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I followed her inside, the wooden floor cool against my bare feet. I placed Fontaine on the floor next to his food bowl. Everly took the puppy food from the pantry and poured some into the bowl.
“I can make us French toast and bacon. Or an omelet or just normal bacon and eggs. If you want cereal I have almost everything from Coco Puffs to Low GI muesli.”
If I didn’t stop her, she would continue to ramble on. “That’s quite a mix.”
“I have a pre-teen daughter.” Everly took a skillet out of another cupboard and switched on the stove. “Some days she likes to pretend she’s a professional dancer leading a healthy lifestyle. And others, she’s just a kid who needs a sugar rush. And really, there’s no real sign which one we’re going to wake up to. Fair warning.”
That was one of the things I wanted to talk about. “So, she’s serious about dancing?”
Everly’s eyes narrowed. Her lips went thin as she laid the bacon in the pan. “At the moment, yes. But she’s more practical than I am about it.”
I guessed that Everly didn’t see herself as practical. “What do you mean?”
“She wants to be a professional dancer, that is her goal.” Everly pottered around the black and white kitchen while she spoke. “And she doesn’t know if she wants to attend Julliard, or college or if she wants to go straight into a dance company. Closer to the time, I’ll offer my advice. For now, she’s joining the cheer squad at her middle school, hoping that will give her a leg up when it gets to high school. She could get a scholarship if she’s on the cheer team. She wants to keep all her options open.”
I was impressed. “Smart kid.”
“Exactly.” The pride on Everly’s face was unmistakable. “She’s not a straight A student, but her grades don’t makeme worry either. Except for math. She’s easily distracted and sometimes she needs to be reminded that there is more to the world than dance.”
In other words, she was a kid. Everly was doing a great job with her. It made me wonder, not for the first time, how I would fit into the world she had carved out for the two of them.
I would deal with that later. There were other things we needed to discuss first. “I want to find an apartment as soon as possible and I want you and Skylar to move in with me. Even if it is only temporarily while we are looking for the sick bastard.”
“I… I don’t think that’s necessary, Noah.”
“Ev. Someone was outside your front door. What if the two of you were home.” Though, I believed that the parcel was specifically dropped while the asshole knew no one was home. “I know you don’t want to uproot Sky, and it's the last thing I want. But I cannot have anything happen to either of you.”
“Can I think about it while you’re looking?” That wasn’t a yes, but it was more than I expected. “Just don’t go overboard and rent a mansion or something. I know you’ll want her to have her own space when she’s with you, but don’t spoil her, okay.”
I didn’t answer. Mostly because I didn’t think I could do that honestly. “In the meantime, I need to get a sleeper couch for your living room.”
Everly plated our breakfast and placed them alongside each other on the breakfast counter. “What the hell for?”
“Because Skylar will be back tonight. I will not have this mess drive her from her home. And she will need to sleep in her own bed. She has school tomorrow. And you will be in your own bed.”
“Nonsense. She and I can share her bed.” She thumbed over her shoulder. “That couch is not comfortable. And Sky’s bed is big enough for both of us.”
I knew better than to argue. Besides, it may be pointless beyond one night. As soon as I got to work the next day, I would find a realtor and get an apartment.
A noise outside the door got our attention. A key in the slot and some muffled speaking let me know that it must be Skylar and she was not alone. The door burst open, and she stood there alongside a blonde kid, around the same age but about half a head taller. I recognized the girl from the picnic a few days back.
Skylar’s eyes were wide as she took in the two of us. She picked up Fontaine and snuggled him for a moment. “Are we going to be door locking people now? And is Noah living with us now? Is the thing that happened yesterday something serious?” She asked all her questions in rapid succession while walking to her mother. She kissed Everly on the cheek. “Hi Mom.” She turned to me and froze. Slowly, she raised her hand and offered me a half smile. “Hi.”
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “Hey, sweetheart.”
Thank goodness for Everly who quickly focused on the other girl as well as the dark-haired woman coming through the door. “Hey Grace. Tess, hello. You didn’t need to walk her to the door.”
Actually, I appreciated Tess’s thoughtfulness.
“Harry suggested it when I left to drop her off. Especially after what happened yesterday. You know what those special forces men are like.”
Everly might have an idea, with her friends both married to Salinger men. But she was about to become real acquainted with how protective I could be.
I stood next to Everly. “It's always better to be cautious.” I held out my hand to Tess. “I’m Noah, Ev didn’t have a chance to introduce me yesterday.”
She took my hand and smiled while Skylar disappeared with Grace and Fontaine down the hall. Presumably to her bedroom. Everly offered Tess a drink and she quickly refused.The two women caught up on what seemed like PTA matters and basically ignored that I was there. The girls appeared a few minutes later, Grace holding a notebook of some sort. Everly and Skylar walked Tess and Grace to their car.
I scrolled through the messages on my phone, noting that Nick had sent me a calendar invite for Trey’s interview the next day. There were few other things that would need my attention as one of the team leads at Salinger Security. I also noted that there was no invoice for Everly’s alarm system or the camera’s we’d installed the day before. I needed to deal with that. If Nick billed Everly I would need that reversed and have him bill me instead. Everly and Skylar were my responsibility. Sky, because she was my daughter and will always have my protection. Everly, because she was the mother of my child, and I owed it to her after she had single handedly raised our kid. That had to be it.
