“Don’t go nuts tomorrow.”
She feigned an innocent expression, one he wasn’t buying for a second.
“Never. But I saw Erin’s room. It’s not a girl’s bedroom. It looks like a room at some hotel. It needs a facelift, my dear.” She patted the back of his neck.
He couldn’t argue with Leah’s assessment. Erin’s room and the other spare bedroom both lacked character. “Just bring me back the receipts for whatever you buy.”
He’d gladly hand the chore of shopping off to Leah, but he’d pick up the cost. This was his house and his daughter.
“We’ll see,” she replied.
The doorbell rang, preventing him from pressing the issue.
Slipping off his lap, Leah buttoned up her blouse and then straightened her skirt. “How’s my hair?” she asked.
Despite their activities, only a few blonde strands had escaped the twist she’d pulled her hair into that morning. Nothing about it would suggest to his grandmother or anyone else what they’d been up to.
Her top was another story. The back was no longer tucked into her skirt and it had more wrinkles than a full-grown Neapolitan Mastiff. “Your hair is fine.”
At eighty-two, Jean Kincaid had more energy than most women half her age. The woman simply never stopped. When she wasn’t experimenting in her kitchen or traveling around the world, she was playing tennis or skiing. And although she had spent an entire day entertaining a nine-year-old, she looked wide-awake and ready to tackle anything.
“Sorry it’s so late.” Gigi hugged him before handing him several bags from various stores. “We did a little shopping for my upcoming cruise and then we started cooking. We both lost track of time.”
Judging by the bags he was holding, they hadn’t shopped only for Gigi’s upcoming trip.
“Erin knows her way around the kitchen already,” his grandmother continued.
Before he could tell Gigi that he and Erin often cooked together, she turned her eyes in Leah’s direction. “You must be Leah. Erin talked about you all day. I hoped to meet you tonight.”
While Gigi led Leah off toward the sofa, her mouth going a mile a minute, a trait she’d passed on to his daughter, Gavin turned his attention to Erin. When she’d left that morning, she’d been wearing a pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt with a unicorn on the front. Now she had on a one-piece romper—or at least he thought that was what the outfit was called. Although she looked adorable, it wasn’t the type of clothes she usually picked.
“Did Gigi pick that out?” He gestured toward her clothes.
Erin nodded. “She got me a purple one like it. And I picked out the clothes she has on.”
He’d noticed his grandmother was wearing a different outfit as well. And if Erin had picked it out, he never would’ve guessed because it was just as vibrant as all the other clothes Gigi favored. As far as Gigi was concerned, there was no such thing as too bright. She loved bold colors and animal prints. If anyone tried to tell her she was too old to wear either, they got an ea
rful.
“She got me a bunch of other outfits. I’ll show you.” Erin reached for one of the bags he held.
“Tomorrow. Right now it’s time for bed.”
Erin offered up a few grumbles. Even as a baby she’d disliked going to sleep, and the older she got the more she resisted, especially if she thought she’d miss out on something. Like tonight, with both her great-grandmother and Leah chatting in the living room.
After a good ten minutes of dragging her feet, first by insisting she needed a glass of water, then in the bathroom, and finally getting changed, Gavin pulled the blankets up and over her.
Leaning down, he kissed her forehead. “See you in the morning, Bug. I love you.”
When he returned, Leah and his grandmother remained in conversation, but they weren’t sitting down. A good sign, because if Gigi planned to make this a long visit, she would’ve sat down and made herself comfortable.
“Just waiting for you to come back before I left,” Gigi said when she caught sight of him.
Good. He loved Gigi, but tonight he wasn’t in the mood for entertaining visitors.
“Are the three of you going to Piper’s party?” she asked.
“We’ll be there. Vivian too,” Gavin replied.