Twilight at Blueberry Barrens (Sunset Cove #3)(31)

“If you like Campbell’s, you’ll like mine better.”

Emma entered the kitchen and went to the stove and picked up the ladle. “I’ll stir the soup.”

Kate whisked the ladle out of her hand. “How about you set the table?” She pulled out the drawer containing tableware, then lifted down soup bowls.

Emma made another grab for the big spoon. “I want to stir!”

“It’s very hot, and it’s a gas stove. You’re not big enough to do that just yet. Maybe after we go over some safety instructions, I’ll let you try to cook something. The soup is already very hot, and I don’t want you burned.”

Tears welled in Emma’s eyes, and she whirled for the door. “Uncle Drake!”

She dashed through the opening to the living room and told Drake Kate was letting Phoebe help but wouldn’t let her. Pressing her lips together, Kate ladled up soup and carried the bowls to the table. “About done with those salads, Phoebe?”

“I think they look good.” Phoebe tipped her head to one side and smiled, then picked up two of the salads and carried them to the table.

“Very nice. You made faces with the tomatoes. I can’t wait to eat mine. Good job!” When she turned to help Phoebe get the other two salads, Drake entered the kitchen holding Emma in his arms. A pencil drawing of a drone was in his hand.

His gaze swept the kitchen and settled on the salad plate in Phoebe’s hands. “Why can’t Emma help too?”

It pained her to give an explanation. When was he going to trust her? “I gave her a job to do, but she didn’t want to do it. She wanted to stir the hot soup, and I didn’t want her to get burned.”

He frowned. “Is it that dangerous just to stir a little soup?”

Stay cool. She motioned for him to follow her to the stove. “Put Emma down.”

He shot her a glance and set Emma down. Kate turned off the stove, then positioned the little girl in front of the burner. “Look how tall the pot is. For her to reach in to stir the soup, she’d have to stand on her toes, and she’s very likely to touch the hot pot with her arm.” Kate demonstrated but kept her hand on the bottom side of Emma’s arm. She winced when the top of her hand touched the top of the pot. “See what I mean?”

“Yeah.” Drake pressed his lips together and took Emma’s hand to lead her to the table.

Kate exhaled and gave her head a tiny shake. They would have to talk this out. He had to quit questioning her every time one of the girls complained to him. Either she had charge of them or she didn’t.

They ate supper in near silence except for Phoebe who kept up a steady stream of chatter about the raccoon she’d seen under the back porch. She’d already named it Vince and was planning to take it supper.

Kate started to forbid her from leaving food out for it but decided it wouldn’t hurt anything, really. Raccoons all over the area were used to scrounging for human food, even though it wasn’t all that good for them.

She cleaned up the table and put the girls to washing and drying the dishes at the sink, then went to find Drake in the living room. He was still going over papers he’d gotten from his brother’s office. She stood for a moment and waited for him to see her. He’d gotten a nice tan in the last ten days, and it went so well with his dark, curly hair and hazel eyes. She’d never seen a handsomer male specimen.

He finally looked up and saw her standing quietly in the doorway. “I see that expression. I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

His candor caught her off guard. “You have to decide if you’re going to trust me or not, Drake. I already love the girls. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt them. Any decision I make seems called into question the minute one of them complains.”

“So I’m just supposed to shut up and let you run the house?”

She blew out a breath. “I didn’t say that! If you have a question about what I’m doing, let’s talk about it. But in private, not in front of the girls. That just fuels an adversarial spirit they can sense. In fact, they play us against each other. Or haven’t you noticed?”

He frowned. “We’re all getting used to the new arrangements. I’m their guardian, their new dad. What kind of women they grow up to be ultimately falls on my shoulders. I want to have a say in how they’re raised. I don’t want them to feel picked on or shoved aside in any way.”

“And I wasn’t doing that with Emma.”

“I realized it once you showed me, but I had no way of knowing before that.”

She took a couple of steps into the room. “If you trusted me, there wouldn’t be the constant questions. That’s what it boils down to—you aren’t sure about me. What is it that keeps you from laying down your guard with me?”

He stared up at her as if trying to figure her out, then passed a palm over his forehead. “It’s not you. It’s me. If I’d been more aware of what was going on with Heath, maybe he wouldn’t be dead. I don’t want to make a mistake with the girls. I’m living with enough regrets already.”

Her chest squeezed, and she saw the situation from his point of view. “I understand, but we’ve got to come to an agreement to at least take our concerns to a private room.”

He nodded. “I can agree to that, and I’ll try to let go of my fear of failing the girls.”