“They weren’t planning it either,” he said.

  “That’s true.”

  “But accidents happen and it’s not that I want that to happen,” he said. “I’m just saying, that I know people think I’ve got this reputation on the island.”

  “I believe that it’s more than what people think,” she said, laughing.

  He laughed on the other line too. “Maybe,” he said. “I had that coming. But I still do like kids.”

  “I could see that today.”

  Not just from the first time he was holding Zandra but when he was playing with her after her nap. Her niece was a flirt like Penelope and she knew Griffin was going to have his hands full.

  “Anyway,” he said. “I just wanted you to know that I had a great time. Maybe we should have them to your house one day and cook.”

  “I was thinking the same thing. I know Penelope likes to do those things, but between her career and the baby, she might like having the break.”

  “Griffin is only home on Sundays and Mondays?” he asked.

  “Yes. Those are his days off during the weekend. Or he might go in in the morning, but most times not. Things are going to be picking up more once July first hits and he might not even get Sundays off. I know Eli tells him to take it, but he puts the casino first.”

  “Just like Penelope does her hotel. I’m sure she’s just as busy,” he said. “Have you had Zandra overnight yet?”

  “I haven’t,” she said. “I was almost thinking of offering to take her one night so they could have a night together.”

  “Ask them,” he said. “I’ll stay with you if you want. Four hands are better than two.”

  Jennie smiled. “I might like that,” she said. “I think I’d be fine, but there is part of me that would worry. You being an EMT and all. You’re much calmer than me too. I think some of the fear would be gone.”

  “So I’m good for my work skills and calm demeanor?” he asked.

  “Oh, there are a few other things you are good at too,” she said.

  There was true laughter on the other end this time. “Just a few?”

  “If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were fishing for compliments.”

  “I think we all need them from time to time,” he said.

  She wasn’t so sure of that. No one gave her compliments growing up. Maybe her mother praised her once in a while but nothing she could remember.

  No one she dated did either. In her job she might have been. Or a friend. Yeah, she’d had friends that told her she looked nice now and again.

  “If you say so,” she said.

  The two of them talked for another twenty minutes and then hung up. She’d never been one to talk on the phone often either but didn’t mind it with Alex.

  She tossed her phone down and went back to finding something on TV, then remembered she was going to text Penelope and see if she could get Zandra for the night.

  The minute she hit send, the phone rang in her hand and she saw it was Penelope. “That was a fast response.”

  “Sorry,” Penelope said. “I just got so excited. I mean my mother is always willing to take her overnight. Emily too.”

  “Emily has other things to get ready for,” she said.

  “She does. But I mentioned it to Griffin. He’s not always keen on leaving her but said yes, if you wanted to take her overnight next Saturday. He said he’d take the night off, and he and I are going to go to Boston. We’d be back early on Sunday. My mother is on the island and Emily too if there are any issues.”

  She couldn’t get over how excited Penelope sounded. “There won’t be any problems. Alex offered to stay too. I’d feel more comfortable. He’s calm and has medical experience.”

  “Yes to both of those things. Plus he’s good with kids.”

  “I noticed that today too,” she said. “You’re okay with him being here?”

  “He’s my family, you’re Griffin’s family. You’re my family too. I’m totally comfortable with it. She’s a good baby and I could use a night with my husband before the busy season hits and we are both going nuts. Who knows, maybe baby number two could be conceived. Ouch, Griffin. Your brother just pinched me. Guess that’s a hard no right now.”

  Jennie grinned. “You’ll be more nuts with Emily being out,” she said. It just occurred to her that was going to happen.

  “Yeah,” Penelope said. “You get it. Griffin does too. I don’t want Zandra to suffer because of our work schedules. He has her on Monday, she goes to daycare the rest of the week or my mother will take her, but Emily and I have been interviewing nannies. It’s not easy to find someone to come to the island.”

  “I’m sure you’ll have no problem finding someone,” she said. “If they can find a place to live.”

  “That is a problem. But my mother has some feelers out for someone that might be retired that is willing to do it already living on the island.”

  “You want someone in their sixties watching all three kids?” she asked.

  “When you say it like that, I guess not. But my mother isn’t that far off from there.”

  “You’ve got a point,” she said after she cringed.

  “I’ll find someone, I’m sure. Emily will be out for three months full time. Crew is going to take three months off too. They won’t need anyone for six months, so whoever we find will only have Zandra for now and just the twins on and off to get their feet wet.”

  “Until then, you’ve got me. I’ll take her anytime you want me to.”

  “Thanks, Jennie. That means the world to us. But you’ve got a life too. And a boyfriend.”

  “I do,” she said. “As he pointed out earlier, he likes kids.”

  “Which is a plus,” Penelope said. “If I haven’t said it before, I will now. You two make a cute couple.”

  “Ah, thanks, I think,” she said.

  “Your brother is frowning at me, but too bad. I call it as I see it.”

  “As we all know,” she said.

  “Someone has to do it,” Penelope said. “I’ll let you go now and text you later in the week as we make plans. Again, thanks.”

  “My pleasure,” she said and tossed her phone aside.

  Her cozy home was going to have a baby in it and she was looking forward to it.

  29

  Accept It

  “You ready for this?” Jennie asked Alex when he walked into her house. He had a bag with him to spend the night and they had an hour or so before Zandra was dropped off.

  “Sure,” he said. “No problem.”

  He’d actually been looking forward to it all week but didn’t want to say that to her.

  They were getting somewhere finally, or so he thought, so he was going to let it play out like the carefree guy that most thought he was and didn’t take seriously.

  “Easy for you,” she said. “I’ll be doing all the work.”

  He winked at her. “We’ll see about that.”

  He brought his clothes into her room and pulled them out of the bag, then opened a drawer to put them in. The first one had her underwear in it, so he shut it and opened the next. He saw bras, closed that, then opened another.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Looking for space in a drawer or do I need to keep my clothes in a bag all the time?”

  “Oh,” she said. “Sorry. I should give you some room, huh?”

  “That would be nice. You can have some at my place too if you want,” he said. Though they spent much more time here and he didn’t have a problem with that.

  Her house was bigger, nicer and more comfortable.

  He was making his a home, but not like hers. Every time he walked in his door all he saw were the things he had to do yet and here he could sit his butt down and chill out.

  Funny how he realized that. That might be why he never stayed home much before when he was single. It didn’t always have to do with finding a woman as much as his apartments didn’t feel like home and his house always made him think of work when it felt like it was all he did.

  “I will,” she said. “I know we don’t go there as much and we can. You just always say you are coming here. Why is that?”

  She opened a drawer and pulled a few things out and put them in another space. “Just for me?” he asked since she emptied it.

  “Yeah. It can be your drawer.”

  He put his clothes in there and then turned to pull her into his arms, close to his chest. “I come here more because my place makes me think of all the things I need to do. Not just things to fix but what to clean. I was thinking that as I was looking for a space for my clothes.”

  “You should clean a little bit each day,” she said, poking him in the belly.

  “Jarrett says that I’m a slob.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” she said. “But you don’t clean as often as I do. You do here, but I’m sure it’s because it’s my house. You don’t do it at yours.”

  She was right. He was neater here because it was her house. He should be at his place, but no matter how much he cleaned it never looked it. Not new like her house.

  “It’s different,” he said.

  “I think I get it,” she said.

  She walked out of the room and he shut the drawer, then went to the bathroom and put his stuff there too.

  When he came back to the kitchen she was standing there. “What do you get?”

  “I grew up in temporary places. This is temporary too.”

  “No, it’s not, Jennie.”

  She sighed. “You’re right. I don’t want to think that, but it’s true. My name isn’t on this house, but it’s mine. I have to accept it.”

  “Is that hard to accept?”

  “I don’t know. I think it is because Griffin never asks. He just does it.”

  “Hmm,” he said. “I thought he’s asked and you’ve said no.”

  She frowned. “That’s right. I’ve said no and he does it anyway.”

  “I might be the same way if I were in his shoes. He wants to share the wealth. Not necessarily monetary either. Wealth comes in all forms.”

  “I didn’t realize you were so smart to go with the smoking looks.”

  “You think I’m good looking?” he asked.

  “Me and all the other women on this island have said as much.”

  He laughed. “Not all. Maybe half.” He dodged her hand that came out to swat at him. “Fine, maybe a quarter. There are a lot of elderly women on the island. I’m not into cougars.”

  “Now you’re pushing it,” she said starting to run at him, but he moved out of the way and she ended up chasing him around the table.

  The door opened and Penelope and Griffin were standing there watching them. “Do I even want to know?” Penelope asked, her hand covering Zandra’s eyes. “Maybe my daughter doesn’t need to see this.”

  “Alex is a wiseass,” Jennie said. “He was making a comment about all the women on the island thinking he was good looking.”

  Penelope flipped her hair back. “It’s the Bond genes. We can’t help it.”

  “Can your head get any bigger?” Griffin asked.

  “Just remember that’s my daughter that you’re carrying. Get ready for it.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Griffin said. “You’ve got the playpen set up?”

  “I do,” she said. “I bought it earlier this week and set it up, but you can check it over to make sure it’s fine. I’m sure you’re in a hurry to get on the chopper?”

  “We’ve got thirty minutes before we need to meet Egan,” Griffin said. “Where is the playpen set up?”

  “In the room next to mine unless you think it should be in my room.”

  “No,” Penelope said quickly. “I don’t want her used to sleeping in the same room as adults. That is too hard of a habit to break.”

  She pulled Zandra away from Griffin; she was in her car seat and Jennie set it on the couch to get her out.

  Griffin walked into the spare room and then came back out. “It’s good.”

  “I figured. I can handle most things easy enough,” she said.

  “I wrote everything down,” Penelope said. “I’ll put all her bottles in the fridge. You know how to get them ready. You know how to feed her, but I’ve got down what she eats and when for the night. She’s been sleeping through the night, but I’m not sure if she might wake up here or not since it’s a strange place.”

  “We’ve got it covered,” she said. “I told Alex to watch the pro at work.”

  “Did you hear that?” he said. “I’m going to watch the auntie do her thing tonight. That’s my cue to relax and watch the game.”

  “Then enjoy your game,” Penelope said. “I can’t thank you both enough for this. With the holiday next weekend we are going to be slammed. It’s nice to get this time away even for the night.”

  They watched Penelope and Griffin leave. Zandra was in Jennie’s arms and started to cry the minute the door shut.

  “Oh boy,” Jennie said. “She’s never done that before.”

  “Maybe because you’ve always watched her at her house and she thought they just went out of the room.”

  “I don’t know,” she said, walking around and trying to get the baby to settle down. It wasn’t working.

  An hour later, Zandra was still sniffling and not wanting to be consoled.

  “Should we try to feed her dinner?” he asked. He’d asked to take Zandra twice and Jennie said she had it, so he stood back to let her have her way.

  “Yeah, it’s close enough to her dinnertime,” she said. “I’ll get it ready if you want to get her seat and we’ll put her in it.”

  He found the seat to attach to the table, then reached for Zandra who went to him more willingly than he thought she would.

  He put her in the seat and played with her while Jennie got the bottle and food ready.

  Once the baby was being fed, he pulled out the sandwich meats and put together their dinner. He’d suggested they do this knowing that it might be easier and faster.

  Zandra finished her dinner and seemed content and he thought for sure that their night was going to be peaceful.

  It was until bedtime. “I don’t understand,” Jennie said. “I did everything Penelope said to on this paper. I don’t want to call her, but I’ve never seen Zandra scream this loud. Do you think she’s sick?”

  He walked over and pried the crying baby from her arms and put her on his hip, felt her forehead. “She’s not hot.” He rubbed her belly a little and she didn’t flinch or let out any gas. He’d even patted her back and though she didn’t burp she did snuggle into his shoulder.

  “Keep doing that,” she said. “Maybe she needs to burp and I didn’t get it out all the way.”

  “Sit down and stop pacing and let me do this,” he said.

  He started to walk around the house patting her back, alternating from patting and tapping and speaking to Zandra quietly.

  It was working and he wondered if Griffin talked to his daughter this way. He’d seen how the baby responded to the deep voice and thought he’d give it a try.

  “I suck at this,” she said. “I’m her aunt. Why is she calming down for you?”

  “Because my voice is deeper,” he said.

  “What?”

  “I’ll explain once she is sleeping. I think we can put her down soon.”

  He continued to walk around doing what he was until the baby was out cold.

  “I’ve got her bear. Penelope said she sleeps with a pacifier, but she doesn’t have it now.”

  “Give it to me,” he said.

  He shifted Zandra until he was cradling her in his arms. She didn’t wake up, but she was moving her lips as if she was looking for what soothed her in that position.

  Jennie popped it into her mouth and the baby continued to sleep while she sucked.

  He went to the spare room and placed the baby in the playpen, covered her with the blanket and then shut the door softly and walked out.

  “I hope she stays down,” Jennie said. “I didn’t expect that. She didn’t do it to me before.”

  “Strange place,” he said. “I’m sure that is it.”

  “Maybe,” she said. “Explain to me your comment about the deep voice.”

  “Your brother has a calm deep voice. I noticed when he talks she looks at him or wants to go to him. Penelope’s voice gets Zandra excited.”

  “So you’re saying my voice is excitable?”

  “I find it that way,” he said, pulling her under his arm. “But in this case you were panicking and I think she sensed that. You said before I stay calm and I did.”

  “I guess you’re right. Are you going to rub it in?”

  “I might,” he said.

  The next afternoon when Penelope and Griffin came to get their daughter, Jennie was looking a little worse for wear. Alex was on the floor playing with Zandra.

  “There’s my girl,” Penelope said, going to her daughter. “Did you miss us?”

  Zandra started to kick her legs and put her arms out for her mother. But the minute Penelope got her kisses in, Zandra was stretching and reaching for her father.

  “You’re looking rough, Jennie,” Griffin said. “You said everything was fine.”

  “I know what happened,” Penelope said. “Just like my daughter wants her father the whole time. She didn’t want anything to do with you, did she?”

  “That’s not true,” he said.

  “Sorry,” Griffin said. “She’d rather be with me when I’m around. I’m guessing she did the same with you?”

  “I think she likes guys more,” he said. “You better get used to that.”

  “We won’t talk about that in front of my daughter,” Griffin said. “Seriously though, she looks fine and happy. Better than my sister does. Everything was okay?”

  “It was because Alex was here. Why do I suck at this?”

  Penelope laughed. “You don’t. Griffin and I were laughing about this on the way here. We figured this would happen. If you had her alone, you would have been fine.”