Page 10 of Tethered

“Just say whatever’s on your mind, Jen.”

“It’s annoying that you read me so well.” I grin, though it slides off my face at her following words. “You should give Shepard a heads-up.”

“I’ll contact him if I need to. I won’t put Hannah or Dawn in danger because of my feelings for the man, but right now, Dawn doesn’t want him involved. Truth is, I can’t urge Dawn to put her trust in a man I don’t trust myself.”

She sighs. “I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. I swear I’m going to give that man a kick up the ass the next time I see him.”

“Can you even get your leg that high?”

She gasps dramatically. “How dare you. I’ll have you know I’m incredibly flexible. Why, you should have seen the positions James put me in on our dirty weekend away. We would have made the author of the Kama Sutra blush.”

“And, I’m hanging up.”

“Honestly, there was this one time when he was so deep that I?—”

I hang up and shudder. “I need to scrub my brain.”

Walking to the kitchen first, I see that Riggs and Hannah are mixing cookie dough. I snap a picture of them and a close-up of Hannah’s cheek before putting my phone away.

“It smells amazing in here.”

“Turns out Miss Hannah is an expert baker. She didn’t really need any help from me at all.”

Hannah grins, looking so damn proud of herself that it makes my stomach clench. “He has very tall legs. He got all the ingredients down for me.” She pats his hand reassuringly, and I have to bite my lip at how fucking adorable this whole scene is. Riggs looks well and truly smitten, and I can’t say I blame him.

“Well, I was talking to your mom,” I tell her as I place my stuff on the counter and reach for the jar. I twist off the lid and scoop a little of the cream onto my fingers. “And we think it would be kinda fun if you both stayed here for a while. Would you be okay with that?”

She looks at me with wide eyes. “Really? Can we sleep here?”

“Sure can. We’ll get you settled in, and then maybe we can pick something out for you to jazz the place up a little.” She looks excited, which is when I move closer. “Can I put a little of this cream on your cheek?” I don’t want to touch her without asking permission, not after everything that’s happened to her.

She looks at it and nods. “Is that the stuff Mommy used?”

“Yeah.”

“It smells good. Like flowers.”

I gently apply it to her face. “You like flowers?”

“Uh-huh. I’m gonna be a flower shop lady when I grow up.”

I chuckle. “A flower shop lady, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Well, I would happily come and buy flowers from you.”

“You know, Calliope is really good at growing flowers,” Riggs tells her.

“Can I see them?”

“Sure, but tomorrow, after we get you all settled in.”

“Okay.”

“Alright, I’m gonna go check on your mom. Shout at me when the cookies are done.”

I head back to the living room and find Dawn asleep. I place the things I brought down for her on the side table next to her half-eaten sandwich. I take the seat opposite and watch over her as she sleeps. The house stirs, a light breeze making my hair move around my face. I frown and get to my feet, feeling its uncertainty.