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“Henry!” I say, pretending to be appalled.
“Just pick the right time, okay? It’s probably not the right time when you’re both tired, stressed, and you have four children sleeping on the other side of the room.”
“You’re right.” Damn it.
“Your time will come. I’m sure of it. Did you get the ice cream?”
“Two containers.”
“Overachiever,” he mutters.
“I do try.”
“You had better get back, before the little monsters tie Wren up and lock her in the closet. You’ll go back and find them playing Yahtzee with the homeless man across the street, betting O-shaped cereal and juice boxes.”
“You paint a stark picture, old man,” I say with a laugh.
Henry goes quiet for a second. “Hey, Mick,” Henry s
ays.
“Yeah, Henry?”
“I like you a lot, but if you hurt that girl, I’ll have no choice but to kick you in the balls.”
“You can take a turn right after her dad gets done.”
“True.” He heaves out a sigh. “She’s had enough heartache. She lost her parents, met a man who couldn’t love her, and lost a baby she could have loved fiercely. So, above all else, be a man she can trust.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And hurry back to the hotel. She just sent me a picture of the two oldest ones holding zip ties and scarves.”
“She did not.”
“Okay, she didn’t. But it was a funny picture in your head, right?”
“Hilarious, Henry.”
Henry coughs into the phone.
“Henry, are you feeling all right? You’re not getting sick, are you?”
“Oh, you’ll know what it’s like when you get as old as me. Everything hurts, and nothing tastes right, but you keep on going as long as you can.”
“Take some cough syrup for that cold. And go to the doctor if it doesn’t get any better.”
“Hey, Mick?” Henry says casually.
“Yeah, Henry?”
“Go to hell. Right after you go back to the hotel with that girl’s ice cream.”
I laugh. “Yes, sir. Good night.”
“Sleep tight!” he replies. Then I hear him curse over the fact that he can’t figure out how to hang up the stupid phone.
If I didn’t know better, I would say Henry’s on a mission to pave the way into Wren’s heart for me. I need all the help I can get.
