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“Hey,” Kane said softly from the doorway. After leaving the hospital we had brought Daisy back to Gray’s loft so that she could sleep in her own bed until he could get there. I had hysterically called him when Daisy was getting her x-rays done and he said he was going to leave right away to get back home. Hopefully that would be soon.
I wiped the tears from my eyes and gently slid Daisy’s injured arm off my stomach and propped it onto a pillow next to her. She must have been exhausted from the day because she didn’t stir. I pulled the door to, not closing it all the way so I could hear her if she needed me.
Kane pulled me into a tight hug, making me cry even harder. “Shhh,” he soothed. “She’s okay, baby.”
I sobbed into his t-shirt, “I’m a terrible aunt. Gray’s never going to let me take care of her again after today.”
“There’s no way that’ll happen, Winnie, Gray knows this wasn’t your fault. He’d never blame you.” The sound of keys in the lock broke us apart and the man in question came barreling through the door.
Gray’s eyes were panicked as he quickly searched the room for his daughter. I pressed my finger to my lips to let him know she was sleeping before pointing to Daisy’s bedroom door. He entered her room quietly and Kane and I made our way over to the couch to give him some time alone with her.
Gray emerged a few minutes later and walked to the kitchen, the sound of cabinets opening and closing reached us before Gray emerged. He walked to the den and sat in the armchair next to us. Putting down three glasses and a bottle of brown liquor on the coffee table, he filled each glass halfway and shot his back instantly. After pouring another glass he sipped this one slower and dropped his head back against the armchair. “Fuck,” he said, staring at the ceiling.
I held the glass, feeling sick to my stomach. “Gray,” I choked out, “I’m so sorry.”
His head remained resting on the cushion as his eyes rolled toward me and his brow furrowed, “What do you have to be sorry for, Winnie?”
“For letting Daisy get hurt, for traumatizing your daughter by having to take her to a hospital and get x-rays and pain medication,” I pointed out. Gray began to laugh. Okayyyyy, was he drunk already? Could someone as big as him get drunk from one shot?
“Winnie,” Gray sat up, putting his glass on the table and dropped his hands between his knees, “do you remember when Daisy was still a baby and she rolled off her changing table and hit her head? How about the time she fell down the back staircase and had so many bruises on her little body it looked like she had been in a car wreck?”
I did remember those times. Poor Gray had rushed her to the hospital both times and Daisy had been perfectly fine except for some bumps and bruises. “This is different, Gray. Your daughter’s in a cast and it’s my fault she has to wear it.”
He sighed, “No, it isn’t. Not anymore than it has been my fault every other time she has been hurt just because she was being a kid. It happens, Win, and as much as I feel every cut, bruise, splinter and yes, broken bone that my baby gets, it’s part of life. I know you would never hurt her on purpose and I’m grateful you were both there to take care of her and get her to the hospital.”
I swallowed fresh tears at his easy forgiveness, I had the best big brother. “Why were you there anyway?” he asked Kane. Crap, I hadn’t even thought of a good excuse of why Kane had been with us.
“Winnie had mentioned taking Daisy up to the falls today and I asked if I could tag along, spend some quality time with my goddaughter. I’ve missed that kid since she hasn’t been across the hall from me,” Kane supplied. I breathed a sigh of relief for his quick thinking.
“I’m glad you were there to help take care of them. Thanks, man.”
“You never have to thank me for looking out for Daisy or Winnie. It’s my pleasure,” Kane replied seriously. “We’ll get out of here and let you get some rest.”
“Yeah,” Gray stood, stretching. “It feels really good to be home.” He walked us to the door, saying goodnight before closing and locking it behind us.
I looked at Kane’s door, wanting badly to go in there with him. To sleep the stress and terror of this day away in his arms. Kane’s hand rested on my lower back and he looked at me, clearly wanting the same thing. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.”
It was the right thing to do. Gray was home now and we hadn’t told him about our relationship. There was no way either of us were going to dump that on him when he had spent the day worrying about his daughter. We reached my Jeep and both of us stood there awkwardly, unsure what to say. I shifted on my feet, staring at the ground.
“Look at me, Winnie.” My eyes jumped to his at his tone and the stern look on his face. “This doesn’t change anything, baby. We’ll give Gray some time to settle back in and then we’ll talk to him. Until then,” he softened and pulled me close, his lips hovering over mine. “I’m going to miss the hell out of having you in my bed.”
I raised up on my toes until our lips met, wanting this kiss to last. Wanting to be able to feel it long after it was over. Once again, I felt the desire to tell him I loved him. That a few days without him would be torture when I had grown accustomed to spending our nights together. Instead, I kept the words inside and drove home.
20
Kane
Monday morning arrived and I swung my legs to the side of the bed feeling exhausted and groggy. The last two nights I had tossed and turned, alternatively missing Winnie and chasing nightmares. It had been a while since I had a bad night, having Winnie in my arms blocked out the thoughts of the people I couldn’t save and the things I had done in the name of my country.
Dragging my sorry ass out of bed and to the shower, I washed my hair while I thought about the day ahead. Gray had texted last night saying he would be there for the team meeting. It would be good to have him back in the office running things, selfishly I hoped he wasn’t going to be leaving town again.
I reached for my body wash only to come back with a pink bottle covered in fruit. Smiling, I switched it out for my own. Reminders of Winnie were all over my home. Her toiletries were in my bathroom and my closet was full of her clothing. A small pair of purple fuzzy slippers sat next to the coffee table. Hopefully she would be back here using them soon.
After getting dressed, I headed downstairs to see Gray in his usual spot in the conference room, responding to e-mails on his laptop. “Good morning,” he glanced up at me and grimaced, “Geez, you look like shit, Kane.”
“Thanks, asshole,” I laughed wryly. “Bad dreams.” His eyes lit with understanding and he nodded his head. We all had them. You couldn’t do what we did for a living and see what we had seen without having some really bad fucking memories. “How’s Daisy doing?” I switched the subject as I poured the biggest mug of coffee we had.
“Not too bad if you can believe it. We hung out in the house yesterday watching cartoons and eating junk. I was fully prepared to keep her home today, I’ve missed her so much it would’ve been nice to get some more time with her, but she begged me to go to school so that all her friends could sign her cast.”
