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“Oh, our beautiful girl.” Piper wiped at her cheeks and cupped Blake’s face in her hands. “I missed you so much. So much, so much!”
I looked over to where Elliott was standing some thirty feet away, and he glanced at me at the same time.
Let’s get out of here, please.
He smiled slightly, and it wasn’t the right smile at all. He was uncomfortable too.
Could he even go home right away? We had doctor’s appointments for the kids tomorrow—in San Diego, as per our request—but we’d asked for this day without any obligations. Tomorrow, we’d start. Trauma counselors, a more thorough physical exam, more tests, probably talks with a Fed or two as well.
We had one single plan for today—whenever we could set it in motion. We were gonna pick up tacos and comfortable clothes for everyone, and then we’d head to Elliott’s ranch, where we would, in record time—put together the last pieces in his new living room.
Before the attack, they’d apparently gotten the couches and the TV in order, and he had spare mattresses. The rest…we’d get to that. Step by step, I wanted to be there while he filled his new home with a sense ofus. I mean, I was going to make sure there’d be a solid air of Joel in his house. So he didn’t forget about me and such.
A toothbrush here, my deodorant there, some clothes, maybe a few books…
Then all the rest of my shit.
“Listen—” I kissed Blake’s hair, then refocused on Piper. “I understand you don’t wanna be away from her right now, so Elliott and I had this idea that we spend the night at his place. Get some tacos and…you know. Just take it easy. He’s, uh—” I nodded over to where he was. “He’s going to take care of a few kids till the authorities know where they’ll end up. They’re not sure their dad is a good guy.”
“Oh.” Piper wiped her nose and glanced toward her brother. “Yeah, of course. I—those are the kids?”
I nodded.
Maybe she didn’t know what to do with that information. I could admit, it looked strange to see Elliott with that little boy clinging to him. At the same time…he was the best uncle Blake could ever ask for, and he’d never shied away from dealing with typical kids’ messes. Even before she’d beenhousebroken.
Also, strange didn’t mean bad. It was hot. It was heartwarming—and those boys would have a place to relax fully. With a guy who really gave crap.
I caught movement in the corner of my eye and noticed Crew and Mercier were taking off together. Did that mean it was okay to leave? The Quinns were still wrapped up in their family reunion, and the Tenleys didn’t appear to be in any rush to leave. They were talking to Ortega and Marisa, who I knew were waiting for Ortega’s parents to show up with their sons.
“I take it you and Elliott are on better terms?” Piper guessed.
Like you wouldn’t believe.
I nodded slowly, thinking of how to phrase myself. “You could say that. We, uh…we had the chance to really talk. About everything.”
In retrospect, Piper’s behavior concerning the hostility between Elliott and me had been weird as fuck. She’d joked about Elliott being territorial—like there was some kind of chauvinism behind his hatred. How I wasn’t a good man to his sister or a good dad to Blake. Utter horseshit, of course. And I guessed I’d been blind. I’d never really thought about why she hadn’t encouraged us to solve our problems. She hadn’t actually asked what the problem was, to begin with. Not really.
I could tell how guarded she became right now, though. I wasn’t blind anymore. She fidgeted with the drawstrings of her hoodie, before she turned all her attention to Blake.
Like I said, weird as fuck. Wasn’t she supposed to be happy? The father of her daughter and her brother, finally getting along?
She peppered Blake’s face with kisses. “What do you say, sweetie? Tacos at Uncle Ellie’s house?”
“Yeah, we already decided that,” Blake giggle-sniffled.
* * *
It felt like an eternity passed before we drove up the hill to Elliott’s ranch.
Memories struck like blows to the gut. Last time I’d been here, I’d almost broken down. My whole world had disappeared.
Blake felt it too. She squeezed my fingers tightly as Piper pulled in next to Elliott’s truck.
The man himself was somewhere behind us in a rental that we were returning tomorrow.
“Are we sure there are no bad men here now?” Blake asked uncertainly.
“They’re all gone,” I promised her. “You’ll never see them again.”
