Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“You need to go away, now, and put your keys in my hand, because Luke just told me my old set won’t work and—”
“I don’t think you understand what I’m doing here.”
“You’re taking care of the kids and—”
“No, ma’am. I’m here to protect them in case the men Caitlyn is testifying against try and pressure her by hurting them.”
She stared at me.
“I’m a fixer, and one of my roles is bodyguard. That’s why I’m here.”
Her mouth fell open, and then she quickly covered it with her hand. I waited because I wasn’t at all certain what was going through her head.
“Ohmygod,” she gasped. “I had no idea. You’re here for—I’m so sorry. I thought you were in my way or trying to take my—forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
“I have to go tell Luke that this coming Saturday is my mother’s funeral. I know he’ll want to come and bring the kids.”
I couldn’t speak to that.
“I had no idea you were the bodyguard. So then you don’t really care about these kids at all, do you? It’s just another job.”
She was missing the fixer part and my plan to leave this family better than I found it, because that was our commandment. “There’s a bit more to it than that, but yes, I will be going.”
“I see. So when do you think that will—”
“Nash,” Tatum said, rushing up to me, leaning into my side, arms around my waist. “Griff said to tell you I want the tuna casserole for a late lunch, but I don’t actually want that. I want the yummy lasagna Griff promised.”
“Your brother’s a jerk, and you can go tell him I said so.”
She cackled evilly and ran to deliver the message.
“Griffin cooks?”
“Apparently for a while, but now he gets to show off for all of us.”
“But Caitlyn said I could take care of all of—”
Griff suddenly burst out in an evil laugh on the other side of the room. I so wanted to flip him off, but I didn’t because I was an adult, keeping my focus on Shelly instead.
“In the meantime,” she was saying, “I should have a set of keys, don’t you think?”
“That’s Luke’s decision, not mine.”
“I—”
“Oh, sorry,” Tatum said, having returned. “Is it okay if I tell Nash one thing and then I’ll let you finish your talk?”
“Yes, my darling, of course,” Shelly said sweetly.
I looked at Tatum. “What?”
She grinned. “I changed the name of my Instagram from Me and My Mom to Tatum’s Take. What do you think?”
“Tatum’s Take, huh? Like your take on everything?”
“Well, yeah, but mostly my crafts and all my favorite stuff. I was afraid to change it in case Mom would see it and be sad, but since she can’t do anything with her old life, I thought, well, we changed a lot of stuff, so I wanna change that too.”
“That’s awesome, and you should definitely tell your therapist about that when you see her tomorrow.”
“Are we going tomorrow since it’s a holiday?”
“Yes, ma’am. Dr. Marlowe can work or not when she wants and you and your brothers are on her schedule.”
She nodded, smiling, and then slammed into my side, hugging me tight.
“No,” Shelly snapped.
We both turned to her.
“Tatum, sweetie, I’m going to take that over with you. Your mother gave me the password, and I was excited to—”
“That’s okay,” Tatum interrupted her, smiling, but I felt her little hand clutching the back of my henley. “I changed the password and the picture and everything, so it’s all good. I’m happy to start fresh like Griff said.”
“I take it back. Your brother’s not a jerk,” I said begrudgingly.
“No!” Shelly said loudly, almost shrilly. “Your mother promised me we would do that together. I mean, the boys are—but you and your father, I just can’t wait for us to be a family.”
Tatum tipped her head up to look at me. “I don’t—”
“Love, go over to your father, all right?”
“No,” she said in a small voice. “I don’t wanna leave you.”
Scaring a kid in her own house? Hell no.
I picked her up then, threw her over my shoulder, which caused the squeal of delight I was hoping for, and charged over to Luke.
“I need to hear in lavish detail why tuna casserole is bad,” Luke teased me when I reached him.
“Take this sack of potatoes, will you?”
“I will,” he said with a grin that made his eyes sparkle as he took his daughter, who went limp in his arms. He held her like a princess. “Such a lovely sack of potatoes.”
When I turned, Shelly was right there, and instinctively, I stepped in front of Luke to shield him and Tatum.
“Everything needs to be how it was,” Shelly yelled, sounding a bit scary. “I was going to change this room, and do things with Tatum, and—”
“I’m sorry?” Luke asked, leaning around me. “What’s going—”