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“If you want to, sure. But why the rush?”
She shrugs. “I guess I just want something to do during the day.”
“You’re welcome to work for me, but have you ever given thought to becoming a tattoo artist?”
“Not like, seriously.” The way her lips perk up at the corners tells me I’ve landed on something precious—a chest of buried treasure in the form of a future she only let herself imagine in secret.
“I talked to one of my guys who has some ink, and he told me about a studio in Vestal owned by a woman named Raven. I thought we could go down there, get you your first tat, see if you like the feel of the place. If you do, we could talk to her about an apprenticeship.”
“I thought you didn’t want me working for anyone else.”
“If tattooing is your dream, then I’m going to do everything in my power to make it come true.” Teagan nuzzles closer as I give her body a light squeeze. “I have a surprise for you, angel.”
Her eyes light up. “What kind of surprise?”
“The kind you can’t have till after dinner.”
She jumps to her feet like a kid who’s been told they can’t have chocolate until they’ve finished their peas. “So, what’s for dinner?”
I put her to work chopping onions and garlic while I put a pot of water on to boil. In less than an hour, we’re sitting down to heaping plates of spaghetti with meat sauce, topped with copious amounts of cheese.
“Sorry to spring this on you, angel,” I say between bites, “but I’m supposed to host a barbecue this Saturday for folks from the office. I can postpone if you’d rather not have a bunch of strangers around this weekend.”
She licks red sauce from her lips, her expression cautious. “They’re people you work with?”
“And their families. Good people, all of ‘em, and I know they’d love to meet you.”
Teagan pokes at her pasta. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet, too.”
“Oh yeah? Who?”
“My Uncle Craig.”
My fork freezes halfway to my mouth. Since when does she have family in the area? “Your uncle lives around here?”
“In an extended stay a couple of blocks from my last group home.”
“Has he always lived there?”
She shakes her head. “I found out he was back in town about eight months ago. He used to come around when I was little, but he took off right before my mom died.”
Since she brought it up, I figure it’s okay to ask, “How did she die?”
“Drug overdose.” Her tone is matter of fact, but her fidgety hands betray the tension inside her. “My dad ran off when I was four, and after that, she kind of gave up on being my mom.”
“How old were you when she passed?”
“Six and a half.” The information hits me like a bullet. She lost her father at four, and then her mother at six.
It’s no goddamn wonder the girl’s taken so naturally to Daddy kink. She barely had time to be a kid.
Gutted, I rest my hand over hers. “Is there a reason you aren’t staying with your uncle now?”
She stares down at her plate. “He doesn’t have room for me.”
Does he live in a goddamn shoebox? God knows if anything happened to Mary and her husband, I would assume guardianship of my nieces in a heartbeat. I want to ask why the hell he doesn’t justmake roomfor her, but that’s a question for Craig, not Teagan.
“Is Craig your mom’s brother or your dad’s?”
