Willow Brook Road(65)
His eyes lit up and he tore into the bag.
“Hold it! After dinner,” she said firmly. “Or Mom will kill us both.”
He giggled. “She told Grandpa Mick never, ever to bring candy into this house again.”
“Has he paid any attention to her?”
Patrick nodded. “He hides it outside, and then I go out and find it.”
A typically sneaky Grandpa Mick maneuver, Carrie concluded. She reached for the bag. “Then maybe, if you already have candy hidden away, you shouldn’t have this.”
“Yes, I should,” he said, tightening his grip. “It’s my present. You can’t take it back.”
“What have you got for me, then?”
He scrambled up and hugged her. “Thank you.”
She ruffled his strawberry blond hair, creating a halo of the curls he hated. “You’re welcome, peanut. Now put on your pj’s and come downstairs. We’ll be eating dinner soon. I hear there’s cake for dessert.”
That earned a fist pump. He searched through a drawer, tossing things on the floor, till he found a pair of pajamas he liked, then pulled them on. The top was inside out, but Carrie refrained from pointing that out. Even as a toddler her little brother had had a well-developed independent streak. It was only strengthening as he prepared to go off to preschool this year.
As they reached the top of the stairs, he gave her an impish grin. “Wanna race?”
Before she could reply, he’d perched on the banister and was flying down the railing. Carrie watched, heart in her throat, till he reached the bottom. She recognized for the first time how much her mom must have aged watching her and Cait test their limits.
As she followed her little brother downstairs using the actual steps, she spotted her mother waiting at the bottom.
“You know,” Abby said a little too casually, “if you’re going to open a day care, you’re going to have to keep a much closer eye on the kids.”
Carrie regarded her with shock. “Who said...? How did you...?”
“Word travels,” she said. “You should know that by now.”
“But I haven’t discussed this with anyone except Luke. He took a vow to keep it to himself.”
“And I didn’t hear about it from Luke.”
“Who then?”
“Does it matter? Is it true? Are you considering opening a day care?”
Carrie ignored the question, still trying to figure out where the leak had been. Then it hit her. Davey, of course. Sam had told her himself that Bobby had let it slip around the boys. Henry would never reveal a word, but Davey was a loose cannon.
“Have you spent any time with Kevin lately?” she inquired innocently.
A faint blush tinted her mother’s cheeks. “I’ve spoken to your uncle. Why?”
“Did he happen to pass along any tidbits of family gossip?”
Her mom frowned. “Okay, yes, but what I want to know is why my brother knew about this before I did?”
“He didn’t hear it from me, if that makes you feel any better,” Carrie said, and explained the likely scenario that led from Bobby to Davey to Kevin.
Abby laughed. “Oh, sweet heaven, if the next generation is starting this early spreading family gossip, we’ll never be able to keep another secret.”
She linked her arm through Carrie’s and led the way into the kitchen. “You can fill us in over dinner.”
Trace looked up. “Fill us in about what?”
“Carrie has decided what she wants to do with her life.”
Her stepfather’s gaze narrowed. “Does it involve going anywhere near that fashion designer?”
“Definitely not,” Carrie assured him.
“Okay, then. Whatever it is, I’m all for it.”
Carrie heard the unconditional support in his voice and felt her heart lift. She knew he meant every word. From the moment Trace had come into their lives, he’d been not only a devoted husband to her mom, but a steadying influence for her and Cait. He thought they were capable of anything. And, in part, because of that unwavering faith in them, they believed it, too.
13
“You have to understand that I’m just at the beginning stages of thinking this through,” Carrie told her mom and Trace after a bored Patrick had gone back to his room after dinner. “I don’t have all the details worked out. Or any of them, for that matter. I just have lists, a whole lot of very long lists.”
“You’ve always been a natural with kids,” Abby said, her expression thoughtful. “You know, there was a time when I thought you might want to go to medical school just like your sister and become a pediatrician.”
“Not me,” Carrie said at once. “The process takes way too long. You know how impatient I am. I couldn’t wait to get on with my life, even though I obviously didn’t know quite what I wanted that life to be. As for the whole medical thing, that’s Caitlyn’s passion.”