Paige grimaced. “Yeah. She took some scissors to him when I wasn’t looking.”
He thought she was going to say something else, make a joke, but she stilled and she stared at his hand several seconds before speaking. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“What?”
When her eyes met his, he was shocked to see the beginnings of tears there.
“I just…I don’t know what I’m doing,” she repeated. “I don’t know anyone with kids and even if I meet the other moms at school, they won’t have the questions I have about Casey and her leg. You know more what to say to her than I do.”
“Paige. Hey. Come here.”
She blinked back her tears and started on his next finger. “I’m not done.”
“I don’t care. Come here.” He squeezed her hand and when she stood, guided her around the table to sit close against him. “You are without a doubt an incredible mother.” She started to shake her head and he couldn’t believe she’d doubt herself. “Who else would let a five-year-old lather their face up in green goo?”
“You let her paint your nails.”
“True.” And he’d have to think about what that meant later, but…“You will meet moms at school, but really, aren’t all kids different? My mom could tell you some stories. My sister still complains about my brother Andrew pulling the heads off her Barbies.”
That got him a smile.
“That’s not the weird part,” he went on. “He slept with them under his pillow. I’m not kidding,” he said to her shocked face. “They all did stuff like that.”
She angled her head back to meet his eyes. “And what about you?”
“Me? Never. I was the angel they’d been praying for.”
She bumped him with her shoulder. “Thanks. I think kindergarten has me as rattled as Casey. She’s always been so self-assured, almost to the point of bold. I know I worry too much, but I feel like I’m throwing her to the wolves.”
JT laughed softly. “I’m pretty sure the wolves will be too overwhelmed by her charm to bite. She’s smart, she’s sweet, she’s funny.”
Paige smiled. “I think so.”
So are you, he thought. All those things and more. “Did you try the school-supply bribe yet?”
“No, not yet.”
He opened his mouth to say, “Maybe we could do that.” It seemed like the most natural thing in the world. He’d have to think about that too.
“You should have seen me when I first had her. I was always afraid that I would drop her or lay her down wrong or feed her the wrong thing.”
He tried to picture Paige as a young mother, scared and unsure and trying so hard. It hurt to think about her being alone.
“Let me finish your nails.” She leaned forward for the cotton ball and quickly finished the last two, then took the cotton balls and bottle of acetone into the kitchen.
He watched her, wondering when the last time was he’d talked to a woman. Talked to anyone about anything meaningful other than Simon. There were women who worked at Evolution, there was the girl at the coffee shop who always smiled at him and he said thank you, but he didn’t want to hold their hand or find out everything about their life. “You know what Casey told me earlier?”
She looked back at him over her shoulder. “I can’t imagine.”
“She said you don’t believe in fairy tales.”
“Oh, yeah.” She gave a little laugh and came back to sit beside him, tucking her feet under her. “Not so much. I believe in bills and rent and work. I’m more likely to believe in mermaids and trolls than fairy tales.”
He didn’t like hearing that, couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to try and change her mind. Or was that her way of reminding him that she didn’t want a relationship? He stretched his arm around the back of the couch. “So no princess dress-up for you?”
“Nope. And no prince. I’ve seen way too many frogs. My mom’s, not mine,” she added quickly then looked down at her hands resting on her thigh. “I just had the one.”
“Casey’s father?”
She nodded and he couldn’t resist letting his hand slip down to curl around her shoulders. The heat of her body warmed his palm through the thin cotton. “You and Casey don’t see him?”
“No. It’s for the best.”
She said it lightly, but he knew that’s not something Paige would have taken lightly. He smoothed his hand up and down her arm tenderly, waiting for her to say more.
“I never knew what my mom was looking for but I don’t think she ever found it. She’d get so wrapped up in these men, always talking about how things were going to be different, but it never worked out.”
“Is this your way of saying you’re not going to get wrapped up in me?” He tried to sound playful, but held his breath for her answer.