“Absolutely.” His face was so serious. “How else will I know if she’s paying attention?”
I was still laughing when I said, “She’s not a child, Emery.”
I had to make sure he was aware of that. The last thing I needed was for him to look at her the same way he viewed our daughter and treat her as though she were seventeen, too.
“I know,” he replied, tightening his grip on my leg. “I just hate when I have to say things twice.”
Good listening skills was one of the top things I’d looked for and I tested each candidate during their interview. Charlotte was the only one who passed.
“Have you had to repeat yourself so far with her?” I asked.
“No.” He paused. “I’m impressed.”
I couldn’t have been happier with his response.
I picked up a blueberry and held it against my lips. Just as I was about to bite down on it, Emery’s phone beeped.
“It’s a text from Charlotte,” he said, staring at the screen. “She purchased the airline tickets and forwarded me the confirmation.”
I was sure Emery hadn’t gotten to his flying preferences during their short time together today, however all of that information was included in the notebook I gave her. I just hoped she had looked at it first because Emery was a fussy traveler.
I watched him open his email, a smile slowly creeping over his face. “She got everything right. And … Jesus Christ.”
“What?”
“She booked her hotel, the one that’s a few blocks away from our place and she sent Luz an email, letting her know we changed our schedule, so Luz can make herself available for the kids.”
She was proving herself.
And Emery was pleased.
I placed my hand on my husband’s and gazed into his eyes, my heart starting to speed up, pounding on the inside of my chest. My other hand clenched in a fist and I pressed it against my stomach. “Sounds like I found you exactly what you need.”
“Baby …” The look he had on told me I could have anything I wanted and that was when I knew how well I had really done. “You did.”
***
“Mom!” Viv shouted from the front door.
The sound of her voice was no different when she woke up in the morning. She was loud, always making her presence known. I wouldn’t have her any other way.
“In the kitchen, baby.”
I made sure my hands were tightly inside the mitts when I reached into the oven and took out the roasted potatoes and vegetables and the four pounds of haddock Luz had baked.
“Where is everyone?” Viv asked as she came over to the island.
The curls she had put in her hair this morning were gone and so was most of her makeup. There was worry on her face instead and I had a feeling it was due to the test she had coming up on Friday, and she was thinking about the date she had gone on last weekend. The guy was new to her school, a transfer who had come in for just his senior year. She liked him.
“Tommy is in his room doing homework, Daddy is in his office.”
“Ugh.”
I stopped placing the asparagus on the tray. “What’s wrong?”
“I was hoping Tommy would be at art class, so it wouldn’t look so bad that I have to bail on dinner.”
I placed an onion sliver in my mouth and set the spatula on the baking sheet, so it wouldn’t shake in my hand. “Why are you too busy for dinner?”
“I have a paper due tomorrow and I need every second to finish it.”
“Nice try, Missy. You’re coming to dinner and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
“Mom …”
I gripped the edge of the counter. “You know the rules. We don’t miss family dinner. There are no exceptions.”
“But—”