Jade groaned and turned her face into Tobin’s arm.
“She’s a damn sight prettier than you,” Fletch said. “Tell you what. Leave her here with us. We’ll take good care of her.”
“Fuck that.” Tobin steered Jade inside the entrance and across the main room to the bar and dining area.
“Do they always give you that much crap?”
“In the way only friends can do and not get punched.” Tobin headed to the bar and stepped behind it. “It’s serve yourself, so what’re you drinking?”
“I’ll just have a Coke.”
Tobin loaded a glass with ice, filled it with soda and dropped two cherries in the top. “Here you go.”
“Nice touch.”
“I thought an umbrella might be over the top.” He popped the top on a Budweiser. “Let’s make the rounds.”
The first person they ran into was Tierney. And she jumped right in. “Hi. Jade, right? I’m Tierney Jackson. I do the finances around here and some other stuff.”
“Nice to meet you. I saw your darling son with Renner.”
Tierney beamed. “He is a doll. Our daughter Isabelle is running around someplace. I wanted to say welcome and if you need anything, just swing by my office. Garnet is family. And you are too.” She shot Tobin a soft look. “Doubly so now.”
“Thanks.”
A child’s bloodcurdling scream echoed across the space and Jade jumped.
Tierney sighed. “I never thought I’d get used to that, but I am now.”
Tobin watched as Isabelle raced in and tried to hide in front of her mother.
But Tierney neatly stepped aside.
A sweaty boy, covered in mud, stalked closer to them.
Harper, a chubby baby boy on her hip, shouted, “Jake Turner. You stop right there.”
He spun around.
“Oh good lord, you were not raised in a barn! Why on earth would you think it’s okay to track mud across the lodge carpeting? Get out on the patio. Sit there and wait.”
He shuffled off.
Isa giggled. Too late she clapped her hand over her mouth when her mother heard it.
“And you can sit on the bench outside my office, Isabelle Jackson. I’ll send your father to get you when it’s time but you’d better not move.”
Tobin looked at Jade, who watched the interplay like a tennis match.
Harper sauntered over. “Sorry. It’s usually not like this.”
“Yes it is,” Tobin mock-whispered to Jade.
“I’m Harper. We met briefly at Bernice’s a few weeks back.”
“Oh. Yes. Nice to see you again.”
Harper hoisted her baby higher on her hip. “This is Gage. The youngest of my three boys. The only one not covered in mud, or blood, but I sorta smell something worse.”
Tobin stepped back.
She laughed. “Just you wait, buster. Bran was grossed out too, changing diapers with kid number one. Which boggles my mind because the man regularly sticks his entire arm up a cow’s—”
“She gets it, Harper,” Tierney said. “Don’t forget Tobin often has his arm up there too.”
“Great, ladies. Thanks.”
Just then Janie Lawson came in from outside, her hand clamped around her son Tyler’s upper arm. “You are grounded from watching TV. You do not karate chop people, do you hear me? Especially not your friends. You’re lucky that Bran stepped in before Tate throttled you.” Janie stopped. “Oh. Hey. Sorry. Just having a special little one-on-one time with my son.”
“Janie, meet my girlfriend, Jade. Jade, Janie Lawson is the big boss here at the Split Rock.”
“She’s the boss at work but Daddy’s the boss at home,” Tyler announced.
Such a precocious little shit.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lawson,” Jade said.
“Trust me, the pleasure is mine. Welcome to the Split Rock family. Please, call me Janie. Do you have any questions?”
“About a million.”
“The job is pretty straightforward. Dodie is in charge of the kitchen and she’ll set the schedule. If there’s a personal issue, come to me or Renner. If we have an employment issue, we’ll come to you. That’s rare, trust me.”
“Does the kitchen staff wear uniforms?” Jade asked.
“Mama, watch this,” Tyler said.
“Not now, honey, I’m talking.” She looked at Jade. “Did you wear uniforms in New York?”
“Yes. Not that I brought them with me. But prep cooks wore white. Line cooks wore black.”
“You can wear whatever you’re comfortable in.”
“All right. Then I’ll have my parents send my prep uniforms.”
“So you’re both living in Garnet’s house?” Janie asked. “And she just left the two of you alone for three weeks?”