Kim opened the oven. “No, I figured you could all stay at the cabin. You know they’d love that.”
“I thought my place was too unsavory for your children?”
“You know it’s not that.” Kim nudged the oven shut with her elbow and set a dish on the side. “Nick knows the girls love you. He just worries that something could happen up there and the girls wouldn’t know how to tell anyone.”
“They don’t need to. Flo knows.”
“You can’t expect a dog to look after all three of you. Besides, with Jed there, it’s the perfect solution, isn’t it? If he agrees, Nick won’t argue with him.”
Max was inclined to agree that Nick wouldn’t argue with Jed—the elder Cooper sibling had all the presence his brother lacked—but there was a fatal flaw in Kim’s plan. “What if Jed doesn’t want to live up at the cabin?”
“Then, I guess he’ll be here, so it won’t matter.”
There was something in her tone Max didn’t quite understand. Despite everything he’d heard, he couldn’t picture Jed volunteering to be a live-in babysitter. “Where is he, anyway?”
“Asleep in the den,” Kim said. “I might wake him up in a bit. He’s been in there a while.”
“Don’t bother. Tess found me.”
Kim jumped, and Max spun around at the sound of another voice in the room. Despite keeping half an eye on the backyard, neither of them had noticed Tess sneaking inside or Jed slipping into the kitchen behind them.
Jed leaned against the doorframe, the corner of his mouth turned up in a half grin. “Need some help?”
“I’m sure I can find you something to do. Pull up a stool and get off your feet.”
Jed remained by the door. A flash of something akin to stubbornness crossed his face until he pulled it back into what Max was beginning to recognize as his trademark inscrutable stare.
Kim was unfazed. She dropped a bag of potatoes on the counter and rummaged in a drawer for the peeler. “Sit,” she chided. “I know you don’t want to, but humor me, please. Someone around here has to.”
Jed looked as though he might protest, but he didn’t. With a slight roll of his eyes, he crossed the kitchen, eased his body into the stool, and reached for the potatoes.
Satisfied, Kim reached over and rubbed his shoulder. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“If you say so, doll.”
Jed’s tone was dry, but there was a lightness that dazzled Kim into a slightly giddy smile—no doubt his intention. Max pondered the motive behind Jed’s flawless deflection. Maybe he was flirting. The idea made Max shudder, though not for any misplaced protection of his sister’s honor; Kim was more than capable of….
“Max?”
“Huh?” He felt Jed’s gaze on him as he focused on Kim. “What?”
“You left us for a moment. I’m going to fetch the girls in to wash up before dinner. Can you finish up in here?”
“Okay, Bibi.”
Kim stepped on his foot. Max frowned, and it took him a moment to realize his mistake. He shook himself, and the moment passed. Kim disappeared, and for the second time in a week, Max found himself alone with Jed Cooper.
Max finished preparing the yams and got the pot out for the potatoes. He turned back to find a pile of peeled potatoes waiting for him. “Wow. That was quick.”
Jed waved a small Swiss Army knife attached to his keychain. “I couldn’t figure that weird peeler out.”
Fair enough. Max dumped the potatoes into the pot and set it on the stove to boil. He retrieved the containers he’d brought from the cabin and set out the food he’d cooked at home.
Jed watched him with curious eyes. “Are these the stuffin’ muffins Tess was yelling about this morning?”
“The very same.” Max put the lids back on the empty containers and put them by the back door to give himself a chance of remembering to take them home. “It’s probably all she’ll eat of Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Going through a picky phase?”