Page 28 of What We Don't Say: Part One

A breath leaves him, almost a laugh. It isn’t much, but it hits me square in the chest. I lower myself into the wicker chair before I can think too hard about moving closer, keeping one hand open on my knee while Theo watches me from Callie’s side.

Idris stops near the shelf, close enough to see the plant without stepping into Theo’s path. “There’s a book for most of these,” he says, nodding toward the side table. “Sloane can hand it over.”

I pick up the plant book and hold it out flat in my palm. “Pictures are in the front.”

Theo hesitates. His finger tightens in Callie’s cuff, then loosens. He takes one step toward me, then another, and when he reaches for the book, his skin brushes my palm for less than a second before he pulls it to his chest.

I keep my hand open where he left it. Theo retreats to Callie’s side with his cheeks pink, the yellow card pressed between his hand and the book cover. Andrea shifts near the doorway, but Garrett turns his head before she can speak.

“Give him the minute,” Garrett says.

Andrea lowers her eyes to the tablet. Theo looks at Garrett for longer than he has all afternoon, then drops his gaze to the book.

Garrett crouches beside one of the lower shelves, suit pulling across his knees as he reads the label tucked into the soil. “We checked the plants before today,” he says. “Low scent, no irritants.” He looks up at Theo from where he’s crouched. “Should we include the sunroom next time?”

Theo’s throat works. Callie stays beside him with her hand near the bottom edge of the cover, steadying nothing yet, ready if he needs her to.

“Yes,” Theo says, then adds, softer, “please.”

Garrett’s smile stays small. “Then we’ll include it.”

Callie taps the cover once. “I’ll leave this one in here. You can look at it again next time.”

Theo looks at her first, then Garrett, as if checking that next time has really been allowed. Garrett nods, and Theo’s shoulders ease by another inch. Callie’s smile opens across her whole face before she can tuck it away, and Theo goes still watching her, the yellow card pressed flat between his palm and the book cover.

After a breath, his gaze drops back to the page, pink climbing his neck. His finger finds the edge of Callie’s cuff again instead of the pocket where he hid his hand before.

Idris nods toward the rug near the loveseat. “The light’s better from there.”

Theo looks at the rug, then Callie. She lowers herself first, back against the loveseat, skirt tucked around her knees. He waits with the plant book hugged to his chest until she settles, then sits beside her with a few inches between them and the book open across his knees.

Callie leans enough to see the page. “I killed one of those.”

Theo looks up.

“Twice,” she admits.

His eyes widen, and Callie’s smile turns sheepish as she taps the picture. “The woman at the shop said it was easy. She lied to me very kindly, which made it worse.”

Theo’s mouth moves around the start of a laugh. The sound doesn’t quite make it out, but his shoulders drop again, and he turns another page while his finger stays hooked in her cuff.

Garrett rises from the shelf and brushes one hand over his knee. “The sunroom goes on the next-visit request,” he says to Andrea.

Andrea’s stylus moves across the tablet. “I’ll note that he engaged with the environment.”

“With the room,” Garrett says. “And with us.”

Andrea pauses, then nods. “With the room and with the pack.”

Theo’s finger tightens once in Callie’s cuff. Idris catches it too, his gaze dropping briefly to Theo’s hand before returning to Andrea.

By the time Andrea’s phone gives a low chime, Theo has turned through half the book. He isn’t relaxed, but he’s still there, shoulder close to Callie’s, yellow card resting on the page instead of hidden away.

Andrea checks the time and stands with the tablet against her chest. “We’re right on schedule. Close the visit, Theo. Just like we practiced.”

Theo’s face goes red, and the page bends under his fingers.

Garrett steps in before the instruction can settle too deep. “We don’t need a formal close today.”