Inhaling deeply, I pushed the rest of the way through.
When he heard me, he shifted all the way around, lips pursing in a silent, “Shh.”
Mallory instantly followed suit, pushing a finger to her lips that had been flapping since the second I’d pulled up.
“Shh,” she repeated before she edged right back out.
I was pretty sure the silence scared her.
I lifted my chin in acknowledgement, quieting my steps as I crossed the kitchen so I could set the box of diapers on the island, stifling a chuckle when I looked at Ian’s infant who was wearing nothing but a towel duct taped around his waist.
“Clever,” I whispered.
“Desperate times, dude. Desperate times. Told you I needed you. Did you think I was joking?”
“You need me to take one of those?” I asked, gesturing for the conked-out kids.
“Please.” Carefully, he transferred Sophie into my arms, that ball of energy completely spent. “If you can get her into her bed for a nap without waking her up, I’ll give you a thousand dollars. Strike that, I’ll give you my car. Hell, you can keep her,” he uttered barely over his breath, shooting me a wink.
Carefully, I cradled her, the sweet thing weighing next to nothing, her little hand coming up to fist in my shirt.
I kissed the top of her head before I whispered over the top of it. “Uh, like your kids and all, but I think I’ll opt for the Mercedes.”
He shook his head at me with a muted laugh. “Asshole.”
I shot him a smirk right as I was turning away, quick to climb to the second floor on the narrow set of stairs that led from the kitchen. At the landing, I headed straight for Sophie Marie’s room. All four walls were painted in pinks and princesses and unicorn magic, a mural depiction from one of the scenes in the children’s book Grace had written.
Pretty fucking awesome, if you asked me, the fact Grace had taken this book she’d used as an escape for her and her kids when they’d been going through the biggest challenge of their lives and turned it into something amazing and successful. You could find it on the shelves of just about every bookstore from here to L.A.
I edged farther inside, trying not to laugh out loud when I heard that tornado touching down again in the next room. Mallory was belting out a terrible pop song at the top of her lungs.
Thank God the walls were thick.
Or maybe Ian and Grace had put a little extra insulation on Mal-Pal’s. Seemed about right.
In some kind of miracle, Sophie only made a few grunting noises when I laid her on her toddler bed before she flopped over and sprawled out facedown.
Down for the count.
I quickly slipped out, leaving the door open a crack, and bounded back downstairs toward the kitchen.
Blinking as I went.
Fighting back the storm I felt gathering at the horizon of my mind.
Didn’t matter.
It grew thicker.
Darker.
More desperate.
Was taking everything I had not to bypass the kitchen and go bolting out the front door.
Drive the ten miles to her parents’ place, sure that was where I would find her.
Just as sure as her dad would be waiting to chase me off with a shotgun.
Didn’t matter that I was a cop, dude was likely to take me down, anyway.
I didn’t blame him for a second. I deserved his distrust.
I’d risk all of that to get one more look at her. Figure out if she was actually as worn down as it’d appeared.
Fix it, if I could. Wondering if she would let me. Knowing I didn’t deserve the chance.
I scrubbed both palms over my face, hoping it would break me out of the muddle of mayhem staging an assault in my mind.
Stepping into the kitchen, I found Ian trying to rip into the box without setting Collin down.
“Need a hand?” I offered, crossing to the island.
“Need about ten of them, apparently.”
“Poor bastard,” I mumbled, eyeing him with a glint in my eye. “Guess that’s what you get for telling your kid I was gonna die alone.”
He just laughed. “Don’t act like that’s not exactly where you’re headed. Don’t worry, man, I’d have been happy to die alone right along with you until I met Grace.”
Funny how my life was filled with all these amazing people and still was utterly lonely. My house was so vacant that sometimes I thought it might swallow me up.
Sometimes I thought Ian could see right into my mind because he frowned. “You know the house next door is for sale. You should think about moving back to Broadshire Rim. Would be awesome to have you nearby.”
“What, you need me close for all the spur-of-the moment diaper runs?”
“Hell, yeah. Like I told you earlier, you’re basically my favorite person.” He pointed at me. “Repeat that, and I will kill you.”