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After everyone left, Sonia kissed Fee again before kissing Danny’s and my cheeks and going to the spare bedroom. I didn’t want to leave, but I was overstaying my welcome.
Fee was sleeping lightly; any movement would wake her up. I stood from the couch carefully. “I better go.”
Danny tilted his head. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Home?”
He pulled me from my hips. “I spent the whole way back craving to spend the night hugging my baby and my woman, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” He caressed my cheek, a tormented look on his face. “I could’ve lost you all today. I need to know all my women are safe under this roof.” He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. There was nothing sexual about the kiss. It was a show of relief, of gratitude. We were all safe.
Holding my emotions at bay, I carried Fee to Danny’s bedroom as he locked the house. I lay her on his bed, waited for him to come, and was leaving the room when she was startled awake and clutched my arm in her little hand.
“Don’t leave me, Lissie.”
I kissed her forehead. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll just bring your Uni to stay with us.” I snatched her stuffed unicorn from her bedroom and joined them both in Danny’s bed.
She turned her little frame to me while hugging her father’s left hand under her chin. I played with her hair until she fell asleep again, not brave enough yet to face Danny.
When her soft snores began, I whispered to him, “I’m so sorry. We almost lost her today, and I couldn’t stop them.” Fresh tears rolled down my cheek, soaking the pillow I was using.
He touched my cheek with his free hand and leaned my chin so I looked at him. “It took more than four people to stop them and get Sofia back. The man we were hunting even managed to escape. You fought for my daughter’s life, disregarding the risk you were in. When I think I’ve seen all the wonderful things about you, you surprise me yet again.” He picked up my hand and lifted it to his mouth to kiss my palm. “Falling for you is proving to be easier than I imagined. Deserving you is the hard part.”
I caressed his cheek, welcoming the scratching of his stubble. We inched closer together, smushing Sofia between us.
And after the day from hell, the three of us fell asleep together. Like a family should.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I couldn’t shake off the nagging of guilt whispering in my ear. Danny was grateful for me, but I still thought I could’ve done better to stop Andrea and the man I learned was called Matias. I pictured in my head the many other ways I could’ve handled it, and in none of them I lost Fee.
If that wasn’t enough, my crazy brain began to feed me bullshit like that Danny was only with me out of guilt and obligation. If I were being rational, I knew that was stupid. But after everything that went down the day before, I wasn’t exactly a source of reasonable theories.
I pushed those toxic thoughts away and considered how I could make Sofia and Danny’s day better. If I was scared, I couldn’t even begin to imagine the hell they went through. I’d yet to know what happened, but I knew it wasn’t pretty.
Throwing the blanket away from my legs, I carefully left the bed and tiptoed to the kitchen, planning on making something tasteful for us to gorge on, using one of the best methods to control our emotions: eating our feelings.
I was putting the first batch of cookies in the oven when Sonia joined me in the kitchen.
“Couldn’t sleep?” I smiled weakly and shrugged one shoulder in response. She nodded in understanding. “That’s the life of a parent.” She opened the fridge to collect more ingredients. “You imagine all the many different things that can hurt your kid and feel overwhelmed to realize most of them you could never stop. We both lived that fear yesterday. It’s paralyzing sometimes to see how powerless we are.”
“How can we cope with it?” I asked quietly, already reliving the terror I felt the day before.
“We stick together. We show up. We share our burdens and fears. Being a parent, just like being a partner, demands we understand we can’t deal with it all alone. Sometimes we need help, other times we just need to express our fears so they don’t consume us.” She prepared some coffee for us both. “When I lost Danny’s father, I was a mess. He was such a good man. Honorable, loving. I see so much of him in Danny.” Her eyes turned sad, the longing in them constricting my heart. “He was a constructor, a very good one. But one accident was all it took. Then half of me was gone.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
She cleaned her throat to control her emotions again. “I don’t mean to make you sad. My story is to say: life is unpredictable, so we have to make the best of it while we can. If we love someone, why hold it back?” She leaned her hip against the counter. “You care about them, that much is clear.”
Care is too weak a word to describe what I feel for them.
“Then what word better describes it?” Huh.Did I say that out loud? “We both know the answer to that. Loving someone comes with fear. Are they healthy? Are they happy? Are they in danger? That won’t go away. But loving the right person is always worth it. Because they’ll have the same worries about you and care for you just like you care for them. It’s a two-way street that makes it all better. As a mother and a grandmother, well, as a woman, I’ve got to say you won’t find a better man or a better little girl to be a part of your life. And it’s about time they have someone worthy in their lives as well. I think you’re that someone.”
I wanted to be. God knew I craved it. I was still reeling from her words when I felt a sharp slap on my thigh, making me jump. Holding a spatula, Sonia ordered, “Now get out of my kitchen. If I’m here, I make breakfast.”
I walked out of the kitchen, still rubbing the sting away from my leg, but with a small smile on my face. I went back to Danny’s bedroom and found Sofia out to the world, sleeping like a starfish on his bed. But the man was nowhere to be found. I heard the shower on and just followed my gut.
I walked into the bathroom and found him only in his boxers. I pressed my legs together on instinct, already feeling the desire growing inside of me. I watched him pour something into the tub and didn’t say a peep, not wanting to break that spell.
“It’d be a lot better if you took off your clothes as well.” He surprised me, then turned around to face me, a grin stretching his lips. “You were up early.”
