Chapter 43
Jaz was having fun. She thought about her place in the Drovers Empire group. She never felt like she truly belonged with the other women of Drovers, even though they were her family. She didn't really get to know Tess until after her divorce and Jodi until after she returned from witness protection. Even then, it was mostly brief meetings while she visited on breaks from her training. Stevie was grieving her husband when they had first met, and they had started to bond and become very close, but then she had gone away again to train.
Even Grace and Regan had grown up together with their mom while she had stayed with their dad. They shared memories that Jaz wasn't included in. She felt like she had never achieved the level of closeness with anyone that Stevie and Jodi and Tess all had with each other. That was one of the many reasons why she took on Wilgul. She wanted to be closer to them, to get to know them, to develop that level of connection, and she had grown much closer than she had been, but she still felt like the strength of her relationships could be stronger. After her sisters, she felt closest to Stevie, who was basically her cousin-in-law, but their relationship paled in comparison to the relationships Stevie shared with Jodi and Tess and Grace. She felt she had missed out on some prime bonding opportunities, but was determined to make up for that. Her work kept her very busy, but she wanted to make time to be with her family. That's one of the reasons why she invited her cousins to stay for dinner. She also loved hanging with Claire. She was growing up so fast and was becoming a wonderful young woman. She wanted to be a part of her adult life too.
The girls had finished their dinner and decided to play a few rounds of cards to continue the merrymaking. Uno! was the game of choice.
"No! Not the draw 4!" Jaz exclaimed.
"Sorry! I play to win, cuz! Stevie replied. She got up and poured herself another glass from the wine bottle Jaz had opened at dinner. She offered some to Jaz.
"Oh, no more for me. I've got to drive you girls home in a bit."
"More for me, then." Stevie joked and winked at Jaz.
"Uno!" announced Claire as she played a yellow 6.
"Oh, we've got to watch out for the youngin' here. Playing all innocent, but going in for the kill on us old ladies here." Stevie quipped.
It was Jaz's turn next. She had a yellow card, but nothing that could make Claire pick up more cards. She played the yellow 8 and turned to Stevie and said, "I hope you've got a draw 4 wildcard up your sleeve there or else the kid is gonna take us both down."
"I think it's Claire's night. I only have this," said Stevie as she laid down a yellow 2.
Claire smiled and raised her hands in triumph.
She played the final card in her hand, a yellow 9, and was declared the winner.
"Well Jaz. I reckon she's going to move to Las Vegas and become a card shark when she reaches age." said Stevie.
"No way! I want to live here with all of you. But visiting Las Vegas seems fun! It's so glamorous in the movies, I'd love to visit the States."
"I've been to Las Vegas. I had a competition there once. It wasn't as glamorous as it looks in the movies. There were a lot of overweight people eating at buffets and playing slot machines at all hours of the night. Sorry to disappoint you, kiddo. I did have fun, though, I won that competition and then as I was heading out, I won five hundred dollars on a slot machine at the airport!" Jaz said.
"Wow! $500, that's awesome! Should we play another round?" asked Claire.
"No, we should get going. We all have to get up early as usual." Stevie replied.
"Let me get Kelly into her car seat and I'll take you girls home." Jaz said, picking up her sleeping toddler. "I hope she just sleeps right through the ride."
Stevie remembered how fussy of a sleeper Xander had been at that age.
"I hope she's better than Xander was. He was a terrible sleeper until he was about five." shared Stevie.
Claire and Stevie gathered up their belongings and put the cards back in the box while Jaz was out by her car dealing with Kelly.
They headed outside and Claire climbed into the back of the LandCruiser with Kelly, and Stevie hopped into the passenger seat.
"I'll hit Drovers first and then drop you off at Killarney." Jaz said to Stevie.