I nodded.“I do.It’s dark.But so is mine.”
“And you think that makes for a good match?”Danica asked.“Two broken—”
“I’m notbroken,” I argued, a tingle of frustration in my chest.“Ephram didn’t break me.”He nearly did, but I took care of things before he could.“And Lennox isn’t broken either.Does he look broken to you?”
Danica tucked a strand of her wavy blonde hair behind her ear and shook her head.“No.”She rubbed my arm.“I’m just looking out for you.”
Sighing, I let the building agitation disappear with my exhale.“I know.And I appreciate it.”Hitting each one with the same look, I gave them a small smile.“But I can handle this.It may not even amount to anything.We’ve hung out a couple of times.Kissed a little.That’s it.We’re taking it slow.We both want to do that.”
“He had her really young, didn’t he?”Gabrielle asked.“Like twelve, thirteen, fourteen?Is Mabel’s mother in the picture?”
“This isn’t my story,” I persisted.“And no.She’s not.He has full custody.”
“Where is her mother?”Raina asked.I knew they were just looking out for me, but their endless interrogation was getting on my nerves.
“Florida.”That wasn’t a lie.Technically, Kyla was in Florida.She was out on parole after a thirteen-year stint in a women’s penitentiary, but my cousins didn’t need to know that.It was irrelevant.
“And the rest of his family?”Gabrielle chose her words very carefully.They all did.And their tone remained even, their volume low.Almost like they were trying to subdue an aggressive dog or a skittish horse.I was neither aggressive nor skittish.What I was, was tired of the third degree.If I couldn’t keep this simple secret of Lennox’s, how could he ever trust me?
“Mother is dead; father is in Florida as well.He was in foster care as a teenager though.He’s close with his foster family.”Again, I wasn’t lying.This was all true, and I don’t think Lennox would get upset with me sharing this information.It also seemed to be organically navigating us away from anything potentially more explosive.
“Siblings?”Raina asked.
I sighed and tossed my hands into the air.“I don’t think so.Not biological anyway.Just foster.Okay.And we’re done.No more questions.You’re getting as bad as Jolene.”
The three of them gasped.
“Well, what do you want me to say?”
“I want you to say that you’ve thought about this from every angle and there’s no way it can come back to bite you in the ass,” Gabrielle said.“While I think Lennox—and Mabel—are very nice people, and probably verygoodpeople, there is something off about them.He’s really young.”
“So?So is Maverick,” I shot back.
Gabrielle tipped her head to the side and gave me a look she usually reserved for her children.“Maverick doesn’t have a thirteen-year-old child, Naomi.And he didn’t move him and his child across the country for a job, away from family and friends, to a place with limited resources for a child on the autism spectrum.I’ve worked with enough battered women and women fleeing dangerous situations to know that what he’s done isn’t normal behavior.So it worries me to see you getting tangled up with him.”
“I’m fine,” I said through clenched teeth.“And Mabel doesn’t need constant intervention and therapies the way some children on the spectrum do.She’s gifted, brilliant, and has a father with a master’s degree in special education.He wrote his thesis on 2e gifted children with ASD and the best, most effective forms of intervention for them.I don’t think he’d take her to a place where she would suffer.”
“We’re just looking out for you,” Danica said, rubbing my arm again.“That’s all.”
“I know, and I appreciate it.But you need to back off a bit, too.We’re not being hasty or stupid about anything.We’re just getting to know each other.Is that not allowed?”
“Of course it is,” Raina said.“We want you to find love and be happy.We just want you to be safe too.”
“Wolfsbane can’t protect you against everything,” Gabrielle murmured so only we could hear.
I wasn’t about to tell them that Lennox knew about the plant behind the barn; that would cause this conversation to never end, and I’d already grown weary of it.
“Again, I appreciate the concern, but please have some faith in my decision-making capabilities.”I glanced at Maverick and Tom, who were now working together to sweep up and toss leaves, moss, and debris into a garbage bin.They were deliberately staying out of our conversation, yet still within earshot.“I had faith in your choices.I never questioned you guys.Why are you questioning me?”
The guys lifted their heads my way, and each graced me with soft, understanding, closed-mouth smiles.
“Okay,” Gabrielle said, her amber eyes softening.“We trust you.”
Danica wrapped her arms around me in a hug, then Raina joined in, her red hair tickling my nose.Gabrielle wasn’t much of a hugger, and as I met her gaze over Danica’s shoulder, she mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
All I did was smile back and hug my cousins a little tighter.
“Lennox is on for beers,” Tom announced, breaking the remaining tension on the patio as Danica and Raina released me.“I will talk to Cameron about sourcing wood for a gate, and I already ordered cameras for Lennox’s property.”
