I’m still not sure exactly why we’re here. All I know is Jessa called this morning and asked us all to meet her after lunch.
“You having trouble with your orchids?” Walker asks as he moves by us, idly inspecting leaves and plucking weeds from the planters as he goes.
“Yeah, I can never get them to grow right,” Iris confesses with a sigh. I feel her knuckles brush against mine and I thread our fingers together. We glance at each other and grin.
A faint smile zips across my brother’s face when he notices but doesn’t call us out on it. His expression quickly smooths back to neutral. “You’re probably overwatering,” Walker says expertly. “Most people usually are. Or it could be the soil.”
I zone out for a little as my brother turns into an infomercial, educating Iris on the merits of adding different kinds of fertilizer to her soil. Normally, the guy won’t string two sentences together. But get him talking about farming stuff and he won’t shut up.
Iris is gobbling up the information, though, coming at him with eager questions that he answers with ease.
When my roommate starts asking for tips on how to set up a compost heap, I intervene. “Um, guys. I’m not crazy about the idea of a rotting cow shit pile on the back lawn.”
Iris giggles and twinkles. “Don’t get all anxious, Jude. I’m just curious, that’s all.”
Without thinking, I wind my arms around her waist and pull her to me, then I drop a kiss in her hair.
She freezes in my arms and I’m acutely aware of Walker’s face—his stupid, smirking face—as he takes in the scene.
Fuck him. I give Iris a squeeze and when she squeezes me back, it feels right and I don’t give a shit who’s staring.
The door swings open and all attention drifts that way. Jessa pushes Penny inside, then makes a stealthy entrance herself.
“Hey.” Jessa glances at us. She closes the door behind her and stares out the glass, like she’s paranoid someone might be following her.
Lexi untangles herself from Cannon’s arms and meets her sister at the door. “Guys, what’s up?” Her eyes bounce between Jessa and Penny.
Jessa grins at us. “Thanks for meeting me here,” she says. “I don’t have much time. Callie’s taking her nap. But as you all know, I’m her new nanny.”
“How’s that been going?” Cannon takes his place right next to his wife, hands buried deep in his front pockets. “I know she’s a handful but don’t tell me you’re backing out on us already. We need you, Jessa.”
I feel a thick rope of anxiety spooling in my belly at my brother’s words. We do need her. She’s taken so much off of Mom’s plate. In the short time since she came to work here, Callie has been thriving.
Jessa wrinkles up her nose. “Back out? Hell no! I love that kid. We’re having the best time.”
I see a hint of a smile take it’s place on Walker’s face. “They’ve been getting on like a house on fire. They just adore each other,” he tells us. “I’ve seen you girls out here having tea parties in the field.”
“Oh, yeah. She’s adorable. This is the most fun job I’ve ever had.” Jessa’s gaze fans over the rest of us. “But I could use your help.”
I take a step forward. “Tell us what you need and we’ll make it happen.”
Her smile brightens. “Well, Callie’s birthday is about a week away and I was thinking it would be nice to throw her a birthday party, y’know. Princess theme. Balloons. Streamers. A few of her friends from yoga class. I know Mr. and Mrs. Kingston already have so much going on with the guest house. I’d really like to surprise them by taking this off their hands. So I was hoping Callie’s kind, loving, handsome uncles” —Her hand drops to Cannon’s shoulder—“and my sweetest, prettiest, bestest friends in the world”—She flings an arm around Lexi’s waist—“could help me make it happen?”
“Lexi and me are in,” Cannon announces with a glance at his wife.
“Hell yeah!” Lexi says without missing a beat.
“I’m in!” Penny pipes up. “You can count on me.”
I see the way Walker’s eyes trace Penny from head-to-toe, stalling at the hem of her short, red skirt. Then, he gives Jessa a subtle nod. “Whatever you need.” Penny glances at him, then quickly averts her eyes but her cheeks are pinker than they were a second ago.
“You know I’m in,” Iris says.
I sit on the edge of an empty work table and pull my roomie between my legs. “If Iris is in, I’m in.”
There’s a pause as everybody watches my arms around Iris. Their faces portray shock. I smirk.
“Perfect.” Jessa excitedly claps her hands together. Then she launches into one of her energetic rambles. She assigns tasks to each of us. She’ll watch over the kids. Cannon will hang decorations. Penny and Walker on drinks. Lexi and Iris on other snacks. Me, on the grill.
When she tries to talk about budgetary limits, I immediately shut that shit down. “Budget?!” I scoff. “We’re going all out for Princess Callie’s birthday party. Hell, somebody get me Cinderella’s phone number. We’re flying that chick over from Disneyland first-class.”
We all laugh.
We’re discussing a few final details when the greenhouse door swings open. Ma takes a step inside and seems taken aback to see the lot of us huddled around in here.
“Oh, hello,” she says suspiciously, her eyes moving over us.
“Hey, Ma.” Cannon slings an arm around her and plants a kiss in her hair. He makes warning eyes at the rest of us over her head.
She looks at me. “Jude, I thought I saw your car parked out by the fence.” She takes a glance at Iris all tied up in my arms. She purses her lips against her pleased smile.
Iris tries to wriggle out of my hold but I keep her there, just to make her squirm. We’ve got a
