Seth swung his arms wildly and reached across the table.
“You’ll get your cookie, calm down.” He managed to keep one arm around Seth and reach in the bag for the other. “Kids are born knowing the difference between a carrot and a cookie, I swear it.”
Jo broke one of the treats in half, chocolate chips melting and stretching between the two pieces. “Since my diet likely isn’t much better than a toddler’s, I have to agree with him on the eagerness.”
Trace held out half a cookie, but Seth kept reaching across the table. Not at the bag, but at …
“Oh, no.” Trace jiggled the boy a little on his knee. “She’s busy eating her snack. You eat yours.”
Jo’s eyes widened. “Does he want my cookie? I thought they were all the same, but he can—”
“Not your cookie. You.” He shrugged. “He likes people. You’re still new. He wants to come over and say hi. He’ll get over it.”
Jo’s hands froze, fingers almost to her mouth with a bite of cookie. “He wants me to hold him?”
“Probably, but don’t worry about it. It’s no big deal.” He tried to distract Seth with the cup, but nothing doing. The kid kept reaching for Jo like she was a walking candy factory and he was a kid with a sweet tooth. “Or maybe we should just head out now, since he’s a little anxious.”
“Oh, well …” She put the cookie down and brushed her hands together, ridding them of crumbs. “If you don’t mind, I could take him for a minute. I guess… .” She reached out, then pulled back. “I can’t, like, hurt him or anything, can I?”
Trace chuckled, but swallowed it when he realized she was serious. “No, he’s pretty well past the breakable stage. Kids are born with rubber in their bones anyway, Emma says. It’s a survival thing. If you’re sure.”
“Yeah. I mean, he’s a little kid. How hard could it be? You’ll tell me if I do it wrong, right?” She reached out with more confidence now, and took Seth under the arms as Trace passed him over. His son cooed his happiness at the change of scenery and the new person to discover.
“Oh, hey.” She gingerly removed one tiny fist from around her hoop earring. “Ouch. Okay, no more of that.”
“Sorry.” Trace stood, ready to take Seth back, but Jo motioned for him to sit back down.
“We’re just getting to know each other. It’s okay.” She and Seth were nose to nose for a moment, and then Seth’s chubby hands came out to palm her cheeks. He blew a spit bubble that nearly landed on her lips, and laughed hysterically.
“Apparently Muldoon men can’t resist you.”
Jo’s smile was one of mild wonder. He recognized it easily. It was the same look he’d felt cross his face every time he snuck in to watch Seth sleeping in his crib the first few months of his life. He doubted it ever would completely fade away, the wonder and mystery that was watching your child grow up.
“Wanna try a cookie now?” She held out the snack, and Seth’s hand shot out like a cannon to claim it. “I guess that’s a yes.”
Trace’s cell phone buzzed in his pocket, and he stood to take it out and check the ID. “It’s Bea.” He slipped it back in his pocket. “She’s probably got some stupid errand she wants me to run. Pass.”
“So you’re going to act like you didn’t know.” Jo’s eyebrow rose in mock disapproval.
“Sure am. I’m surrounded by women in that house. Seth’s not a reliable partner in crime yet. I seize any lifeline I can. God knows what she wants. Feminine hygiene products or something.” He shuddered, and then frowned when his phone buzzed a second time. Bea again. “This is a little much, even for her. Just let me see what’s up.”
“Sure.” Jo grabbed Seth’s cup and set it in front of him, making it dance a little to his son’s delight. “We’re fine.”
He stepped back toward the bedroom where Seth’s squeals weren’t so penetrating and answered the call. “What’s up, Bea?”
“Trace?” Bea’s voice was thin and shaky. An actress she might be, but even he recognized immediately this upset was real. “Can you come get me?”
“What happened? Where are you? Are you all right?”
Bea sniffled; then he could almost hear her sucking it up to get out the important facts. “I drove into town for some shopping.”
“Where are you?”
“Not Marshall. I was heading to Pierre. I thought I could make a day of it. But then on my way a trucker ran me off the road and my car hit the guard rail and then another car hit me from behind and …” Despite her best efforts to continue the story, Trace lost her words from there in a sea of sobs and half-stutters and wails.