Prejudice Meets Pride (9 page)

“It’s called grilling. Want to try?”

Her head bobbed up and down.

Kevin handed her the tongs, told her to stay put, and grabbed a bucket from the side of his house. He flipped it over to create a stepstool for her, then helped her up and kept a hand on her waist to make sure she didn’t get too close to the grill.

“Do I need one of those?” She pointed at Kevin’s apron.

“Oh, right. Thanks for the reminder.” Kevin quickly removed his apron, knotted the neck strap to a smaller size, and put it on Kajsa and cinched it around her small waist. “There. Now you’re a bona fide griller.”

“What’s bone-da-fried?”

Kevin laughed. “It means that you’re the real deal, which you are.” It was one of the things Kevin loved most about children. There was never any pretense with them. They were who they were, said what they wanted, when they wanted, and that was that. He always knew where he stood with them.

“What’s that?” Kajsa asked, pointing at the grill.

“That’s called asparagus. It’s really good.”

Kajsa made a face as if she didn’t believe him and nudged the vegetable with the tip of the tongs, looking disgusted.

Kevin chuckled. “What you need to do is pick up the chicken like this”—he placed his hand over hers, showing her how it was done—“and flip it over.”

“Like this?” Kajsa said, trying it on her own.

“See? I told you that you’re a natural.” Kajsa’s grin melted his heart.

Emma emerged from the back door, carrying a sheet pan. “According to Adi, the rolls are done because she’s hungry and is ready to eat.”

“That makes two of us,” said Kevin.

Adelynn appeared, and her eyes zeroed in on her sister. She trotted down the back steps. “I want to make the chicken, too!”

Emma set the rolls on the patio table. “Why don’t you help me set the table, Adi? It looks like the chicken is almost done.”

“But I want to wear a paint shirt and pinch the chicken like Kajsa!” Adelynn complained, pointing at the red apron Kajsa wore.

“It’s not a paint shirt, it’s an apron,” Kajsa said matter-of-factly. “And you can’t because I’m doing it.”

Adelynn’s face crumpled, and she looked ready to burst into tears. Kevin wasn’t sure what to do. He only had one apron.

Emma sighed and crouched down next to Adelynn, gripping the little girl’s arms lightly. “Adi, remember when you got to use the blue towel yesterday even though Kajsa wanted it?”

Adelynn nodded, still not looking happy.

“How did Kajsa behave when I said that you could have it?”

With a frown, Adelynn muttered, “She said okay.”

“That’s right. Even though she wanted it, she still let you have it, didn’t she?”

Adelynn didn’t nod this time. A pout formed on her lips, and she looked away.

“How do you think you should behave now?”

Still frowning, Adelynn lifted her chin and stomped toward the table. “Fine. I don’t want to pinch the chicken anyways.”

Kevin’s lips twitched, and his eyes met Emma’s. He noticed she was trying not to smile either. He felt a camaraderie with her that hit him a lot harder than it should have, making him realize just how much he wanted to be Emma’s friend—the kind of friend the girls called Uncle Kevin and who Emma turned to for help or support. He wanted what Becky and Sam seemed to have with her.

Emma broke eye contact and moved to help Adelynn.

“Aunt Emma, I need help,” said Adelynn as she tried to juggle the cups in one hand and the plates in another.

Emma took the cups from her, and Kevin shot her a confused look. “
Aunt
Emma?”

“That’s my name,” she said.

“I’m confused. I thought you were their—” He stopped, not sure what to think anymore. Had he jumped to the wrong conclusion again? Was Emma their aunt and not their mom? Or was it some strange family custom to put the word Aunt or Uncle in front of everyone’s name?

The corner of Emma’s mouth tugged up. “I’m their aunt, Kevin. My brother is their father.”

Kevin had no response. Emma was their aunt—not mother—aunt. Emma wasn’t married. She didn’t have any kids. But she was taking care of someone else’s kids. Why? And where was her brother and their real mother?

“Is this done yet?” Kajsa asked, bringing him back to his senses. Kevin forced his eyes from Emma and back to the grill, where the chicken sizzled, probably overdone.

He grabbed a plate and held it out. “Looks like it. Why don’t you transfer the chicken to this so we can eat?”

“Okay.”

Once Adelynn had finished with the table, they all gathered around it. Kevin purposefully kept the conversation light as the girls picked at their asparagus and wrinkled their nose more than once. Emma tried to get them to at least taste it, but they both refused, saying it looked and smelled yucky. But they did eat their chicken and rolls, so that was something.

“Becky was right, this tastes amazing,” said Emma. “Do you cook like this every night?”

“Only when I have special company over.” Kevin left it at that. Emma would probably have a conniption if she found out he’d cancelled a date, and he wasn’t about to say anything that might incite her wrath again. Things had been going well, and he wanted to keep it that way. Besides, he did consider them special company. The girls were adorable and Emma was a lot more interesting and fun to be with than he’d expected. Kevin was having a great time.

Once the girls finished with their dinner, they ran off to try to climb the tree in the far back corner of Kevin’s yard.

“Please be careful,” Emma called out as they ran away.

“We will,” they chorused.

From the corner of his eyes, Kevin studied her profile. “You’re really good with them.”

“Thanks, but I have no idea what I’m doing. Most of the time I feel like I’ve been given this complex problem with no instructions on how to solve it.”

“Well, you’re solving it well.” Kevin paused, surprised to find he meant it. “Do you mind if I ask what happened to their parents and why you have custody?”

Emma continued to watch the girls, but her eyes took on a faraway look, as though her thoughts strayed far from Kevin’s backyard. “About a month ago, their mom died in a car accident. They had no savings, and the life insurance payout didn’t quite cover the cost of the funeral. My brother never went to college and didn’t exactly have much of a skill set to fall back on, so he had to take the first job that came along, which happened to be on a construction crew that works long hours in the middle of Michigan. He couldn’t take the girls with him, so that’s where I came in.”

For the first time since Kevin had met Emma, he saw something more than a girl with excess baggage and a messed up life. He saw the firmness in her jaw, the determination on her face. He saw some of the load she carried and how she did it with her shoulders stiff and her back straight. He saw strength.

It caught him off guard.

“How long will you have them?”

“If everything goes according to plan, he’ll be back next summer.”

“And then what?” asked Kevin, not sure why he cared so much about her answer.

“And then I don’t know.” She shrugged. “He’ll become their father again, probably live here, and I’ll… figure something out.”

Emma caught him staring at her and turned away, blushing. She quickly pushed her chair back and started gathering the plates.

Kevin was quick to follow suit. “I can do that.”

“No way,” Emma argued. “You cooked. It’s my job to clean up.”

“That might be the rule at your house, but this is mine, and here the cook cleans up his own mess.”

Emma twisted to face him. “Is that so?”

“Yes,” Kevin said.

She stared at him for a moment, as though debating her options, then started for the house with her hands full. “Good luck trying to stop me.”

Kevin laughed, picked up the remains of what she couldn’t carry, and followed her inside. She was already at the sink rinsing the dishes when he came in.

“You’re doing it wrong,” Kevin said as he set the last of the dishes down.

“How so?”

He gently pushed her aside and took a plate from her. “You have to rinse it off like this.”

She leaned in, brushing her shoulder against his. A warm sensation spread up Kevin’s arm and into his chest. “That’s what I was doing.”

“No, you were doing this.” Kevin shifted the sprayer at a slightly different angle. “See what I mean? Totally different. My way’s much more effective.”

Emma’s eyes narrowed, then she nodded slowly as though she really did see. “Can I give it another try?”

He handed her the sprayer, which she immediately pointed at him, spraying him with water. “How’s that?”

He jumped back, but not before his shirt was pretty wet. “What the—” When the water kept coming his way, he lunged forward, trying to grab it from Emma. She simultaneously squealed and giggled as she grappled with him for a moment before launching for the handle and shutting off the water. “Okay, okay, stop. We’re making a mess,” she said between giggles.

Kevin returned the sprayer to the sink and took stock of the kitchen. His clothes were drenched, the floor was covered in water, and Emma, for the most part, was still dry. How did she manage that? “I can’t believe you did that—and after I cooked you dinner, too.”

“I’m so sorry,” Emma said, not sounding the least bit sorry. “I thought that was the angle you meant.”

“Did you not go to your geometry classes?” Kevin said. “Because that wasn’t even close.”

“My bad.” She laughed and turned back to the sink. “You’re pretty soaked. I think you should go change while I finish cleaning up.” Her voice was tinged with triumph.

Kevin shook his head even as he chuckled. All that so she could get her way. “You’re unbelievable.”

She cocked her head at him and smiled. “That’s what you get for trying to stop me. Now shoo.”

While Kevin changed into a new shirt, he realized that he hadn’t let himself go or laugh like that in a long time—possibly never. But for Emma it seemed to be the norm. Was she always that way? Did she have this effect on everyone, or just him? For whatever reason, a selfish corner of his mind hoped it was just him, or at least that he was one of the select few. He didn’t like thinking that she connected this way with everyone.

Voices from the front room interrupted his reverie, and Kevin realized he was staring at himself in the mirror but not really seeing anything. A woman laughed—a woman who didn’t sound like Emma—and Kevin moved to investigate.

He walked into the front room and stopped when he saw Nicole at the door, speaking with Emma. As usual, Nicole looked beautiful and sophisticated. Next to Emma, she should have stood out like a
Lamborghini next to his Lexus, but
for some reason, Kevin’s eyes were drawn to Emma, with her wavy hair, stubborn pride, and smile that pulled at something inside him.

Emma waved aside whatever comment Nicole had just made, reminding Kevin that he’d just walked into what was bound to be an awkward situation. Why was Nicole even here, and how could he explain that the something that had “come up” was his cute next door neighbor and her two daughters—er, nieces? Kevin took a subtle step back, hiding in the hallway as his mind hunted for a plausible excuse.

“Why don’t you give it to him yourself?” said Emma. “He spilled something on his shirt and is changing. He won’t be long.”

Kevin stiffened. Did she really just invite Nicole inside?

“I really don’t want to impose,” said Nicole. “If I’d known he had family in town, I wouldn’t have stopped by.”

Family? What had Emma told Nicole?

“As much as Kevin talks about you, it might not be long before you’re family as well,” teased Emma.

Emma!
He and Nicole had only been on one date—one!
And now Emma was telling her that he might propose any day now? Kevin suddenly felt like wringing Emma’s cute little neck. He should have stepped in the moment he’d seen Nicole at the door, rather than hide like a coward.

“We really don’t know each other that well yet, but I’m glad to hear he’s mentioned me,” said Nicole. “And I wish I could say the same about you. He hasn’t really talked about his family, and I didn’t know he had a sister.”

So he and Emma were brother and sister now? Awesome. What next? Would Adelynn and Kajsa become his nieces? Kevin frowned when he realized his wish to be called Uncle Kevin was about to come true.

“That’s Kevin for you—always pretending I don’t exist. Too bad for him I like surprising people, especially him,” Emma said. “Come on in. He’s going to be thrilled you stopped by.”

Thrilled
wasn’t a word Kevin would use to describe his feelings at that moment. He couldn’t tell if Emma was doing it to protect him or because she liked causing mischief. Had she even stopped to consider what would happen if he continued to date Nicole? Because she’d eventually find out the truth, and then what?

Ugh. He really needed to put a stop to this before Emma buried them any deeper. Forcing his feet forward, Kevin walked toward both women, mustering a look of surprise. “Nicole? What are you doing here?”

She blushed, and Emma quickly jumped in, “I was just telling her what a gem of a
brother
”—she looked at him meaningfully—“you are.”

Nicole stepped inside, holding a plate of something covered in tin foil. “I don’t mean to intrude, but when you said that something had come up, I figured it had to do with work and thought you could use something to get you through the night. I brought you some of my homemade lemon bars.”

“That was nice. You really didn’t need to do that, but thank you.” Kevin accepted the plate, feeling as if he was being rewarded for something he didn’t earn.

Nicole waved him off with a smile. “It was no problem. I wish you would have told me that you had to cancel because your sister needed a sitter. I would have offered to help you watch her girls.”

Kevin’s eyes flew to Emma’s. Watch her girls? Was that the excuse she’d given Nicole? That Kevin had cancelled a date in lieu of a babysitting gig?

A mischievous look appeared on Emma’s face. “I think that Kevin must have fed us the yummy dinner he’d made for you. I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t have barged in on him like this if I’d known he had a date. But I was in a bind, and he’s always so good to help me out when I need him.” Emma patted his arm in an indulgent way, making Kevin feel like wringing her neck once again. “I’m just sorry he had to cancel on you because of it.”