"Can we make that a promise instead of a warning?" she asked, grinning broadly. "I'm that weirdo who actually likes looking at other people's vacation photos. And I'm not just saying that." Plus it would allow her to keep an eye on AJ, make sure he was doing okay. Hopefully continue to help steer him toward friends. It The phrasing might be frowned upon, but Cate hadn't had a project in a while. AJ seemed like he might cooperate a bit better than Colin did, which was hardly at all.
If AJ had offered Kayla back, Cate would have waved at him to keep her. They both seemed pretty happy with the arrangement, and if Miss Kayla wasn't allowed to keep doing as she liked than there was always the risk her angelic little exterior might suffer a bit of a meltdown. Best to avoid a tantrum today, thank you very much. Not that that didn't keep her from glancing over to AJ and her daughter every few seconds. Just to check for herself more than anything. Cate wasn't used to anyone but herself and Colin really handling the girl.
"I don't think the boys mind that too much to be honest," she told Janice as she accepted the boxes and set them down on a somewhat clear corner of the desk. "I don't need more than one or two anyway so I'll go ahead and grab them early before tossing the rest in to them. And they'll never gain a pound. It's not fair." It was happy banter, but Cate, of course, knew that there were reasons why Colin's metabolism at least kept up with whatever he threw at it.
When she heard Janice's appraisal of her and her brother, she shook her head. "Janice might just be a little bit biased. Thank you, though, hon."
Then she was laughing at the next announcement. "Of course he did. How many tiers did he mention? Five? Something ludicrous like that. We don't know enough people to invite to the party to eat even half of the amount of cake that he'll want to see there. But I would love to come over and look at whatever you want to show me. Not to mention the tasting. I'm not going to turn down cake." And then she had an idea. "AJ, you want to come to Miss Kayla's birthday party?" That might help him meet a few people anyway.
Almost as if she knew what her momma was up to, Kayla let out a happy shriek and then plunged her hands deeper into AJ's hair.