The Path to Sunshine Cove (Cape Sanctuary #2) - RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,45
little time reconnecting on this trip seemed to shrink with every passing second. She was ruining everything.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” she asked her sister one last time.
“We are going to be totally okay. Go. Focus on what you need to do and don’t worry about us for a minute.”
That was impossible. Sometimes Rachel felt as if her soul was shaped out of anxiety and inadequacy, stitched together with guilt.
“I can take the suitcases out to the van,” Cody offered.
“I already did that earlier. Everything is ready.”
His jaw tightened. Rachel gave an inward wince. Cody did love to help out. She should have left something for him to do.
“Grace’s carpool will bring her home in about twenty minutes. I would like to stay to say goodbye but we really do need to go.”
“You do,” Jess said pointedly.
“Call me if you have any questions at all.”
“I will absolutely do that,” Jess claimed. “Now, go on. Get out of here. We’re fine.”
Rachel picked up her purse and the water bottles she had already filled with ice and filtered water for all three of them.
“Silas, want to go for a ride?” Cody asked.
She held her breath. If she suggested the same thing when Silas was in the middle of something else, it could sometimes be enough to trigger a meltdown.
Not when Cody suggested it. Everything seemed like an adventure coming from him.
Silas nodded and walked to his father with his arms up. Cody lifted him up easily.
“I want to go with you,” Ava said again, her FOMO even more pronounced than usual.
“Not this time, honey. But I promise, you and I and Gracie will do something fun when we get back, just the three of us,” Cody promised. “Come here and give me a hug.”
Ava flew to her father and hugged his waist. He scooped her up in his other arm and squeezed both Ava and Silas. Ava giggled and even Silas gave the lopsided smile that was as close as he got to showing true joy.
Cody kissed Ava on the top of her head, spun her around a couple of times then set her back down.
Yes, he worked hard, but when he was here, Cody focused completely on the kids. He was a great father.
She knew plenty of women in town who would love to have a husband like Cody, who worked hard and adored his family.
No, he wasn’t perfect, but he was doing his best.
She vowed that she would spend the next twenty-four hours trying to remember that, instead of focusing on all the areas that could use a little work.
14
Jess
She watched them go, Rachel still stony-faced and Cody doing his best to entertain Silas.
Something was definitely wrong between Rachel and Cody. The tension in the room had been thick enough to drive a Humvee through.
Jess frowned, worried about them. At random moments, Rachel seemed desperately unhappy.
Rachel’s problems were her own, Jess reminded herself. Her sister had made it plain over the years that she didn’t need Jess interfering in her life.
Jess’s only job right now was simply to enjoy herself with her nieces.
She spent the time until Grace came home from school going over the scarily efficient three-ring binder Rachel had left her while Ava finished her show.
Jess closed the binder just as Grace burst into the house, looking adorable with her hair in braids and her backpack almost as big as she was.
“Hi, Aunt Jess!” she exclaimed. She dropped her backpack and hugged her. Jess hugged her back, warmed by the spontaneous affection.
“Hi there. How was school today?”
“Good. I got to be the teacher’s helper at recess today and make sure everybody got in line the right way when it was time to go inside. And we had a spelling bee in our class and I won.”
“That’s terrific. Congratulations!”
Jess had never been that kind of student. She had been mostly bored and uninterested, happiest at recess and when they could have free reading time.
After she gave the girls a Rachel-approved snack of oatmeal and raisin cookies and almond milk, she suddenly realized she had left her phone charger and her favorite pillow in the Airstream.
She could get by without them, but why stress about it when Whitaker House was only a mile or so away? “All right, girls. I’ve got to run to my place for a couple of things. Who wants to come?”
“Me!” Grace exclaimed.
“Me!” Ava echoed. “And Freckles does, too.”
“Can we ride bikes? I love riding my new bike and I’m really good at it.”