Page 17 of Tethered

“He’s loyal and…well, you’ll see when he gets here. My point is you don’t need to worry. You can trust him.”

“I trust you, and that’s enough for me.”

A warmth moves through me at her words. I cough to clear my throat, which reminds me. “I have something that should help your throat. I should have thought of it before?—”

She smiles at me, shaking her head. “I think you have enough going on in your head as it is, but thank you. Is it something you made?”

I nod, watching her reaction.

“Good. If it’s half as good as the bruise cream, I’ll be feeling right as rain by dinner time.”

“Happy to help.”

“About that…as much as I appreciate everything you’re doing for us, I’m not comfortable not pulling my weight. There must be something I can do around here to help.”

As much as I want to tell her it’s not necessary, I know this is a crucial step for her to get back on her feet and claim back some of her independence. “Well, if you promise me you’ll let yourself heal first, then I might have just the thing for you. That cream I made for you is just one of the many things I make and sell online. Problem is, sales have exceeded my expectations.”

“That’s not a bad problem to have.”

“No, but I’m spending more time packing and shipping than I am on making the products.”

“Well, those are things I can easily do.”

“And I’ll pay you.”

“No, you don’t have to?—”

“Yes, I do. If we do this, I’ll hire you to run that side of things. And before you argue, rent and board are all gonna be included. I was going to have to hire someone anyway. Why can’t it be you? Honestly, I might need to hire another couple of people before the year is out.”

She swallows hard, looking from me to Riggs, who nods encouragingly. “Yes, okay. And thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“Actually, I do. More than you’ll ever know.”

I turn when I sense someone approaching the house. Riggs looks my way before his eyes go to the window. “What is it?”

“I don’t know yet. Dawn, stay here, and don’t let Hannah out of your sight.”

I head to the door, feeling Riggs behind me. My power courses through my body in preparation, but when I open the door, it fizzles away.

The sheriff’s cruiser pulls up in front of the house. I want to close the door and walk away, no matter how childish that might make me. I fold my arms over my chest as Riggs steps up behind me, one of his arms wrapping around me in a proprietary manner.

We stand in silent solidarity as Shepard gets out of his car, with his stupid hat on his stupid head, and walks over to us. “Riggs. Poppy.”

“What do you want, Sheriff?” I mean, the audacity of this man to call me Poppy. Who the fuck does he think he is?

“I’m here to talk to Dawn.”

“And what makes you think she’s here?”

He sighs and nods to her car. Right, I should have thought about that.

“Well, it’s unfortunate then that she doesn’t want to speak to you.”

“I’m going to need to talk to her anyway,” he says gently, his eyes drinking me in. He looks tired, like he hasn’t been sleeping well. I don’t want to care, I really don’t, but it’s hard not to. Tired cops often wind up dead cops, and as angry as I am at the asshat, I don’t want to see him dead either.

“You here to arrest her?”

“No—”