Page 61 of Wolf

I don’t know what that means. I don’t think that he’s fully okay. Whatever is going on with him, I can’t fix it. I have to focus on what I can.

I head for the chairs that line the wall. Wolf sits with his shirt off, a bandage wrapped around his upper arm. Malcolm shot him, but it only grazed him. He refused the hospital, so a cop patched him up instead.

He stands now, and puts his arms around me, and kisses Artie, then me. When our lips meet, all I can do is lean into him and rest my weight against him. Though he’s had an even more exhausting time than I have, riding his bike for ages and then tromping through a forest, he holds me secure.

“You decided to hug and kiss every other man except me, huh?” He speaks softly, teasingly, into my ear.

“Saved the best for last.” I kiss him again, then hold out my arm to the other person sitting on the chairs. “Are you okay, Mom?”

Mom’s injuries advanced in appearance while we were sitting and waiting for news. She’s been checked out at the hospital and they X-rayed her and said there was no concussion, but the swelling that holds one eye shut has spread across that entire half of her face. I told her that she should stay at home and rest, but she insisted on coming to the police station with me. Despite the discomfort she smiles and nods. “It looks worse than it is. The young detective who interviewed me was very kind. He kept bringing me snacks and ice for the swelling.”

“You’ve been really brave,” Wolf tells her. He engulfs all of us in his arms and holds us against him. “You’ve all been brave. I’m proud of you.”

“I’m proud of us,” I tell him, and snuggle closer. “Can we go home now? Do you want to leave your bike here and ride with us, Wolf?”

He scoffs. “Hell, no, I ain’t ridin’ in no cage.”

Artie pats at Wolf’s cheek. “You sit with me?”

Wolf covers our son’s small hand with his own and says, “Well, it won’t hurt just this once.”

And I smile.

Chapter 27

Wolf

Just before Ruby goes to bed, she walks up to me, puts her hands on my shoulders, and kisses the top of my head. She can barely do that even though I’m sitting down, but she manages it. I would say it makes me feel like a kid, except no one ever treated me so nice when I was a boy. So, what it makes me feel, the better word for it is just plain special.

“What did I do to earn that?” I ask.

Ruby steps back. She’s got her nightgown on, a plain white thing that makes her look way younger and more innocent. Maybe she’s working to regain some of her own youth.

“You earned it by being a hero,” she says. “My hero. A hero for all of us.”

What she says is exactly the way that Artie was looking at me on the car ride home, which definitely did make being trapped in a cage more bearable.

“Not a hero,” I tell her. “Just a normal guy.”

“Aren’t the best ones?” she counters and then heads away with the hem of the nightgown swishing around her pale calves.

Could be that she’s got a point.

On coming home, everyone was exhausted. Me, too, but I needed a little time to settle myself while everyone else got ready for bed. I sat in the living room listening to the sounds of the house and the people in it, faucets running, toilets flushing, and vague muffled voices seeping through the walls.

Same kind of sounds as in prison, but a whole lot more enjoyable.

A door creaks and soft footsteps approach down the hall. Julia waves to me. She’s got her own nightgown on, a little lacier and shorter than Ruby’s and a whole hell of a lot more appealing. I never thought of knees as attractive before, but there it is. I’m a changed man, what can I say?

“Artie wants to say goodnight,” Julia says. “Will you come?”

I’ve never taken part in his bedtime routine. My stomach tightens with sudden nerves. “Yeah, of course.”

I heave up off the couch and follow her into the room. He’s already been tucked in, my son, the covers pulled all the way up to his chin. His bright, shining eyes track me across the room.

“Can you sleep with me?” Artie asks. “Or can I sleep with you? I’m… I’m a little…”

I sit down on the edge of the bed and smooth the blankets over his chest and shoulders. We need to tell him I’m his daddy. That’s something me and Julia are gonna talk about. He’s old enough to understand, but today he’s been through so much. All he needs tonight is to know he’s safe and loved. “I know you’re scared,” I say. The gentleness comes from a place deep inside me. “I know that you’ve had a lot of scary things happenin’ to you, but you don’t have to worry about that no more. You’re safe. Your mom and I need to talk, but when you wake up, we’ll be with you. How about that?”