Page 42 of Pin-up Girl

I glanced at Clint with a questioning look.

He shrugged. “She thinks I’m too melodramatic to be a shooting star.”

Calcifer had been pretty dramatic. But the Clint I remembered was definitely more.

Dee vanished into her room, and Aubrey, Clint, and I cleaned up.

Watching the two of them load the dishwasher—her rinsing dishes and him putting them on the racks—was unsettling. There was no space for me in that mix, in more ways than one. When we were all in school together, Aubrey was Clint’s friend. She was always nice to me, but we’d never been close. I still saw that same friendship with them now.

“May I ask, what’s going on with Dee?” I tried to phrase my question delicately.

“I told him it was your place to say, not mine.” Aubrey rinsed another glass and handed it to him.

Clint sighed and placed it next to the others on the top tray. “We’re not sure. Something to do with her heart, but it started showing less than two weeks ago. There are still a lot of tests to work through.”

Hence the need for health insurance. I understood now. “What happened tonight?”

Clint closed up the dishwasher. “We have to keep an eye on a list of symptoms until we know which are dangerous. It’s driving her nuts, and I don’t blame her.” He turned to face me. “She wants to be a kid and I don’t dare let her out of my sight. I figured she should be okay tonight. Nope. I don’t know what I’m going to do when…” He trailed off with a sigh.

“She stays with her mom during the weeks when school starts.” Aubrey dried off her hands on a dish towel.

“So I won’t be able to watch her. I’m worried about her heart. About her eating enough. About her dancing. All of it.” Clint leaned his weight against the counter behind him and crossed his arms.

Aubrey hung the dishrag from the handle of the oven, and straightened it out. “It’s too bad there’s not a way to monitor her while she’s not here.”

“That sounds a bit too much like Big Brother. But also, yes. I’d love that,” Clint said.

I knew how to do that without it being obtrusive. “You can.”

“No.” There was a resignation in Clint’s voice that hurt to hear. “I’m not going to send her out there with some big bulky monitor when we don’t know if she needs it. She’s an active kid. Am I going to tell her to stay off the playground? If she needed it, I’d put my foot down, but just to ease my mind a little? No.”

“You know what Brodie does, don’t you?” Aubrey asked.

Clint shook his head. “The best vanishing trick in history? Look, the box is empty. Where’d he go? Look, there he is, twenty years in the future.”

Ouch. I wasn’t here to apologize for my decisions, though. “We make clothing that monitors vital signs. It’s meant to be worn by military. Athletes. Police. It’s meant to be moved in.”

We. Like I was still a part of it. The idea was mine, though. The innovation had been mine.

“That shit is expensive. It’s also adult-sized,” Clint said.

Minor obstacles. “I own the company. I can have a prototype made. Or ten of them.”

“It’s really cool stuff, Clint.” A hint of coaxing slid into Aubrey’s voice. “It might be too bulky for ballet, but she should be able to do other things in it.”

“I can’t…” It was impossible to miss the hesitation in Clint’s voice.

Was I going to have to beg him to take this as a gift? “It won’t put me out to have something sent out here for her. Even if it did, she’s important to you. Your sanity and health are worth more than a couple of dollars.”

Clint clenched his jaw.

Stubborn ass.

“He’s got a point.” Aubrey pushed away from the counter to slide closer to Clint, and nudged his shoulder with hers. “It’s peace of mind, and it’s going to help keep Dee safe.”

“If it makes you feel better, you can owe me,” I teased.

Clint almost smiled. “Pretty sure this is just you paying me back.” His tone was lighter, but that hesitation still lay underneath.

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