Shawn’s face twisted and he cocked his head to the side. “But then how will we get in?”
Garrick stifled a laugh and tousled the kid’s hair instead. “We have new keys to go with the new double locks, Shawnee. We can all get in just fine.”
Chloe rushed across the kitchen to join them. “You too?” she asked. Her voice and body language seemed almost ... hopeful, and Garrick slumped into the doorframe a bit. Chloe had always been more subdued around Garrick--which Garrick now understood better--and the main concern of Grace and Garrick’s when discussing his accepting a key earlier had been Chloe’s reaction more than Shawn’s.
“Me too.” Garrick tried to keep his voice even and smooth when in fact her acceptance of him had his throat clogging tightly. “I’ll still live over the garage, but your mom and I talked about it, and she thought it would be a good idea for me to have keys. That way I can get in to check on you, or just hang out with you guys, whenever I need to.”
Shawn threw his arms around Garrick’s leg and gave him a quick squeeze. “Cool.”
“You sure you don’t want to go to the movies with us?” Chloe asked. “You can, you know.”
“Thank you for the invitation, sweetheart, but I’m going to stay here and finish this project.” He hammered another nail into the frame, then let Shawn do one when the kid grabbed the hammer the second Garrick put it on the floor. “After doing this--” Garrick stopped as Chloe pushed her way in too. He lined up a nail in its proper place and let her slam one into the wood as well. Maybe it would make them feel safer in their home. “After this, I’m going to stay close by so there’s someone here when the repair guy comes to replace the window in the bathroom.”
Grace appeared in the arch that led to the dining room. “The window guy said he would be here between two and three.” As she walked into the kitchen, she pulled an elastic band off her wrist, moved in behind Chloe, and pulled her daughter’s hair back into a ponytail. “But the kids and I really can come straight home from the movie and beat him here. You don’t have to hang around. We can go to the park another time.”
“Absolutely not,” Garrick replied. The kids had remained close to Grace’s side all morning, and Garrick knew they needed this time together, just the three of them. “You won’t get a more beautiful day to take advantage of being outdoors. And the puppet show won’t be there next week.”
An exasperated tsking noise escaped Chloe. “Puppet shows are lame. They’re for little kids.”
“I don’t know.” Garrick pretended to shield his mouth from Chloe and fake whispered to Grace, “One of the guys at work told me they have it every year, and that it’s good stuff. There are pyrotechnics involved.”
Chloe perked right up straight. “Really?”
Shawn pulled a comical frown. “What’s pyrotetnis?”
“Pyrotechnics, nimrod.” Chloe rolled her eyes at her brother. “It means there are special effects that could have fireworks, or smoke, or maybe even fire in them.”
Garrick once again marveled at Chloe’s vocabulary and intelligence.
Shawn started doing his little happy dance. “Awesome,” the kid said. “We need to get in the front row.”
“Please don’t call your brother a nimrod.” Grace spoke to her daughter over her son’s enthusiasm. “I don’t like that word.”
“Sorry, Mom.” Chloe all of a sudden looked like she wanted to cry.
Grace pulled Chloe to her side and kissed the top of her head. “It’s okay, sweetie. I just don’t like you calling your brother names any more than I like him doing it to you.” She shifted her focus up to Garrick. “Thank you for taking care of the door.”
“I’m the one who broke it down.”
“That’s neither here nor there. But I swear to everything holy that if you pay the window repair guy yourself, I will,” she snapped her lips shut, and Garrick watched her mentally rework her threat for the ears of children, “twist something until it hurts. Do you hear me? Have the man send me the bill.”
“Will do.” Garrick had no interest in taking over Grace’s life or trying to strip her of her independence. She was far too strong now to let any man, romantic interest or not, do that to her ever again. “Go.” He shooed them out of the kitchen. “You don’t want to be late and miss the previews. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye.” Chloe waved.
“See you later, Garrick!” Everyone winced as Shawn lost control of his “indoor” voice again.
Grace mouthed Thank you, and Garrick shared an understanding smile with the woman. He took a moment to watch them as Grace put an arm around each child and steered them out of the kitchen. A heartbeat later, he heard the front door click closed and then the sound of metal against metal as the bolt slid into place.
As soon as a car engine started and he knew Grace and the kids had gone, Garrick fell to his knees and put his face in his hands.
I love them already. Garrick had spent the entire morning running around and fixing things, as if he had some great right to belong here. What if I’m not doing the right thing?
“I wasn’t sure you’d be here when I got back.” A voice that had grabbed Garrick’s heart from word-one drifted to him on a perfect warm breeze. Garrick spun to find Devlin leaning his shoulder against the back corner of the house; Devlin stared, and Garrick suddenly found breathing a challenge.
Devlin looked stunning in jeans that appeared as if he’d lived in them forever; a Redemption Fire Department T-shirt pulled
