Two Roads Home by Deborah Raney

Author:Deborah Raney [Raney, Deborah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2015-04-08T22:00:00+00:00

19

Jesse stroked the razor over his jaw and looked down at Sadie’s reflection in the mirror. She watched him intently from the doorway. Smiling through a cloud of shaving cream, he flicked a spot of the menthol lather onto her nose.

“Daddy!” she squealed. But she wiped the spot onto her cheek and came to stand beside him. “Can you shave my face?”

“Girls don’t shave.”

“Uh-huh. Yes they do. Mama shaves her legs. And her pits.” She giggled.

“I stand corrected. Girls don’t shave their faces though. Unless you’re a bearded lady.”

“What’s that?”

“Never mind.” He transferred a finger full of shaving cream onto her cheek then “shaved” it off with the wrong side of the razor.

That delighted his middle daughter. Which delighted him.

He finished shaving, dried his face, and scooped Sadie over his shoulder. “Ready for breakfast, squirt?”

“I’m not a squirt.”

“You look like a squirt to me.” He turned his head and blew a raspberry on her exposed tummy.

She giggled and squirmed on his shoulder all the way to the kitchen. He deposited her in her chair at the table in the breakfast nook where the other girls were already eating.

“Put me on your shoulder, Daddy!” Sari stood on her chair and begged for a turn. Jesse obliged, then came back for Simone who was doing her best to escape the high chair.

Corinne came down the stairs, and he almost bumped into her.

“What on earth is going on down here?” But her stern tone didn’t fit the smile she wore.

“Just a little three-ring circus for your morning entertainment.” He kissed his wife’s forehead and trotted over to put Simone back in the high chair.

“I know who it is,” Sadie hollered.

“Who who is, sweetie?”

“The three rings. In the circus. It’s us, isn’t it?” Sadie pointed between her sisters, counting off one, two, three.

Jesse laughed. “That’s exactly right. I live in a three-ring circus. Make that four.” He winked at Corinne over his daughters’ heads, then went to put a slice of wheat bread in the toaster.

“You’re awfully chipper this morning,” she said.

“And with good reason.”

“Oh?” She looked rather pleased with herself.

“Good reason, indeed.” Memories of their lovemaking last night buoyed his spirits further. He went to wrap her in a hug.

“I feel like we finally have our lives back,” she whispered.

“That’s funny, since our lives are about to kick into chaos. I hope you know what you’ve signed on to, baby.”

But he had to admit that his heart had felt lighter by a thousand pounds ever since he and Corinne had talked last Tuesday night and she’d agreed to start the process right away of getting things set up for him to go back to school in the fall.

Thankfully, there wasn’t much to do to get it ready to sell. The hard part would be just keeping it clean to show. He knew it hadn’t been an easy thing for her to think of letting the house go, and sadly, most of the work would fall on her. He loved her for it and had tried to show his appreciation by helping with the girls, the meals, the dishes.

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