Page 92 of Their Forever Daddy

Ah, the old ‘Answering a question with a question’ avoidance technique. “That’s not an answer, Jesse. But since you want to ask questions, why don’t you ask what you actually want to ask?”

Tears shimmered on her lashes, and Edie’s chest ached at the sight. “Do you like Carly more than me?”

“Oh, babygirl.” Rising up on her toes, Edie brushed a kiss over Jesse’s trembling lips. “I love Carly. She’s one of my best friends in the entire world, and there is nothing I wouldn’t do for her. But what I feel for her, or any of my girls, doesn’t hold a fucking candle to what I feel for you. Understood?”

Relief shone in Jesse’s eyes, lighting up the gold. “Yes, Ma’am. I understand.”

“Good girl.”

Chapter 33

Jesse

* * *

Whatever concerns she’d had about spending Little time with Edie’s friends disappeared within the first fifteen minutes of their playdate. Noelle and Ginny were still a bit standoffish, though not nearly as much so as when she’d first returned to town. But Carly and Taylor were just as open and welcoming as any Littles she’d ever known, and it wasn’t long before all five of them were completely engrossed in a series of board games while the ‘grown ups’ chatted in the kitchen. Edie had played a few rounds with them, but she’d joined the Daddies a while ago and never returned.

“I win!” Taylor crowed with triumph as she moved her piece to the center of the spiral game board.

Huffing loudly, Noelle flopped back against her chair with her arms crossed and a pout forming on her lips. “That’s like the fourth game in a row. I think you’re cheating.”

“I am not!” Insult burned in Taylor’s gaze, and Jesse swore she could feel the fight brewing between them. Obviously, they all needed a bit of a break from games. Jesse glanced around, frantically searching for something to distract them, when her gaze moved to the window.

“We should go see the animals!”

Just like that, the fight was forgotten, and a cheer went up amongst the group. As one, they hurried toward the front door, and as one they all froze in place at the sound of Edie’s voice.

“Where are you going, naughty girls?”

Four sets of eyes swung to Jesse. Apparently, it was on her to explain and get them out of any trouble they might have inadvertently landed themselves in.

Sometimes honesty really was the best policy, and she couldn’t imagine Edie would actually be upset with them, so she didn’t see any reason to make up some crazy story to cover for them. “We thought we’d go visit Luna and the alpaca.”

Edie’s eyes narrowed slightly, and for a panic-filled moment, Jesse thought they might have actually done something wrong. But then Edie nodded, and relief flooded in to replace the panic, nearly making Jesse’s knees weak. “Just be careful. Don’t let them out of the pasture, stay on the outside of the fence, and try not to be too noisy. To the pasture and back, no detours, or I’ll?—”

“We know, we know,” Carly said with an exaggerated eye roll. “You’ll make us all cut a switch.”

Edie gave them all a smug smile in return. “As long as we understand each other.”

Before Edie could change her mind, they escaped out the front door and down the gravel drive to the pasture behind the barn. Luna and the alpaca were both there, happily munching on grass.

“She’s so cute!” Taylor kept her excited squeal to a whisper, per Edie’s instructions not to spook the animals. The alpaca, Jesse had noticed, was even more shy than Luna and would take off running at the first loud noise.

“I know. And she’s so soft.” Reaching out, Jesse ran a hand down the alpaca’s back. “I can’t believe nobody wants her.”

“Aw, poor baby,” Noelle murmured, give the alpaca a pet as well. “She’s a bit scraggly looking. Maybe we should spruce her up a bit.”

“A makeover!” For the first time all afternoon, Ginny looked exactly like an excited Little, bouncing and gently clapping her hands. “We should give her a makeover!”

“How do we give an alpaca a makeover?” Carly asked. “It’s not like we can put makeup on her.”

“No…” Jesse’s mind raced as she took in the alpaca’s nearly snow-white wool. “But we could make her a bit more colorful.”

“I’ve seen videos like that!” Turning away from the fence, Taylor pulled her phone from her pocket. “Where they dye their hair. Fur? Whatever. They look so pretty afterward! And who could say no to a rainbow alpaca?”

It took all of thirty seconds for Taylor to pull up a blog post detailing exactly how to make ‘homemade dye’ for an alpaca.

Taking the phone, Jesse scanned the short list of ingredients. “Oh my god. This is so perfect! We dyed eggs for Easter, so I know we have food coloring and surely Edie has some cornstarch!”

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