“She’s a sweetheart.” He lays back in a field of brownish grass with no care for whatever may be happening around him. He squints because of the sunlight, but he doesn’t pull his sunglasses back down. “She’s gonna be okay, right? She doesn’t look so well.”
“Yeah.” I clear my throat and lace my spare hand around hers. “She’s going to be okay. We believe it to be true. We will it to happen.”
He nods thoughtfully. “Okay. I’ll believe too. I’ll will it.”
“I love you.”
His eyes soften. “I’m so in love with you, Priss. I wanna come home.”
“You’ve been gone so long.”
He gives a sad nod. “I know. I’m sorry, baby. We’ve tracked this guy a little further north. He knows we’re on his ass, so he keeps moving. But he doesn’t know where we are exactly, so we get close before he shoots away again. Soph is trying to communicate with him. She’s offering discussions, but he’s not biting. Yet.”
“You think he will?”
He shrugs. “He hasn’t actually hurt anyone yet. He hasn’t made a single shot, hasn’t made any actual threats. He’s just… well… watching us. He tries to circle around and head toward town, so we circle around and push him away.” Spencer blows out a gusty breath. “Honestly? I’ve never seen anything like this before. The wars I fight are normally much more direct. This is like a dance. A really annoying fucking dance that keeps me away from you.”
“Do you think…” I consider my words. “What if he does this forever? Will you stay away forever?”
“No.”
Trees rustle in the wind around him, then more voices. Even a little laughter. Something is funny to Sophia, which is both irritating and satisfying. Laughter means there’s no immediate danger.
“I’m not staying away forever. I’m coming home soon, Priss, because I can’t stay away from you much longer. We’d only just begun, then I was yanked away. I haven’t seen you in eight weeks, and that’s eight weeks too long.” He pauses, then gives a little nod. “I’m gonna come home to you as soon as I can. I swear. The twin girls are probably walking and talking by now. I don’t wanna miss that. Jay is ready to vibrate through the atmosphere each time he gets a text and a picture. He’s missing out on their first months, and it’s killing him.”
“They’re doing well,” I sigh. “Jess comes into the shop every week.”
“She does?”
I nod. “I think maybe she feels bad. She knows you’re away for her, so she visits me and brings the babies to say hello. They’re so fat.” I laugh and cry in the same breath. “Seriously, the cutest balls of fat I ever saw. Poor Jess carries those baby seats, one in each hand, and nearly tears her own arms from the sockets. But she lugs them in and lets me snuggle for a bit. Luna is bigger than her sister. Not by a lot, but enough to know which one is fed first.”
“Which one is Luna?”
I burst out laughing. “The blonde one. Think of it like Luna is light. L and L. Or Luna is from the Lenaghan side of the family. Luna, light, Lenaghan. By that theory, they should have given Rose a name that starts with B. B for black hair, B for Bishop. It would make things so much easier.”
“Yeah, well, Kane really fucked me up when he started calling them Chicken and Nugget. I’m not sure even he knows which is which.”
I snicker, but lower my voice when Marcie stirs.
“I’m sure he knows. He stares at them all day long. I love how he looks at them.” I sigh. “I love how he looks at Jess.”
“Yeah? How does he look at Jess?”
I lift my eyes and meet his. “The same way you look at me.”