“Ryla?” Momma finally said to which Ryla nodded happily. Momma smiled warmly down to her. “Well, Ryla. I’m Jace’s momma. You can call me Susan.”
Cuckoo! Cuckoo!
“What was that?” Ryla startled. Max took a step closer to me.
“It’s our cuckoo clock,” Momma explained.
“A what?”
“You’ve never heard of a cuckoo clock before?”
“No.”
“Let me tell you, you’re in for a treat. They don’t make ones like this anymore.”
I shook my head. That damn thing went off on the hour, every hour, for as long as I could remember. It drove my sister insane.
As Momma took Ryla over to show her that absurd clock, I took Max in search of Pop, finding him in his typical spot in front of the TV watching the Braves. He was in obvious pain, had an ice pack on his hand, and he wasn’t keeping score—which was a dead giveaway that he was hurting.
“Jace.” Pop’s voice was strained, giving me a weak smile when he first saw me in the doorway and a double take when his his eyes lifted to my hair.
“Who’s this?” he asked, spotting Max behind me.
“This is Max. I’ve been nannying for him and his sister this last week.”
“Hiya, Max. Have a seat over here. I’m Nick.” I studied Pop dubiously. He’d barely blinked an eye when he saw Max. Pop wasn’t dramatic, don’t get me wrong, but he had the worst poker face.Someonehad spilled the beans.
Pop muted the TV. “I’m just watching the Braves’ game. You like baseball?” he asked Max, who shrugged.
I glanced from Max, then to Pop and offered, “He might be more of a video game guy, though we’ve been gettin’ into some magic lately.”
“Well, you got a great teacher, Max. This one was pullin’ the wool over my eyes since he was your age.”
“He’ll be doing the same to me, I expect, he’s a natural.” I winked at Max. After a couple minutes of small talk, Max glanced between his tablet and me in question, to which I nodded, letting him know it was alright to use.
Pop watched our exchange intently.
“I heard you were watching some kids,” he said softly, once Max was absorbed in his tablet.
I quirked an eyebrow.
“Sherriff James mentioned it before we left for Florida. I didn’t bother tellin’ your momma. She’d do nothin’ but worry. I knew you’d come around to tell us in your own time sooner or later.”
Wincing, he shifted the icepack over his hand.
“How’s the hand, Pop?”
“Ack, it’ll be alright. Just a little swollen. Darn knees are the real problem.” I looked down and sure enough, he had two more bags of ice on his knees under the TV tray. “Probably doin’ too much in Florida.”
“And here I thought Florida was supposed to be good for your joints.”
He snorted. “Ain’t that the truth. Nah, but your momma was so happy. All that sunshine. And it was good to see your aunt and uncle, I suppose. Kent’s got a brand new boat and wanted to show us all around.”
That was news to me. I was surprised Kent didn’t rub that in my face when he was here.
“When do you think you’ll put this place on the market?”
“Your momma was talking about being down there by early fall, but with me outta commission now, that’ll put us back a few weeks. Maybe by the end of September. I’m in no rush. I’ve lived here all my life, raised my kids here. I don’t want to feel run out of my own home.”
