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“What’s with the pout?” Corey asked, coming to stand next to me. “So, what if she’s not around? I’ll be home early.”
“Me too,” said Caleb, picking her up in his arms. “How about we bake some lemon tarts? I’ll buy lemon curd on my way home. Having it readymade will cut out most of the workload.”
Irene giggled. “Cookie won’t be happy.”
She called Mrs. Fleming, our cook, Cookie. Amazingly enough, she’d grown close to the woman and spent most of her time in the kitchen, driving her mad with her incessant questions.
“Cookie said you make a mess out of her kitchen,” Irene continued. “She doesn’t like you very much.”
Chuckles and laughter rose all around me. Irene was so cute and funny. She was blissfully unaware that she was talking behind her friend’s back.
“We should start looking for a good school for her,” said Brian. Caleb handed Irene to him and she readily wrapped her small arms around Brian’s neck.
“Ugh, school,” Corey muttered.
I frowned. “She’ll have so much fun there.”
“Spoken like the true nerd queen that you are,” Corey retorted. “Stop influencing her. I don’t want another geek in the family. You’re more than enough.”
My frown grew bigger as he grinned.
“Just you wait,” I said. “Once I introduce her to the world of Hogwarts, there’d be no turning back.”
Corey groaned.
A challenging grin came over me. “Just wait until she’s asking you to make pumpkin juice and sherbet lemons.”
A stricken look came over him as he glanced at his twin. “What the hell’s pumpkin juice?”
“I don’t want to know,” Caleb muttered. Moving closer, he grabbed Corey by the back of his collar. “Let’s go. There’s a shit ton to do before our meeting with Newman.”
Corey waved at us as Caleb dragged him out of the dining room.
Noah moved closer to Brian.
Irene leaned toward him and kissed his cheek, making a dazzling smile appear on his luscious lips.
“See you, princess,” said Noah, caressing her cheek with the back of a finger. “Be good.”
Irene gave an emphatic nod. “I’m always good.”
“Try not to skip lunch, kiddo,” Brian called out as I followed Noah to the door.
Turning around, I smiled and waved at him and Irene.
Our mornings were the best time of the day. Spending time with everyone recharged me like nothing else. It set me on a good, hopeful mood before I had to set my eyes on my ridiculously full inbox.
Going into the entrance hall, I grabbed my bag from one of the couches. Noah’s car was already parked in front of the house, so I hurried outside.
“Keep your eye on an email from me,” said Noah when I’d settled into the passenger seat beside him. “I’ll send you quotes from our landscaping vendors by noon.”
“Thanks,” I said in a grim tone. “I want to employ them as soon as possible. No more delays in the Eastern Corridor project.”
“Luke and his daddy are going to be so pissed,” he said with a chuckle. “Just wait till they announce the top construction companies for next year. Our name’s going to be at the very top.”
“I wish we could’ve seen the look on their faces.”
By the time we reached the city streets, I was already on my iPad, going through my schedule for the day.
