He whistles through his teeth. “Okay. Do I wanna know, or is this one of those things we’re never talking about again?”
I chuckle. “Thanks, man.”
“I got you. I’ll fire you a text when it’s done.” He laughs. “This sounds so mafia.”
I snort. “Well, considering that I’m standing in a police station right now, let’s not say trigger words, okay?”
“Are you serious? What’s going on, Boone?”
“It’s fine. Everything is fine. I’ll explain later. Thanks for helping me out.”
“Yeah. Of course. Call me later.”
“I will. Thanks, Hollis.”
I end the call.
“Hollis and Larissa are going to go over there now,” I tell Jaxi as I make my way back to my seat.
“Thank you.” She sets her phone on her lap. “Look, Boone, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I didn’t plan for this. Clearly. But I promise that I’ll get a plan together soon and get out of your hair.”
I study the woman in front of me. The fear and dread etched in her features cuts through me like a hot knife. If I were her, I’d be calling my mom. But it seems like she only has me.
“If you cased my house out correctly,” I tease, “you’d know I have two extra bedrooms.”
She tries not to laugh but can’t help it. The sound eases both of our minds, I think.
“I’m not a good problem solver,” I tell her. “I go to my brothers when I really get my shit fucked up. But I think Wade would tell me to take this problem in sections and deal with it one part at a time. Wade is a pretty smart guy.”
She looks at the door. “That’s good advice, and I’m sure Wade is an intelligent man, but what am I going to do with a little girl? I can barely take care of myself.”
Fuck if I know.
I try to imagine something happening to Coy and me getting saddled with his kid. I’d take it, without a doubt. There would be zero hesitation. But then what? I’d call Mom. And she’d guide me every step of the way.
The thought terrifies me—for theoretical me and Coy’s kid that doesn’t exist at the moment.
“You’ll figure it out,” I say. “You don’t really have a choice.”
A pop of disbelief is shot through the air. “Gee, thanks.”
“Want me to lie to you?”
“Right now? Yes.” She laughs. “Please lie to me. Tell me I’ll know what to do. Tell me that I’m going to have all the answers and can find a place for us to live and a car and a job and health insurance …”
Her breathing takes a quick leap, her chest rising and falling like she’s running a mile.
“I’m fucked. I’m so fucked,” she says, teetering on a wail.
Her panic drives my panic. I watch her slowly unravel in front of me, and I don’t know how to stop it. I just know I have to try.
Without thinking, I stand and then squat down next to her. I wrap an arm around her narrow shoulders and pull her gently into me.
She stiffens for the briefest of seconds before letting her head rest against my shoulder.
A lump settles in my throat, and I’m not sure why.
I’m not sure what to do or say, nor do I know what happens next. What I do know is that I put myself into this situation, I’m not mad about it, and I just have to figure out how to help.
“Wade would say to start at the top,” I whisper to her, wrapping my other arm around her too.
I close my eyes and try to stay focused on helping her and not the way she melts into my body. I fight the urge to breathe in her raspberry scent and stroke the small of her back. Instead, I just try to show her that she’s not alone.
“We handled Libby’s stuff,” I say. “The next thing is getting your sister’s daughter and dealing with the paperwork. Right now, you have a place to stay. Let’s just get through the day, okay?”
“I’m so sorry for bringing you into this,” she says against my shoulder.
“It’s not really how I saw my weekend going and not what I meant when I chose spontaneity on the online quiz that I took last week.” I grin against the top of her head. “But maybe it’ll be fun.”
She pulls back. The separation feels like pulling a magnet away from another, and I’m not sure how one woman can make me feel so many different things.
I’m not sure I like it either.
“You are probably the nicest person I’ve ever met,” she says, running a finger under her left eye.
“I’ll be sure to tell my brothers you think so.”
She grins.
Her mouth opens to speak again when the door squeaks. Our attention snaps to the doorway as Shera walks in. She steps to the side, and a little girl peeks around her legs.
Jaxi moves to the edge of her chairs, and I sit back in mine. We take in the wide-eyed, freckle-faced, wild-haired little girl clutching a glow worm in her arms.
Shera squats down. “Rosie, I’d like you to meet someone.”
Rosie bites her bottom lip and squeezes the Glo Worm even tighter. “You are Auntie Jaxi.”
Jaxi’s face wrinkles as she fights back a blast of emotions. “I am, sweetheart.”
“Do you know your Auntie Jaxi?” Shera asks.
Rosie shakes her head. “No. But my mommy keeps a picture of her by her bed. I know you like Easy Bake Ovens too. And had a dog named Piper. He was silly.”
Jaxi brings her hands to her face and covers her nose and mouth. Her lashes dampen as she nods her head.
Rosie turns to me. “My mommy didn’t have pictures of you.”
“No, because I didn’t know your mommy,” I say carefully.
What do I do? Do I ask her about her mom? Do I say something nice? Do I pretend to have known something about her to make her like me?
Rosie slowly, still clutching her Glo Worm, makes her way toward me. She stops a few feet away.
Her little chubby hand reaches out, and she touches the face of my watch with a short finger. Then she looks at me and smiles.
“My mommy would be your friend,” she says.
“Do you think so?” I ask.
She nods, her lips pursing together like she’s going to blow a bubble.
“Do you know how old I am?” Rosie asks me.
I pretend to think about it. “Sixteen?”
She laughs. Her eyes crinkle at the corners as she shakes from the force of her laughter.
“No, silly!” she exclaims.
“Twenty?”
“No!” She laughs again. “I’m four.” She holds up four fingers.
“Four is a good number,” I say.
She nods her head happily. “I’ve waited my whole life to be four.”
I laugh too. “I’m happy you made it here.”
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I cringe. Rosie seems not to bridge the concept of making it to four and the current situation.
Shera stands. “You’ll be going home with your auntie Jaxi and Boone today, Rosie. Is that all right with you?”
Rosie looks over her shoulder and nods.
Shera smiles at her and then looks back at Jaxi. “I have a couple of boxes of her things that you can take with you. There isn’t much.” She lifts her chin. “Jeanette was living with a boyfriend—”