Page 119 of Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad World

“Hurry up,” Annabelle grumbled. “I’ve been waiting here for half an hour, and now you want me to hurry up?”

Noah and Jacob shared a look of amusement.

“This way,” Sammy said, pulling her along.

They walked into the back corridor and turned to the stairs up to the roof. Okay, she hadn’t expected that. Annabelle still had adevelopingrelationship with her roof. She’d been out on it several times since the incident with Hanson, trying to put the memory of hiding from him behind her. It helped that herfriends and family went with her, and it also helped that Hanson was no longer a concern. He’d lasted only a few days in prison before a member of the Alvarez cartel had taken him out. That part of her life was well and truly behind her. Which just left getting used to the roof. But no matter how much the boys encouraged her to go up there more often, at the end of the day, it was just a plain old roof.

Or was it?

She cast a sidelong glance at Noah. “What have you done to the roof?”

“I told you she’d guess.” Jacob grinned.

“Shh!” Sammy hissed. “You’ll ruin the surprise.”

With a sigh but secretly delighted, Annabelle let the boys hustle her up the stairs and out onto her roof. Where she came to a complete halt. Unable to do anything but stare in awe. The roof was no longer plain. She gasped and looked around, trying to take it all in. There was a grassy area, raised flower and vegetable beds, a basketball court, a fountain, and benches and seating everywhere. There were even trees! It was beautiful.

She took a shaky step away from the door and closer to the Benson Security team, who stood grinning at her in the bright afternoon sun. Noah took her hand and held it tight, giving her the courage she needed to take another step. Sammy and Jacob crowded in around her, protecting her—just like their father.

“We’re here,” Noah whispered to her. “We’ve got you. You’re safe to explore. I promise.”

She squeezed his hand hard.

“Look,” Sammy said excitedly, although he didn’t run off to show her what he meant; he stayed beside her, giving her support. “We’ve put a fence around the edge so you can’t fall off.”

“SoIcan’t fall off?” She cocked an eyebrow at Noah.

Sammy leaned in to whisper loudly, “Really, it’s for the triplets.”

There was muffled laughter from Noah’s team.

Jacob nudged her shoulder. At fourteen, he was already a head taller than her and growing every day. “We made trellis corridors that will be covered in plants by spring. That way, if looking up at the sky gets too much, you can stay on the paths and have a kind of roof over your head.”

Tears stung her eyes as she bumped back into him. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“Show her the best bit, Dad,” Sammy demanded, bouncing on the spot.

“You mean the barbeque?” Noah asked innocently.

“No,” Sammy wailed. “The gazebo!”

Noah gently turned Annabelle toward the corner of the roof above the living room area, facing Houston’s skyline, where a beautiful wooden gazebo sat tucked into a space filled with plants.

She gasped at the sight.

“Do you think you can make it over there?” Noah asked.

The team moved toward her.

“Maybe if we all go?” Katrina said with understanding.

Annabelle nodded, her throat suddenly tight. “I can try.”

Together, they made their way to the structure in the corner, Annabelle keeping a death grip on Noah’s hand as her makeshift family jostled around her. If anyone thought she was taking too long to get there, they kept it to themself. Mostly, there were observations about the roof and exclamations of delight when someone noticed something new.

“I got a call from detective Johnson this morning,” Rochelle said as she came alongside them.

“Been a while since we heard from him,” Noah said.