Page 14 of Tripp

“We don’t choose our family or their ages when we find them.”

“How’d you get so smart?”

“Mom,” he retorted, walking down the hall to his room.

Shaking my head, I moved across the hall to my room. I could hear Penny’s tiny snores through the baby monitor. I carefully got myself back into bed and closed my eyes.

Tomorrow would either be the second-best day of my life, or the worst. I prayed for the former.

Yawning, I scrubbed a hand over my face. I hissed when I hit the scrapes on my chin. I’d forgotten they were there.

Moving hurt. My body was so damn sore. It felt like I’d been hit by a car. Making a face, I got to my feet and carefully made my way through the room and into the bathroom. I took care of business, turned on the shower, and climbed in under the steaming hot water.

The warmth soothed some of the aches, letting my muscles relax. I gave myself a good scrub, washed my hair, and took care of everything else that needed to be done, as quickly as I could. Keeping in mind what the doctor had said about the stitches.

As soon as I was out, I dried my hands, wrapped a towel around me, and moved to sit on the closed commode lid. I didn’t dare leave the bandage on my leg any longer. I removed it before I dried myself off. It should be okay to let the stitches air out a little bit. Right? I wasn’t going anywhere.

I slipped on a pair of panties, my pajama shorts, and the bra I had on the counter. I did, however, forget to grab a T-shirt on my way in. So once my brace was back on my ankle, my teeth brushed, and my hair up in a messy bun, I slowly made my way back into the bedroom.

Let me tell you, crutches pinching nekkid skin—no bueno. My underarms were pissed at the moment. And the arms of my crutches had deodorant on them.

I pulled an old Harley Davidson shirt out of the dresser and hurried to get it on. It was so big it swallowed me. I found myself balling my hand in the fabric. This was the shirt I’d taken from Tripp the night we spent together. Matter of fact, I’d worn it home.

I’d forgotten it was in there.

Shaking my head, I didn’t have any longer to overthink my thoughts because my daughter started calling for me.

I left my room, stumbling once when the crutch got stuck on the narrow doorframe.

“I can get her,” Scooter called out, opening his door.

“I could use help. I’m sure she’s got a nasty surprise waiting on us. I can smell it from here.”

He grimaced.

“I’ll remove and clean if you’ll rewrap the buttrito?”

“Buttrito…” He laughed softly.

We worked well as a team. We always had. Having a sibling who was so much older than you could be a blessing. That thought ran through my head every time I saw Phoenix. He had a baby sister that I hoped one day he could have a real relationship with.

I just had to get up the courage to tell her father about her first.

Chapter 6

Tripp

My mama always said to never go anywhere empty handed, so here I was, climbing out of my truck with two bags of breakfast food.

I’d stayed away as long as I could, leaving Casey to rest yesterday, but now, we needed answers. Phoenix climbed out of the Jeep, his gaze taking in the house and its surroundings.

“Let me carry that, old man. You do the knocking.” He smirked.

“Don’t make me leave you in the truck.”

He chuckled, taking the bags.

Kids, they could be assholes sometimes.

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