Twilight at Blueberry Barrens (Sunset Cove #3)(46)

Her lips pressed in a mutinous line, Phoebe handed the bear to her sister. “Sorry.” The mutter sounded insincere, but at least she’d done it.

Emma snatched the bear and hugged it to her chest. “Thank you,” she muttered back at Kate’s prompting.

Kate looked them over. At least they had on clean shorts and T-shirts. “We’re not about to go outside with your hair looking like that. The bees will want to nest in there. Both of you go brush your hair now. Did you brush your teeth this morning?” When neither of them would look at her, she nodded. “Brush your teeth too.”

Emma heaved a sigh, and Phoebe stuck out her lip, but the girls got up and went to the stairs. Jackson went with them.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Drake frowned at Kate. “The girls need to share.”

“If you give in to Phoebe over every little thing, she’s going to be even more of a terror. She knew Emma had just gone to the bathroom.”

“Emma is old enough to share.”

“So is Phoebe. She wasn’t about to share her toy. She just wanted Emma’s.” The man was clueless about kids, and she suppressed a sigh. “And I would have made Emma share if it were that simple. Younger kids play the parents to annoy their siblings. I see it all the time. And if you’re honest, you’ll admit that’s exactly what Phoebe was doing. Sharing is playing together with things. Not taking another child’s possessions and leaving her with nothing.”

His frown darkened for a moment, then he nodded. “Okay, maybe you’re right.”

“And trying to placate them with more stuff and ice cream isn’t helping them either. They’re both old enough to learn how to behave. You need to stop it.”

His eyebrows rose and his face reddened. Now she’d done it and had overstepped the bounds too far. He was trying his best, and she needed to remember that before she shot off her mouth. “Sorry. That was a little harsh.”

“A little?” He shrugged. “I’m getting used to your take-no-prisoners attitude, Kate, but you might learn to soften it some.”

“You’re right. I’ve had to fight for everything all my life, and I sometimes forget we’re on the same team.”

“You think I’m your adversary?”

She shook her head. “That came out wrong too. I mean, training the girls is my responsibility, and I take it very seriously. I want so much for them.”

“So do I, so give me a little credit.”

Boy, had she botched the morning. “I’m sorry.”

“So you already said.”

“Could you forgive me if I tell you I found out something important from the last hotel I called? I might tell you if you ply me with fresh coffee.”

“I just made some.” He followed her into the kitchen and got down a cup for her. “What did you find out?”

“Wang gave Melissa an engagement ring. It was quite a rock.”

He handed her a mug. “But she was already married. Are you sure it was an engagement ring?”

Kate poured coffee into the mug. “That’s what I was told. She must have been planning on leaving Heath. But the bigger question is, where is the ring? Until you saw the text transcript, you had no idea she was having an affair, so I assume that means there was no ring in her belongings.”

His brow creased as he poured himself some coffee. “I’m Heath’s executor and I saw nothing. I’ll talk to Mike.”

“Mike?”

“Melissa’s business partner, Mike Toucet.”

“What did Melissa do? I assumed she was a stay-at-home mom.”

He took a sip of coffee and gestured to the table and the almond-flour cinnamon rolls she’d made earlier. “It was a source of contention between them. Heath wanted her to stay home with the girls, but she loved being an attorney and helping the underdog. She did a lot of pro bono work along with Mike.”

Kate reached for a roll and settled onto a chair. “I’ve always heard pro bono work can be dangerous.”

“She had a guy stalking her for a while, but nothing ever came of it. It was one of the reasons Heath wanted her to quit.”

The sweet, cinnamony flavor hit her tongue, and she savored it. “Maybe she stashed the ring at work. Or maybe it was stolen.”

“Mike will know. I’ll give him a call right now.”

Drake was watching her with an intensity that made her stomach flutter, and she dropped her gaze. The spicy scent of his cologne was much more enticing than this cinnamon roll. In spite of her objections to some of his decisions, she liked the way he cared for the girls and wanted them to be happy. He was smart and focused, and she found herself drawn to that too. His short-cropped curly hair just begged to have her fingers in it. He hadn’t said anything about his personal life, but she couldn’t believe he didn’t have a dozen other women hanging around. Maybe he was even engaged.

She’d only be around him for a few more weeks. It would be much too dangerous to let herself fall for him.

*

Drake liked watching Kate. Her light, quick movements were graceful, and she was a bundle of energy. He admired the way she focused so completely on any task at hand. And she was just so darned cute, beautiful really. Her big blue eyes dominated her heart-shaped face, and her dimples came and went with every expression.