigh pouring wine into a cup with a straw for me. Thank God.
“I’m making a pink one,” Ivy announced with a white mask over the bottom half of her face.
I took my cup to supervise a little further from the line of spray. I wasn’t sure if the paint was a good idea for her advanced pregnancy. Kinleigh came up next to me and tipped the wine bottle against the rim of my glass and refilled my rapidly draining cup.
Maybe I had a hole in it.
“Non-toxic spray paint, but I propped the front door open for some air.”
“Thanks for helping out with Dani.”
Kinleigh smiled. “She’s a good kid. Not sure why Gideon was hiding her.”
“Mother’s a real peach. Famous,” I said under my breath. I didn’t want Dani to hear me say something about the piranha. Gideon was pretty adamant about keeping a positive spin on how they interacted.
“Oh, have you met her?”
“You haven’t heard about my little Mexican standoff with his ex? I all but licked Gideon and called him mine.”
“Is he yours?” She crossed her arms.
“Yes,” Rylee called from the table.
Damn bat ears. She always heard everything. “We’re dating,” I admitted gruffly.
“About time.” Kinleigh blotted her dewy forehead with the back of her hand—the only part not spattered in black and purple paint.
I took another long drink from my straw in lieu of an answer.
“You guys have been tossing off so many sparks, I’m shocked we haven’t gotten a brushfire.”
“Yeah, well, it’s complicated.” I nodded to Dani, who waved and gave me her shiny-eyed, deliriously happy gap-toothed smile. The one that made my chest ache with old ghosts and new anxiety. Damn kid.
“I mean, I know you aren’t into kids—which hello, I don’t understand. I want to have like five.”
“Good God.”
“What?” She picked at paint spots on her ringed fingers. “I want a big family. I never had one.”
I recognized the sappy look on her face. Many a woman wore it in this town. Because I didn’t know how to reply, I took another drink until my straw was slurping on nothing. I moved to the wine for a refill.