Half an hour later, they had finished making all the changes, including a tense battle over salary. Rowan refused to take the full amount Janice had earned since he didn’t have her experience and wouldn’t be doing the full job, and Jordy refused to cut the percentage down to his suggested fifty. That was a ridiculous lowball for the time and energy, no matter how much Rowan would save on housing costs. Jordy only won in the end by pointing out that it was a short-term gig and Rowan was saving him a lot of stress and worry over the coming months.
“Great.” Jordy snapped pictures and forwarded them to Gem so she could make the changes and send the new contract their way. “She’ll probably send it in the morning. I don’t have anything scheduled tomorrow except for my workout, and I’ve already arranged for Kaira to visit with Adrianna—uh, my teammate’s wife. So you’re off the hook for another twenty-four hours at least. We can figure out the rest of the week after things are signed.”
Rowan nodded. “Right.”
They sat in growing silence. It struck Jordy then that, for the first time since meeting him, he wasn’t sure what to do in Rowan’s presence. There’d always been a task to do or a child to mind. For the first time, they had neither. They were also stuck in a limbo state where their relationship was anything but defined.
“Well, since you’re technically not my employee, I have absolutely no say in what you do right now. I’m going to grab a drink and find something to watch on TV. You’re welcome to join, but I won’t be offended if you call it a night or go out for the evening.”
Rowan chewed his lip, then shrugged. “I wouldn’t say no to another one of those pineapple drinks.”
Jordy pulled a face and showed Rowan where to find more of the vile things, and decided not to question why he was so relieved to have the continued company. The week had been long, and tonight was not a night for dental explorations of gift horses.
IT TURNEDout that Jordy and Kaira’s summertime routine was pretty loose, apart from restrictions on TV time and a formula to keep bedtime going smoothly. Jordy said he mostly tried to go with the flow during the day and get as much fun time with his daughter as he could. But as August was winding down, the schedule became more complicated.
Jordy hadn’t been lying when he told Rowan he could lay out his schedule for the next several months. He sent Rowan a digital calendar with all of his NHL-related commitments filled in from now until June.
“Not all of them,” Jordy said ruefully. “Some of the charitable stuff isn’t firmed up yet. And of course it’s not like stuff can’t change.”
“Like rescheduling a game?” The idea of one’s adult life being so regimented was a bit daunting.
“Nah, well, not unless one has to get canceled because of weather or something. More like, if I have to miss a game, or if something happens so they want to book another interview.”He shrugged. “But those are pretty minor. The out-of-town stuff isn’t likely to change.”
Rowan had linked Jordy’s calendar to his own so he could figure out how their schedules combined. Then he promptly took over conservatorship of the family calendar in the kitchen.
Using whiteboard markers, Rowan blocked out of all Jordy’s work commitments in Shield blue and then used the red to mark in his own work schedule. By some miracle, the conflicts were minimal, and most of them had easy enough Kaira workarounds for the next few weeks. Once the school year started, it would be even easier.
For the first few days, they lucked out. Jordy was mostly around when Rowan was, so Rowan didn’t have a lot of one-on-one time with Kaira. But their luck ran out, and soon enough Rowan had a day off and Jordy left the house after breakfast with a kiss goodbye for Kaira and a reminder that he wouldn’t be back until after dinner.
Rowan and Kaira eyed each other in the silent entryway. He wondered if she was also questioning all her life choices that had led to this moment.
“Can we watchPuppy Pals?”
“Uh, I don’t think after breakfast is a good time for TV,” Rowan said, mostly confident thanks to Jordy’s set routines around TV usage.
“Fine,” Kaira sighed, like she couldn’t believe she had to deal with such ridiculous limitations on her free time but was willing to go along to get along. “What can we do, then?”
“Uh,” Rowan repeated. “Well. What would you like to do?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I asked you.”
Right. Point. This was so much easier at the library, where he had a specific program to deliver, often developed by someone else. “Well, do you want to play something at home? Or do you want to leave the house for an adventure?”
Kaira carefully considered these two options and the rain falling outside. “Stay home.”
“Great. Do you wanna make something or play something?”
A few questions—and a lot of hemming and hawing—later, they ended up in the kitchen.
Thanks to contributions from Rowan’s former kitchen, they had everything they needed to make nankhatai. The cookies were simple to make, which made them simple and an appropriate task for a six-year-old.
Kaira was clearly used to baking or cooking with someone, because she pulled out a stepstool and set it up at the counter and then pulled two aprons out of a drawer in the butler.
“You can wear this one,” she said and handed over a black apron. “It’s Daddy’s.”
Rowan shook it open and nearly choked on his own spit. The plain black apron’s center bib was adorned with simple white text that readKitchen Daddy.
“Thank you, Kaira. Where did Daddy get this cool apron?”
