"What do you feel like eating?" She shrugged again. "Hmmm, I know when kids are sick, you're only supposed to feed them food on the BRAT list."
"The what?" Her face contorted in confusion.
"BRAT-bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. Rice isn't a very good breakfast choice. How about toast?" I gave her a hopeful look.
"I hate toast."
"Okay … ." I turned back to the cupboards, looking for applesauce but coming up empty-handed. My gaze moved over the countertops until I found what I was looking for. "Ah! But there are bananas. How about a banana?"
Ruby chewed on her bottom lip a bit, then said, "I'm, like, really hungry."
"Hmmm," I said, thinking that breakfast couldn't always be this difficult. Then my eyes caught something else in the cupboard. "How about banana pancakes?"
Her eyebrows rose. "You can make banana pancakes?"
I shrugged one shoulder. "Sure. It can't be that hard. You've got bananas and pancake mix. Besides, everything is possible with Google." She gave a little laugh and I wanted to hold on to that sound forever, just grab it tightly and listen to it over and over again. Instead, I walked to the coffee table to retrieve my phone.
Twenty minutes later I had thrown together Google's easiest banana pancake recipe and two good-sized pancakes were cooking on the stovetop.
"Were you on a date with my dad last night?" Ruby had been noticeably quiet as I prepared the batter, and I'd let the silence between us linger, unsure of where to start a conversation, so I was completely caught off guard by her question.
"We … were … just spending some time together. No big deal." I tried to sound airy and light, not at all like we were talking about the huge change Ruby had picked up on.
"He put on his fancy cologne before he left. And you're wearing a dress."
I read between the lines of what she was saying, and thanked my lucky stars I was forced to watch the pancakes bubble instead of having to face her. Obviously, Devon hadn't explained to his children that he was dating, and it wasn't my business to have that conversation with his daughter. The pancakes made a satisfying sizzle as I flipped them, and then I turned to Ruby.
"Your father and I just enjoy each other's company. Sometimes it's good for adults to spend time with other adults."
Her face didn't change with my statement, and she continued to watch me, looking as though she was waiting for more of an explanation. Waiting for me to tell her something that would take the fear of change away.
"Are you making us breakfast? Why are you making breakfast? What are you doing here?" Jax's questions came just as quickly as his presence. Suddenly, he was just there, climbing on the stool beside Ruby.
"Good morning, Jax. I hope you like banana pancakes."
"We've never had banana pancakes before," he replied, thankfully dropping his previous line of questioning. "But I like bananas, and pancakes, so sounds good."
I smiled at him, glad things were so black and white for him.
"Where do you guys keep your plates?"
The next few minutes were spent making sure the pancakes didn't burn, getting plates ready, finding the syrup, and then watching Ruby and Jax take their first bites.
"So?" I asked, curious as to whether the banana pancakes would pass the kid test. Both Ruby and Jax's eyes rolled closed.
"These are the best pancakes I've ever had, Miss Richards," Jax said, mouth full and with a second bite on its way.
"I'm glad you like it. And tell you what-if we're not at school, you can just call me Grace."
He nodded and gave a grunt in response.
"Ruby? How are the pancakes?" She took a moment to think about her answer.
"They'd be better with chocolate chips," she said just before putting another forkful in her mouth.
"Yeah! Chocolate chips would be amazing," Jax agreed.
I gave them both a smile. "Next time I'll be sure to add chocolate chips."
Chapter Ten
Devon
The sound of talking and laughter coming down the hall was what woke me. My eyelids were heavy, and my body was begging me to just roll over and go back to sleep, but in the last three years, that had never been an option. If the kids were up, I was up.
I remembered coming home the night before after my hasty trip to the drug store in town, walking into a dark house, the only light the moon shining in through the windows in the living room. Grace was curled up on her side, shoes slipped off her feet, cell phone on the floor just below her outstretched hand, indicating she'd fallen asleep while looking at it.
Her hair was spread out on the decorative pillow, her dress covering everything important but giving me a nice look at her legs. She looked peaceful and comfortable, prompting an inner battle; I wanted to move her to my bed and take the couch myself, but I didn't want to disturb her since she was already asleep. I'd picked up her cell phone and placed it on the coffee table, and then grabbed an extra blanket from the closet and draped it over her carefully, trying not to wake her.
After watching her sleep for a few moments, I finally dragged myself back to my room. In any other situation I would have had a hard time sleeping while Grace was just down the hall, but I'd been exhausted and I hardly remembered actually crawling into bed.
My eyes swung to the digital alarm clock I kept on my bedside table and I had to look twice. It was 10:00 a.m. The last time I'd slept until ten in the morning had been back in college. I flung the covers off the bed, pulled on a T-shirt and jeans from a pile in the corner, made my way to the bathroom, and then out to the living room.
The surprises kept coming as I walked into a scene of Grace sitting on my couch with both my kids, all of them looking at our television, watching Jax play Minecraft.
"Good morning," I said, still confused, when Grace and Ruby turned to look at me, both of them wearing perfect smiles.
"Grace made banana pancakes if you want some, Daddy. We saved you some. We just have to warm them up."
"Banana pancakes?" I asked, looking to Grace, who was still smiling.
"They are so good, Daddy. I'll go warm them up for you," Ruby said, jumping up from the couch and walking past me into the kitchen.
"You're feeling better, then?"
"Much better," she said with her head in the refrigerator.
"There's Gatorade in there. I want you to drink some of that anyway."
"I already had a whole bottle. Grace made me drink it with breakfast."
"I tried to stick to the BRAT diet, but we figured banana pancakes were a good compromise. Although, Jax has requested next time we add chocolate chips."
I was frozen where I stood, trying to take everything in.
"You made my kids breakfast?"
"Well, I was already awake, and Ruby was hungry. I figured she needed something in her belly, considering … ."
I heard her trying to defend herself and I could have kicked myself for making her feel like she'd done something wrong.
"Thank you," I managed, interrupting her unnecessary apology. "It's been a while since I was able to sleep in." She smiled, but I still felt like shit. "Kids, we've got to drive Grace home, so why don't you get dressed."
"You've got to eat your pancakes," Ruby insisted, the microwave dinging.
"I'll eat them while you get changed." Ruby placed the pancakes in front of me on the bar and as she passed I stopped her, bringing her head to my chest, looking down at her. "You feeling okay, kiddo?" She didn't feel warm and the color was back in her face.
"I feel much better, Daddy. I was really hungry when I woke up, so Grace made me pancakes and made me drink the Gatorade. I feel fine."
I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm glad. Now go get dressed." She made her way down the hall and when I knew both kids were in their rooms, I turned back to Grace.
"Listen," I said, dragging my fingers through my hair, "I'm really sorry about all this. Last night was a disaster and then this morning … ." I looked up at her to see the smile still fixed on her face. "This definitely wasn't the way I wanted our date to go."
She shrugged. "It's not a big deal, Devon. I hope I didn't overstep any boundaries though."
"No. No, of course not. I just don't want you to think I brought you here to take care of my kids. I didn't. I'm grateful you did, but you've got to know I didn't even think about it. It's been years since those kids didn't come right into my bedroom when they woke up. I never expected they'd come to you first."
"All right," she said, standing from the couch and walking toward me. "We're both sorry and it all worked out."
Her dress flowed around her knees and some of her hair had come loose from the bun she'd wrapped it up in. Strands fell in soft sweeps along her neck and I wanted so badly to just run a finger along her there. With both excitement and apprehension, I'd envisioned a very different ending to our evening the night before. I would have walked her to her door, found some reason to hold her hand or rest my hand on her waist, and pulled her in to me for a hug. I'd imagined kissing her, but wasn't sure if we were there yet. The last thing I wanted was to kiss Grace and then realize I wasn't ready to kiss someone who wasn't Olivia. I wanted to be sure.