Chapter 8
“Well, what have we here?” Buck asked as he walked downstairs the following morning to find Lorna and C.J. playing with Barbies in the foyer.
“Daddy, Daddy! Lorna likes Barbies too!” C.J. squealed.
“Does she now?” he replied, looking surprised.
“Yes! She says she likes cats too. Can I show her mine?”
“Maybe later, C.J. Let’s have breakfast for now.”
Lorna wondered if it was code for her ability to shift or if she actually had a cat lurking about the premises. If she did, it was very stealthy as she’d not seen it yet and she’d wandered around the place a good bit when she arrived the day before.
“Pancakes?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you run in and ask Thander what he’s made for us? We’ll be right behind you.”
“Okay, Daddy!” she shrieked, jumping up and running ahead.
“She has taken to you very quickly,” he remarked.
“Yes. I found her waiting for me when I came downstairs. Mostly curiosity, I’d imagine. I don’t know a lot about kids, I’m afraid.”
“Well, you’d not know that from watching the two of you play.”
“I know more about Barbies. I think that was key.”
“I suppose it was. Breakfast then?”
“Of course. I hope it’s pancakes too. I’m starving!” Lorna replied.
Buck laughed and walked to the kitchen with her. C.J. was already in her chair, munching happily on a plate of cartoon shaped pancakes covered in fruit and a hint of syrup.
“Lorna, sit by me!” she cheered as they arrived.
Buck had a strange expression on his face as he took a seat across the table from them. Lorna wasn’t sure what it meant, but it was a weird cross between being please and apprehensive. It seemed to settle after a few moments as they began eating their meals and chatting about the day ahead.
“I thought we’d go out on the lake for a bit, if you like, Lorna.”
“Yes, Lorna! The lake!” C.J. chimed in, between mouthfuls of pancake.
“That would be lovely. It looks so beautiful from my window.”
“You’ll love it. It’s gorgeous this time of year with all the foliage in full bloom. Animals playing about near and in the water.”
“I like the turtles!” C.J. chimed in, her voice a bit muffled by the pancakes she was still smacking on.
“C.J., don’t talk with your mouth full!”
She closed her mouth and finished eating while Lorna and her father finished their own food and then jumped up and took off running toward the door. She was halfway there before she stopped in her tracks and turned around.
“May I be excused?”
“Ah, there’s the manners I taught her,” Buck exclaimed. “Yes. You may be excused.”
“I wonder where she’s off to?” Lorna mused.
“Probably to chase down her cat, the little minx.”
“Oh. There is an actual cat then.”
“Of course. What did you think she meant?” he replied before letting out a little laugh and relaxing in his seat. “Oh. You thought she meant her cat. No. She’s a shifter, but she can’t shift yet. She won’t be able to do that for a few more years.”
“I feel silly now.”
“No. Don’t. It’s a different world for you. I know that.”
“Does she know she can become a cat when she wants to, one day?”
“Yes. She knows. She’s very excited about it.”
“She’s a sweet little girl.”
“She is that. She’s normally quiet and reserved around strangers. I’m surprised at how well she’s taken to you so quickly,” he replied.
“I am too. Children don’t usually gravitate toward me like that. I don’t mind, though. She and I are going to be together here for a while. We might as well be playmates.”
“You planning on reliving your childhood Barbie adventures with her, are you?”
“I never owned any Barbies, so more like creating new ones.”
Buck look at her, a sadness evident in his eyes. Damn it, she thought. She hadn’t meant to make him feel sorry for what her childhood may or may not have been. It was just one of those thoughts that had tumbled out before she had a chance to stop it. They fell into a bit of awkward silence as they finished eating their food.
“How about we get on the lake?” he said.
“Sounds good,” she replied, adjourning to her room to change into something more appropriate for boating.
Walking down the steps a short time later in a pair of cream colored capri pants and a peach colored tank with her hair pulled up in a sleek ponytail, she was ready to get a bit of sunshine. C.J. met her at the bottom of the steps, immediately launching a protest.
“I want a ponytail too!”
“You have a braid,” her father replied, tapping something into his phone nearby - a text Lorna assumed.
“But I want a ponytail. Lorna has a ponytail. Look how pretty she is. I want to be pretty too.”
“Your braid is lovely, though, C.J. I think I rather have that. Can you braid hair?”
“No,” C.J. laughed. “Daddy can, though. He did mine. Daddy, braid Lorna’s hair too so we can be twins!”
Both Lorna and Buck looked at one another with wide eyed expressions. Lorna was about to try to salvage the situation by offering to redo C.J.s hair into a ponytail, but Buck surprised her by putting down his phone and walking over.
“Would you like a braid?” he asked.
“Sure. I’d love a braid.”
“Let’s get you one then,” he said, reaching up and beginning to braid her hair. “I’m going to need another band to hold the bottom,” he said in C.J.s direction.
“I’m on it!” she cheered, barreling up the stairs behind them.
“I’m sorry, Lorna. I know you aren’t used to children dictating your hair style choices. You don’t have to give into everything she wants, you know. I had to learn that the hard way.”
“Ah, what’s the harm? If it makes her feel better, I can live with a braid.”
C.J. reappeared down the stairs holding up a band. Lorna and Buck both looked at it, one of those small twist around kind with balls on either end. Printed on the balls were rainbow colored unicorns with sparkles splattered all about. Lorna laughed as he shrugged and wrapped it around the bottom of her braid.
“Remember, you said this was okay,” he told her as he finished up.
Lorna smiled and looked down at C.J. who was like a human smiley with the width of her own across her face. She nodded her approval and grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the door.
“Let’s go, Lorna. You’re going to love the boat. It’s so cool!”
“Can I come too?” Buck said, still standing way back in the foyer, while they were already halfway toward the door.
“Yes, silly. You have to drive the boat.”
“Oh. Right. Glad to know you still have a use for me,” he chuckled.
The three of them headed out the front door and down a trail that led to a large boat house. Inside, there was a boat, but not at all what she had expected. She had thought it was a speed boat or maybe one of those smaller sized yachts. Instead, it was an old pontoon boat that looked like it had seen better days.
“She’s not a looker, but she’s sea worthy. It was my father’s. I am tempted to get a new one, but I don’t have time for two and can’t bear to part with this one.”
“Amanda?” Lorna asked, looking at the name on the side of the boat.
“My mother.”
“Makes sense. Shall we get underway then, Captain?” she asked, wanting to change the subject just in case the one of his parents was something he’d prefer not to dwell on.
“We shall. First mate, C.J., get on the boat!”
C.J. stepped over to the edge of the platform and waited while he lifted her up onto the boat. He held out his hand to Lorna and assisted her on next before climbing aboard himself. It wasn’t long until they were well off and out onto the lake. Lorna sat back on one of the benches, watching everything as they passed by. It was so peaceful, even with C.J. chattering away by her side.
“I can see why you love it out here,” she remarked to Buck as they made their way quietly along the massive lake.
“Not quite like the city, huh?” he said, laughing.
Lorna couldn’t help notice the soft lines that formed at the corners of his eyes as he continued to smile over at her. Despite their age difference, she could see how attractive he was. No doubt he had been peeling women off of him when he was younger. Perhaps under different circumstances, she might have been one of them. She supposed that was out of the question now, though. He had been pretty clear that a relationship didn’t interest him. Lorna had never been one to kick a dead horse.
After spending much of the morning on the water, they returned to the house for a light lunch. Lorna excused herself to take a nap. She had noted that being pregnant seemed to really drain her, despite the supplements she was taking. She was surprised when C.J. asked to go with her.
“Oh, honey. Why don’t we let Lorna get some rest by herself. I’ll go up and read to you in your room if you want to take a nap,” Buck told her.
A frown spilled across her pretty face, now screwed up into a pout. Still, she didn’t argue, instead just marching toward the steps with a displeased look.
“I guess that was a yes,” Buck laughed, shrugging his shoulders and following her.
Lorna laughed, following them up the steps and heading to her room, where she found that C.J. had already climbed into her bed and under the covers. The little girl smiled sheepishly above the covers as she entered. Before Lorna could speak, she could hear Buck calling for C.J. down the hallway, apparently having arrived in her room further down the hall and checked his own to discover her in neither place.
C.J. giggled as she heard his footsteps approach, pulling the covers over her head. He knocked on the partially opened door and Lorna told him to enter.
“Have you seen C.J?” he asked, glancing around.
“Is she not in her room?” Lorna said, smiling at him as she pointed toward the lump in her bed.
“No. I think that maybe she’s run away,” he replied, making a face toward the bed. “I guess I’ll have to go out and look for her.”
C.J. didn’t move. They both stood there looking at her covered figure for a few moments and then Buck walked loudly over to the door and shut it so that it made a loud clicking noise. He stood there with his arms folded as C.J. popped out of the covers, already giggling at having fooled him. She stopped short when she spotted him there scowling down at her.
“What did I tell you, C.J.?”
“But I want to nap with Lorna!” she protested, her lower lip jutted out.
“It’s okay, Buck. If she wants to stay . . .,” Lorna said quietly.
“No. It’s not okay. C.J. cannot get what she wants just by demanding it,” he replied before turning back toward his daughter. “Isn’t that right, C.J.?”
“Yes, Daddy,” she replied, full of reluctance. “Can Lorna nap with us then?”
“C.J., you are the queen of awkward situations,” he replied, scooping her up and carting her out.
Lorna wasn’t sure what to make of it all. Kids usually steered clear of her, perhaps sensing that she didn’t really care for them. It wasn’t that she didn’t like kids. She adored them, but they had just never been something she’d considered for herself, so perhaps she was a bit standoffish with those belonging to others. C.J. might just be the first child that had not only not steered clear of her, but actually seemed to want to be around her as much as allowed.
Of course, it made sense even more now why Buck wanted her to have a sibling. She seemed very lonely in some way, not unhappy, but a bit solitary. The thought slipped away as Lorna climbed into bed and drifted away to sleep.