“It wasn’t like that,” I say.
“Mm.” She watches Colt pepper Zela’s chubby cheeks with kisses as he holds both his kids.
The baby pats his jaw, then grabs a fistful of his collar. Colt laughs and kisses her knuckles before Remi untangles her.
“So who’s the woman Ghost thinks is exactly what you need? Thought it might’ve finally been a prospective date.”
“Rem,” Colt mutters, but there’s no heat in it.
“What?” She grins. “Sue me, I’m invested.”
“She’s new in town,” Ghost adds, saving me from answering. “Hair’s blue at the ends.”
Remi’s expression shifts. “Oh, her! She saved me from faceplanting with a tray of hot coffees on Main. I gave her directions to the motel. Beautiful, and amazing blue eyes.” She glances at me and pauses. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She’s new,” I say.
“That’s not a crime.”
“No.”
“She offered to help with Elle?”
I nod.
“She seems lovely.”
“She seems like we don’t know her,” I reply.
Remi studies me for a second longer than I’d prefer, then nods like she’s filing it away for later.
Max wriggles out of Colt’s one-armed grip. “I wanna go see the truck! And the ladder. Ladders are for climbing, but not for me.”
Colt crouches down to wipe something off his cheek with his thumb. “That’s right, bud. You are not cleared for heights, yet.”
Remi hands Colt a wipe before he asks, so he can clean the stickiness off his hands, and then he reaches to take Zela back. They move around each other like this all the time, and I watch them like I always do.
The way Colt leans his head toward Remi when she says something, the way she rests her hand briefly against his back before turning away. Colt doesn’t miss a beat at work or at home, and Remi meets him in the middle every time.
They carry the weight together, and it shows in the way he stands when they’re here—grounded, instead of braced. Like he has everything he needs right in front of him.
Chief Rhodes appears from his office a minute later, no doubt drawn by the noise, and Max spots him instantly.
“Grandpa!” Max yells, sprinting across to him.
“There’s my crew!” Chief scoops him up. “Inside voice, buddy,” he says, but he’s smiling.
His gaze shifts to me over Max’s shoulder. “Heard Miss Mabel’s finished up.”
“Yeah.”
“You lined something up?”
“Working on it.”
He holds my eyes for a second longer. “Don’t carry more than you need to, Prince.”
I swallow on a nod. “I won’t.”
