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I shake my head. This isn’t going to happen. He’s not going to reel me in. “It’s simple enough. You’ll be just fine, Jett, but I need to go.”
“Okay ...” He sounds reluctant for me to go and looks around helplessly. There are no parents around by design, because Jett doesn’t like to mingle with the other parents. He thinks they might want favors or money. He doesn’t trust people he doesn’t know, apart from the Stones.
Most of the kids in Brooke’s class are the children of rich parents, but most people, apart from the Stone family, aren’t in the same league as the Knights. “Get your brothers to help,” I suggest. “You’re good at ordering and delegating.”
“They know about as much as I do about getting thirty kids to eat,” he mumbles, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other.
“They’re five years old, Jett, not babies. You can handle it.” I try to stifle a laugh. This man runs a tech empire, and he’s panicking over a children’s party.
“Do you have to leave now? I can get my brothers to help, but it would be good to have you around.”
“I have a concert to go to, remember?” I glance at my watch. It’s two o’clock. I’m supposed to go home and get showered and ready so that Eliana and I can leave by five to make it to the concert which starts at seven. “I don’t want to be late.”
“Of course. I’m just sorry to see you go …” I weigh his words and try to gauge what he’s thinking and feeling, because he suddenly seems softer. Not the demanding tyrant I’m used to in the office. He clears his throat.
“Thanks for coming, Cari. It means the world to Brooke,” he adds quickly. “I appreciate you so much. You know that, don’t you?” Those blue irises gaze at me with such intensity that I’m forced to look away.
“I need to tell Brooke I’m going.” I get her attention and beckon her over briefly. She’s watching her friend get her face painted. “Are you having a good time, sweetie?” I crouch down to her level. She nods, her face lighting up, before turning sad when she sees my handbag on my arm. “Are you going?”
“Yes, sweetie, but I’ll see you soon, okay? Don’t forget to open the presents I got you.”
Before I can stand, she throws her arms around my neck, catching me off guard. She buries her face in my shoulder, squeezing tight. My heart stutters. Brooke’s always sweet, but this—this is more. More than I expected.
“Thanks for coming.” Her small voice is muffled against me. “Can you stay with me for a bit when we eat? Like mommies do.”
My throat tightens unexpectedly. I kiss her on the cheek as we pull apart, my heart full and heavy all at once. “Oh, sweetie.” There's no way I'm walking out of here and leaving this little girl alone. I’ve never heard her talk about her mommy before. I can do this for her. “Of course I'll stay. I would love to. Shall I just hover around? You'll want to sit with your friends—”
“I want you to sit with me.”
“Okaaaay,” I say slowly. “Then I’ll sit with you.” She rushes off in a blaze of happiness. Clearly there's more to the story, and I need to dig deeper. I need to speak to Anna and Jett. Something's going on in Brooke's life that we need to get to the bottom of.
“Told you it would make a big impression on her if you came.” Jett’s voice slices through the moment, snapping me back to reality. I think he heard what Brooke said. I straighten up, emotions quickly replaced by the desire to find out what's going on. I'm about to voice my fears to Jett but decide that now is not the time. “I'll stay for food, because Brooke wants me to.”
“What about your concert? Won’t you be late?” This is so not like Jett Knight. The man is worried about me missing my concert. What’s come over him?
“It’s only two o’clock.” I glance at my watch again. “I can stay for a little while. Half an hour, an hour at most.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“I’m doing it for Brooke.”
Maybe my tone is sharper than I intended because he looks taken aback. “I know, and I appreciate it. I'll call you a taxi when you're ready to go.”
“You don't have to do that, Jett. I’m quite capable of—”
“I know you are. You are more than capable of most things. Please, Cari. It's the least I can do.”
The Knight brothers supervising a lunch for thirty hungry children is a sight to see.
They don’t have to do much because the servers take care of most of it. The most the brothers have to do is pour glasses of juice when it runs out, and serve slices of pizza when the kids want more.
Given that they're not used to getting their hands dirty like this, I think they did well.
As soon as the food is cleared away, the magician launches into a few last tricks for the kids. The party’s winding down and I'm about to slip away, when a server materializes beside me with trays of brightly colored party bags. “Hi, Mommy. Please can you make sure the kids each get one?”
I blink, stunned for a second. “I ... I'm not ...”
The server has already walked away, leaving two trays of party bags—one for boys, one for girls—sitting on the table in front of me.