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“I know.”
“I’m coming with you.”
A breath leaves me in a whoosh and my shoulders droop almost as if all of the extra weight I’ve been carrying around has been lifted off me. “I’m scared,” I reply, letting them see it all—the pain, the fright.
He stands and pulls me up, crushing me to his chest. “If she hasn’t turned up by Monday, I’ll book flights for us to go back on Tuesday. I’ll help you find her; we’ll do it together.” Pulling back, he frames my face with his large hands. “I can’t get anyone to cover the station until then, but I’ll put some feelers out and find some more information, okay?”
“You don’t have to come back with me.” There’s no conviction to what I’m saying, but I feel like I have to say it.
“Yes, I do,” he growls. “I helped you escape once—let you run—but not again. We’re a team, and ain’t no way in hell will I have my little girl scared to go out of her own house again.”
All of the pain and fearfulness starts to wane as I stare into his eyes, knowing I won’t be alone again. The one man who always protected me will be there.
“It doesn’t matter how old you get, sweetheart.” He smiles softly. “You’ll always be my little girl.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and close my eyes, relishing in the protection of his arms.
Things can only get better from here. It may have taken me a long time to reach out to the people who will always love me, but it doesn’t matter because I’m here now and I know deep down everything will be alright.
I’m so done with her radio silence. If she doesn’t want to continue where we left off and call it a day for us then she should at least have the guts to say it to my face. It took Holland a few days to finally narrow down Amelia’s address for me since she used a fake name. It’s like she knew I’d try to find her, and she obviously doesn’t want to be found.
If that’s the case, then fine. But she’s telling me to my face after she sees the kids she’s left behind. I’m an asshole taking the kids with me, I know that, but the gut feeling I’ve always trusted tells me she’s making a huge mistake. She’s keeping something from us all and I’m done with her secrets.
I knock a beat on the front door of Tris’s house before opening it and calling, “Where’s my princess?” into the entryway.
A second later I hear a squeal and footsteps padding across the hallway upstairs.
“Whoa! Slow down before you get to the stairs!” I shout up to Izzie.
She stops and rolls her eyes, walking down the stairs and jumping into my outstretched arms. “Uncle Nate!”
“Hey, beautiful, where’s your dad and brother?”
She pulls out of the hug and puts her pointer finger on her lips like she’s thinking. “I think Clay is in his room reading more books and Daddy is with Harmony in his office.”
I place her on the floor and start to walk up the stairs. “Do you think you could tell Clay to get ready to go while I have a talk with your dad?”
“Yeah.” She skips down the opposite hallway to me shouting, “Clay! Uncle Nate is here!”
I knock on the office door and Tris appears, his expression full of concern and my stomach drops. If anything has happened to her— “What? What’s wrong?”
He waves me in and as soon as I step inside, I’m faced with a red and blotchy-faced Harmony. She looks like she hasn’t stopped crying for hours.
“Harm? Are you okay?”
She stands up and Tris walks over to her, nuzzling her into his side. “What do you know about the foster care system?”
“I’m sorry, I’m lost.” My gaze moves between the two of them and Tris kisses the top of Harm’s head and encourages her to sit down again.
“I can’t sit down, I feel like I’m doing nothing for him.”
Tris looks at me. “You know she’s been volunteering at the hospital with the babies that are really sick?” I nod. “I’ve been going along too and she—we both have gotten attached to one of them that has no parents.”
I put the pieces of the puzzle together myself but Harmony clarifies it for me anyway. “I went to the hospital as usual on Sunday and he wasn’t there anymore. They told me not to get attached but I couldn’t help it.” She looks up at me, tears brimming her eyes. “We have to get him back, I won’t have him spend another minute in the system.”
I blow out a breath and rub the back of my neck with my hand. “This isn’t my area of expertise,
Tris.”
