Elena hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Careful,” she murmured.
“Always,” he promised. Hatchet hoisted Sofia up, her delighted squeal cutting through the air.
She babbled something in Spanish, and Hatchet answered in butchered but overly confident Spanish that made her giggle. A small, disbelieving smile tugged at the corner of Elena’s mouth.
“Let me show you where you’re staying,” I offered, handing Elena the baby carrier. We walked toward the back of the lot where the old RV sat. As the door swung open, Tomás stirred. Elena instinctively bent to scoop him up, then winced as her braced wrist protested.
“Let me take him while you look around. I don’t know what the girls put in there, but I’ll give you my number, and you can text me if you need anything else. If I’m at work, I can ask one of the guys to help.”
She hesitated for a beat before easing Tomás into my arms. He was heavier than he looked. His tiny fist curled in the fabric of my top as I breathed in the powdery-sweet baby scent of his hair. I stepped into the RV with Elena following closely.
Eva and Kenna had stuck Post-its on the cabinets—PLATES, CUPS, SILVERWARE—with little hearts doodled in the corners. An enormous selection of snacks sat on the small countertop, probably pulled from Eva’s personal stash of junk food.
We turned at Sofia’s shriek of laughter as Hatchet stepped inside the RV, pretending to hit his head on the top of the doorframe. He picked her up and then tipped her gently upside down by one ankle, his other big hand firm around her back so she was never really dangling.
“I caught a murciélago,” Hatchet announced. “Better hang the little bat right here.” He pretended to consider the doorframe like abat hook. She laughed so hard she could barely breathe, arms flailing.
“The men here will make sure you and your family are safe,” I said quietly, rocking Tomás as he blinked up at me. “No one will hurt you again.”
“And if he finds us?” she whispered.
“He’d never get through the gates,” Hatchet promised. “And, if he did, he wouldn’t leave on his own two legs.”
Something about the way he said it seemed to settle her. She nodded.
“Is there anything else you need? Anything we forgot?” I grabbed the stack of sticky notes from the counter and a pen.
Elena’s eyes swept across the small space. Blankets and pillows stacked on the bed. A package of diapers in the corner. Toothbrushes and a mini toothpaste on the table.
“This is too much already. You’ve done enough.”
“Yeah, that’s not how this works,” I said, shifting Tomás and gently placing him on the bed. “You’re a guest. Humor me. If you could have three things that would make this easier, what would they be? Don’t overthink it.”
She chewed her lip. “Some chamomile tea, maybe?”
I smiled at her encouragingly as I jotted down her request.
“And some popcorn? I see there’s a microwave. Sofia loves popcorn.”
“How about I bring my tablet over, and you can have a movie night?” Hatchet suggested.
Sofia hopped in the air and grinned at him widely. “I want to watchBeauty and the Beast.”
“And a nightlight,” Elena added. “Sofia’s scared of the dark.”
“Am not!” the little girl shouted, all sass with her hands on her hips.
I grinned as I scribbled down a few names and phone numbers and smacked the note on the mini refrigerator. “Text me if you thinkof anything else. I’ll be back in a bit with a few things and some takeout for dinner.”
“I can cook something,” Elena insisted.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s been a long day. We’ll be right back.”
Outside, the air felt cooler. Hatchet fell into step beside me as we headed toward my truck, boots crunching on gravel.
“Have you told Thane and Merrick about this yet?” he asked as he settled into the passenger seat beside me.
I shook my head. “I guess I should,” I said with a small laugh as I started the truck and shifted it into gear.
