She headed past the bags and toward the back of the house and kitchen, where all the noise was coming from.
Tyler was at the stove, his back to Cassie as he flipped pancakes, and Heather was pouring juice.
Her daughter, with bed head and still in her jammies, was sitting at the table, with one of her Dr. Seuss books. She was pretending to read it out loud even though Daisy only knew a few of the words. Basically, her daughter was pointing to the pictures and reciting the book from memory since Cassie had read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish to her five million and one times. Like Daisy, she could probably recite it in her sleep.
However, Daisy said flish instead of fish.
“It’s fish, honey,” Heather was correcting her as she placed a small glass of OJ in front of Cassie’s daughter. “One fish, not one flish.”
“Don’t even bother,” Cassie told her sister as she entered the kitchen. “She knows what it is. She chooses to destroy Dr. Seuss’s greatest classic by choice.”
“Momma!” Daisy squealed and scraped her chair back, jumping down and running at Cassie like a slo-mo Godzilla with exaggerated steps and flying arms. At least that gave Cassie time to prepare for the impact.
Daisy hit her legs, wrapped her arms around them and glanced up. “Where were yoooooou? I was all alone!”
“You were not. Aunt Heather and Uncle Tyler were here. And if they weren’t, you’d be getting cereal and not pancakes from me.”
“Then I’m glad you weren’t,” her daughter huffed. “Because pancakes are waaaaay better than cereal.”
“That we can agree on.” She peeled her daughter off. “Uncle Tyler has a plate ready for you.”
Daisy did her dramatic slow motion run back to the table and scrambled into her seat. Tyler pushed her closer to the table and put the plate down in front of her. Cassie went over and plucked the Dr. Seuss book off the table so it wouldn’t get coated in maple syrup. Right now, she didn’t want to waste the little money she had on a new copy.
“Got your text,” Heather said in a low voice as she shuttled past her with a couple more plates piled with an adult-sized portion of pancakes. “From an unknown number.”
Heat immediately filled Cassie’s cheeks and her sister shot her a knowing look with raised eyebrows.
“Late night, huh?”
“Mmm.”
“Everything okay?” Tyler asked, his eyes holding amusement.
“Mmm hmm.”
“Momma, you made me sleep alllllll by myself alllllll night. I was lonely.”
She gave her daughter a dubious look. “I doubt you were lonely since you were asleep.”
“Yes, it was a very lonely sleep.”
Cassie rolled her eyes and sat down in the fourth spot at the table. After last night’s activities, she was starved.
Tyler dropped his head to hide his laughter, then picked up his mug of coffee.
Coffee.
Yes, that was what she needed. Coffee would have to replace the sleep she really needed.
“Guess you forgot to take a brush to your sleepover,” Heather asked with a smirk.
Cassie’s hand immediately raised to her hair and she quickly combed her fingers through some of the knots. “Mmm. Yes.”
“Aunt Heather said you had a sleepover last night with one of your friends,” Daisy said around a mouthful of pancakes.
“Uh... Yes, sweetie, I did. But please don’t talk with food in your mouth.”
Daisy made a big display of swallowing it down, then opened her mouth to show Cassie it was now empty before asking, “Did you have fun?”
“Umm. Yes, it was fun.”
“Did you play games?”
“We... uh... Yes.”
“Did you win?”
A loud snort came from Tyler’s end of the table. Heather shot up from her seat, almost knocking her chair over. “I’ll get you some coffee, sis.”
“Did you win?” Daisy repeated in a scream this time.
Cassie winced. “Inside voice, young lady.”
“This is my inside voice.”
“No, it isn’t, and you’ll go up to your room without finishing your pancakes if you don’t find it.”
Daisy’s mouth dropped open, snapped shut and then she whispered, “Sorry.”
“Apology accepted.”
“Did you win?” Daisy asked again in a loud whisper.
Cassie wrapped her hands around the mug Heather set in front of her. There wasn’t enough caffeine in the world for her to come up with a good answer, so she simply said, “Yes.”
“What did you play?”
Oh good God.
“I think it’s a game called slap and tickle, Daze,” Tyler said, struggling to keep a straight face.
“I never heard of that game before,” Daisy said with all seriousness, then shoveled a stuffed forkful of pancakes into her mouth, syrup dribbling down her chin.
“That’s good,” Heather said, tears escaping the corners of her eyes and her face turning red from trying to contain her laughter. “It’s a game for adults.”
“Why? I like being tickled!” Daisy declared loudly. “No slapping though. I don’t wanna be slapped.”
“That’s good,” Cassie said, setting down her mug and eating a mouthful of pancakes. She needed to change the subject. And fast. “Why is there luggage by the door?”
“We’re goin’ on a trip!” Daisy announced.
“We are?” She turned toward Heather.
“No, we’re going on a trip. I texted you several times last night.”
Cassie frowned. “My phone... Uh...”
Heather raised her palm. “We got a call late last night that Ty’s dad fell and broke his hip. He’s in the hospital and his mom is really upset.”
“Holy shi—er, moley! Is he going to be okay?”
Ty shrugged. “A broken hip is always a concern at his age.”
“His age?” Cassie frowned. “He’s not that old.”
“Old enough to make it a worry, apparently. I tried to text you but—”
Daisy cut her aunt off. “But Momma was toooooo busy winnin’ at slap an’ tickle.”
Cassie shot Tyler a glare and mouthed, “This is your fault.”
Tyler’s lips twitched and he ate another mouthful of pancakes.
“So, wait... Are you headed down there, Ty?” Cassie asked him. “What about Christmas?”
“Yes,” Heather answered. “John won’t be able to travel for a while. Tyler’s whole family decided to have Christmas at the family home instead of coming out here. We’ll do Christmas here next year.”
“That’s all been decided already?” Cassie asked in shock.
“Sorry,” Tyler apologized. “But you’re welcome to come. My mom said you can come down and stay at the house with us. There’s plenty of room for you and Crazy Daze.”
“Yeah!” Daisy screamed, plunking down her glass so hard, OJ splashed over the rim and onto the table.
She couldn’t do that. She just couldn’t pick up and leave. She not only just got to Manning Grove, she now had a job. “I just got this job, I can’t leave. And I don’t want to uproot Daisy already. Even if it’s only for a couple of weeks.”
“It’s not a permanent job, Cass,” Heather reminded her. “You can probably get it back later or find a new one. Maybe you-know-who will be found during the holidays and things can get back to normal for you.”
“Who got lost?” Daisy asked, her head spinning around the table.
“No one got lost,” Cassie assured her, then shook her head. “I’m not ditching this job. It’s paying me cash. Even you said one like that would be hard to find.”
Her sister sat back and nodded. “Yes, you’re right.”
“And I need the money,” Cassie needlessly reminded her sister.
“What will you do about Daisy? Do you want us to take her with us?”
What?
Heather continued, “It would only be for a little more than two weeks. Unt
il after New Year’s Day.”
After New Year’s Day? She couldn’t live without her daughter for that long. It was bad enough Daisy’s father disappeared from her life. Not only that, she couldn’t stick Heather and Tyler with her—as Judge called her—sassy daughter.
That also wouldn’t be fair to Tyler’s parents, especially since John was currently hospitalized and would need time for recuperation. An active, loud five-year-old would not help.
“Yeah, Momma, I’ll get more presents that way.”
“No, you’re not going down to North Carolina. You’re staying here with me.”
“I don’t wanna stay with you,” Daisy huffed. “I’ll lose at slap an’ tickle. Maybe Uncle Tyler’s momma will play with me an’ I’ll win.”
She shot Tyler another deadly glare. “Again, it’s not a game for kids, Daze.”
She could just imagine what a nightmare it would be once Daisy went back to school and asked the other kids to play slap and tickle. She could be the first kid in history to be expelled from kindergarten.
Daisy crossed her arms over her chest, made a mad face and huffed, “Fine.”
“Finish your breakfast,” she told her daughter and turned toward Tyler. “When are you two leaving?”
“We decided to drive, so tomorrow morning. We’ll take turns and drive right through.”
Cassie grimaced and nodded.
“Momma, can I go watch cartoons?” Daisy hopped out of her chair. “Pweeeeeeze.”
It was no surprise her five-year-old was tired of the adults talking. “Please,” she corrected her daughter.
“Please,” she harrumphed with a sharp head nod.
“Yes, you may.”
Daisy squealed loud enough to make everyone but her wince and she dashed from the kitchen.
“At a reasonable volume,” Cassie called out to her daughter. Of course, she didn’t get an answer.
“At least the decorations are already up, but I still feel bad leaving you two alone for the holidays,” Heather said.
“We’ll be fine. We were alone last Christmas at the house.”
“I thought Mom and Dad came over.”
Cassie’s lips thinned. “They went on that cruise, remember?” She lifted her eyebrows.
Heather frowned. “Oh, yeah, I forgot about that cruise since we spent the holidays last year at Tyler’s brother’s.”
That trip was conveniently booked when Cassie suggested they get together for Christmas. Her parents took a last-minute two-week cruise in the Caribbean.
“My only concern is what to do with Daisy when I’m working. Any suggestions?”
Paying for a babysitter—if she could even find one—would cut into her small pile of cash. It would delay her leaving her sister’s house. Even so, she had no choice but to find someone to watch her daughter. She couldn’t bring her along to the bar.
“It’ll have to be someone old enough to stay overnight,” Ty suggested, “since you roll in sometime after two.”
“Do you mind a stranger staying in your house?” Cassie asked.
“Do you mind a stranger watching Daisy?” Heather countered.
Shit.
“There has to be someone we know. Someone we trust.” Tyler rose from his seat and gathered the empty plates and dirty silverware. “A neighbor? That would be convenient. Someone who could go home as soon as Cass returns from work.”
“But who?” Heather pursed her lips. “It would have to be someone without a day job, I would think.”
“Well, after tonight I’m off until Thursday afternoon. So, we have until then to find someone.”
Heather smacked her hands together sharply. “How about a college kid home from school for the holidays? No job. Needs the dough. Same attitude as Crazy Daisy. Doesn’t mind being up late at night...”
“A responsible college kid would be perfect. If we knew one,” Cassie said. “Maybe make sure it’s a girl, too, since Daisy might ask to play slap and tickle. Thank you very much, Ty. Can’t wait until you have one of your own, so I can pay you back in spades.”
Heather whacked Tyler in the gut, quickly getting rid of her husband’s smirk. “Okay, who’s got a college kid home in the neighborhood...” She tapped a finger against her lips.
“A female one, Heather,” Cassie reminded her. “Just for my peace of mind.”
Heather inhaled sharply and her face lit up. “The Martin’s daughter might have come home for Christmas. I swore I saw her car out in front of their house. I’m going to go call them.” She dashed from the room almost as quickly as Daisy. Then a second later, she peeked her head back in. “I’ll change the sheets in our room before we go, so you can have the master bedroom and you don’t have to share the spare bedroom with Daisy.” Then her sister was gone.
Sleeping by herself would be like heaven. Though, she wouldn’t doubt Daisy might try crawling into bed with her very early in the morning. The only other person she might want climbing into her bed...
“Anyone we know?” Tyler asked, wiping down the table with a sponge.
Cassie’s gaze slid from where Heather disappeared to her brother-in-law. “Hmm?”
“Was he anyone we know?”
“Nope. Just someone I met at the bar.”
“So, nothing serious.”
“No.”
“Sometimes a little random slap and tickle is good for you.”
Yes, sometimes. Earlier this morning seemed to be one of those times.
But that couldn’t happen again.
Nope. It couldn’t.
Or shouldn’t.
Because if it did, it would no longer be so random.
Right?
Chapter Twelve
Judge pounded on the door with the heel of his fist and dropped his head to stare at his boots.
He twisted it to the right for a second to glance at the CRV and one other car in the driveway.
Yeah, he hadn’t been invited but he really didn’t give a fuck.
He forced himself to leave her alone yesterday. But he’d checked with Dodge in a roundabout way to make sure Cassie had shown up for work. She had.
And, of course, he couldn’t text her because he didn’t have her fucking number. He definitely wasn’t asking Stella for it. Or Trip. Because that would throw red flags and his ass would be ridden until it was chapped.
What they did early Sunday morning in the dead of night was their fucking business and no one else’s.
He hadn’t followed her home Sunday night, either, for the first time since he found out she was working at Crazy Pete’s. He’d fought the instinct to do it and somehow won. Because if he had, she might have ended right back in his bed.
He needed some sleep so he could think clearly today and so did she.
He gave her some time and now, there he stood, on the porch of her sister’s house, banging on the goddamn door.
He should just fucking leave.
It was stupid to chase her.
He never chased women.
Never.
Through the lacy curtains, he saw a little tornado rushing toward the front door.
If he could see Daisy, she could see him. Now he couldn’t fucking leave even if he wanted to. Especially when she screamed, “It’s Judge!” at the top of her lungs and continued running down the hallway, sounding like a herd of buffalo.
Just as she flung the door open—he’d have to have a little discussion with her about doing that—he saw her mother peek her head out into the hallway from a room at the back of the house, possibly a kitchen, and her mouth drop open.
Yep, he was definitely not expected.
The door whipped open so quickly, it banged into the doorstopper making it twang loudly.
“Hi, Judge!” was squealed at dog whistle frequency.
At least somebody was happy to see him.
He stepped back but she kept coming and she ran right up to him, her little sneakered feet pressing right against the steel toes of his boots. Her head fell a
ll the way back as she stared up at him, her eyes—the same blue as her mother’s—snapping with excitement. “Pick me up.”
Jesus, she wasn’t asking, she was demanding. Like a mini tyrant.
His eyes slid to Cassie, who was now coming down the hallway, not at the same pace as her daughter. Fuck no, much more slowly, not bothering to hide the suspicion in her expression.
Daisy pounded on his thigh, drawing his attention, when he really wanted to watch Cassie’s hips rock like a boat in stormy seas toward him instead.
“Pick. Me. Up!”
“Daze,” Cassie began.
But before she could get the rest of her words out, Judge scooped the little girl up in his arms and she just about made him deaf with her shriek of excitement.
Then she grabbed his beard with a tight tiny tyrant fist. He winced when she yanked on it. “It’s soooooo scratchy!”
The five-year-old yanking on it was not the same as her thirty-something mother doing the same.
He’d admit he preferred the latter.
Judge grabbed her little fist and pried her fingers open. “Don’t need bald spots, kid.”
Daisy laughed like a little maniac and released her hold, wrapping her arms around his neck and her little legs around his waist. She began to bounce and kick him with her heels. “Giddyap, horsey, take me inside.”
“Daisy!” Cassie yelled, reaching for her daughter.
“I got ‘er,” Judge told her and stepped inside. It was a good excuse to get his ass in the door.
She closed it behind him, probably only because it was cold out and not because she wanted him there. “Please, put her down. She can’t just climb all over strangers.”
“He’s not a stranger, Mommmma. We know him. He’s Judge.”
He met Cassie’s annoyed blue eyes, his lips twitching. “Yeah, you know me. I’m Judge. We’ve... met.”
The woman rolled her eyes at his smirk. “It’s late. You need a bath and to get ready for bed.”
That sounded like a good plan to him.
“Judge just got here!”
Damn. Maybe Cassie meant that for her kid, not him. “Not stayin’ long, kid, just needed to talk to your momma.”
“Will you read me a story ‘til I’m sleepy?”
Blood & Bones: Judge (Blood Fury MC Book 3) Page 16
