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“I like Grant,” he said softly.
I smiled, drawing my knees into my chest. “I like him, too. You sound tired, kiddo. I’ll be home by tomorrow afternoon, okay? I’m leaving first thing in the morning.”
“I miss you, Mama.”
“I miss you, too. I love you.”
Day said Grant’s name, and soon Grant was back on the phone, his voice gravely and touched with fatigue.
“You,” he said with a little laugh, “have a very hard job.”
“Day run you ragged?”
“I’ve never been more exhausted.”
I laughed, rolling over onto my side. “Thank you for doing this, Grant.”
“You take care of Day all alone, Moira. Thanks for letting me take care of you for a while.”
My mouth twitched into a smile, but my heart was aching. This was the nicest thing anyone had done for me in a long time, even if the whole point of the trip was for work.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Grant said. “We’re okay. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said softly, and hung up.
ChapterEleven
Grant
Iplaced the piece of paper Moira had printed out in my office on the kitchen counter. She’d just driven at a crawl out of the driveway, very unlike her bat-out-of-hell driving style I was used to. She didn’t even spray any gravel onto my front porch as she drove off, heading for Bozeman.
She’d written three entire paragraphs of instructions, the document titled,Keep My Kid Alive or Else.
He needs to be in bed by eight. He needs to brush his teeth. You have to watch him brush his teeth because he tries to fake it and I’m not paying for fillings again. He will ask you for chicken nuggets for every meal, don’t give in. Don’t let him watch anything scary on TV…
And so on, and so forth.
Please make sure the doors and windows are locked. Please.
The last line cut into my soul, that blinding anger from earlier rising as I gripped the edge of the counter and breathed heavily through my nose. I opened my eyes after a moment, looking through the kitchen window at Jenny and Day, who were sitting under a tree in the backyard. Jenny was lying with half of her long body in the sun, her head in Day’s lap.
He’d brought the hamster with him, of course. I was sure Jenny was going to eat it the second he took it out of that ridiculous purse he carried it around in, but she was totally uninterested.
Good. I would’ve had hell to pay if Moira came home to a dead hamster and a traumatized kid.
Came home…
I rolled my lower lip between my teeth, glancing into the distance at the metal roof of the bunkhouse that was just visible through the thicket of pine. This wasn’t her home, not really. She’d come here with duffle bags packed with enough clothes to cycle through throughout the week.
She was a runner, that was clear. I would’ve held it against her if she hadn’t finally explained the situation with Day’s father.
Part of me wondered if she’d consider staying here long-term. I could keep her on as a consultant for years, most likely. I was sure the EPA and God knew who else would be up my ass for some or any reason until the day that I died. Moira could put Day in a real school where he could make friends. They could put down roots, finally have some real stability.
They’d be safe here. I just had to convince her of that.
For the millionth time, I reminded myself that I was her boss. I wasn’t her friend… or her man.
I couldn’t deny the fact that part of me wanted to be.
