He was breathing heavily after his word vomit, and I wasn’t sure if it was because he hadn’t taken a breath, was having a panic attack, or both.
“Okay, you made sense for a good part of that, but you started to lose me at the end. How did it go from Taryn wanting Harry to watch Cindy to you doing it?”
“Because I offered.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I’m stupid,” he hissed, his voice low, making me wonder if Cindy had walked in the room.
“You’re not stupid. Well, not for this.”
“Shut up.”
I laughed before continuing. “Where is Cindy now?”
“Taryn took her to school.”
I scrunched up my face. “Why wasn’t she in school to begin with?” I’d talked to Ransom a little after nine the first time. Cindy definitely should’ve already been at school by the time Taryn showed up on Harry’s doorstep.
“I don’t know. I kinda think she thought it would be harder for Harry to say no if Cindy was there.”
“That’s…very manipulative.”
“I know. I don’t know whether to be impressed or concerned.”
Considering Taryn was going to leave her kid with a virtual stranger, I thought concerned was more apt but kept that thought to myself.
“Okay, so you’re taking her home after Safe Haven?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“What do you need from me?” My question was sincere. Ransom had been there when I’d needed him. I was more than happy to return the favor, even though the circumstances of this were bizarre as hell.
He groaned. “I don’t know. I offered without thinking it through. Or thinking Taryn would take me up on it. I mean, Cindy is super skittish around guys. The grandmother she was going to have to stay with must be a close personal friend of Hannibal Lecter for Taryn to choose to leave her with me instead of sending her there.”
“So tell me more about this grandmother.” Who left a child with a guy named Ransom when there were other options?
“Yeah, but Cindy looked really distraught about the possibility of staying there. It broke me.”
I sighed, but the sound was affectionate. Sweet, silly, selfless Ransom.
“I can come hang out with you guys for the weekend. I’m supposed to work tonight and tomorrow, but I could see if someone could take my shifts.”
“No, don’t call out of work. I don’t want to interfere with your job. But maybe you could hang out with us for, like, every other second of the weekend?”
I laughed at the undisguised hope in his voice. “I can do that. I’ll pack a bag for the weekend. I’m only working until midnight tonight, so I shouldn’t be totally useless tomorrow. And I’m a closing cocktail server Saturday, so I don’t have to go in until nine.”
“Perfect,” he practically yelled, making me wince. “You’re the best. Seriously.”
“I know.” I huffed a laugh when he clucked his tongue at me. “But, Ransom?”
“Yeah?”
“We’re going to have to tell Harry about this. Taryn shouldn’t have left Cindy with you like that. I get that you work at Safe Haven, but it was still irresponsible of her. I mean, I know you can be trusted, but…” I let the end of my sentence hang there, not exactly sure how much I should drag Taryn to the guy she’d entrusted with Cindy.
“You’re right. But I’d like to wait until they get home at least. They have so much on their plate right now.”
“That’s fine,” I quickly assured him. I wasn’t trying to stress anyone out. “Did she drop off everything Cindy needs?” I asked to change the subject.
“Yeah, she had it in the car, so it’s all at Harry’s. I didn’t have a chance to look through what she packed, though. I had to leave for school.”
“Are you there now?”
“Yeah, I just pulled in. My class starts in ten minutes.”
“I’ll let you go, then. I’ll see you at work later.”
“Can’t wait.” His voice was husky, as if the words had escaped around a closing voice box.
Warmth flooded me, and I couldn’t resist returning the sentiment. “Me neither.”
We hung up, but I stared at the screen for a bit longer. Ransom had somehow crawled under the defenses I’d built, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
Well, that was a bit of a lie. I felt happy about it. But I wasn’t sure that was how I should feel about it.
Ransom wasn’t Brad. There was absolutely no question about that. But I still had a lot going on, and I wasn’t sure getting involved with someone was the best idea. Not that I even knew that Ransom wanted to be involved with me. It seemed like he did, but he also could’ve decided I was much more hassle than I was worth. It’d be hard to blame him.
I forced myself up and went back into my room to finish getting ready. Even though I didn’t have to leave my apartment for class, I always got dressed anyway. It made me feel more productive. I also had a live session to attend today, and while a lot of my classmates showed up in ratty clothes they’d probably slept in, that wasn’t me. My dad had always taught me that impressions were important, and I wanted to make sure a professor I might need a recommendation from down the road had a good one of me.
The day passed surprisingly quickly. I managed to focus on my classes and assignments, despite all that had gone down yesterday. When it came time for me to head to Safe Haven, I only had a small thrum of anxiety when I left my
