Page 9 of Twins for the Silver Foxes

I followed the GPS directions to a tiny home in the middle of a narrow street. Overgrown grass lined the sidewalk and crept up the porch steps. My palms itched with the need to grab my camera and take a series of black and white shots to encapsulate the dejection.

“I don’t mind. Scott and Arthur would’ve helped, but they had to make an appearance at the office.” The late hour didn’t bother either of them. We’d all gotten used to the chaos of owning our own businesses and the crazy hours that came with it.

Liddy struggled against her car seat straps. “Let’s go. I want my stuffies.” She’d gotten more animated and talkative the closer we got to her home.

Hannah closed her eyes, rubbing them with her thumb and forefinger. “You don’t have to take all your animals.” Liddy’s lower lip pooched out, her thin arms crossing.

I opened my door and hurried out before I started laughing. Neither would appreciate it, and it did no one any favors for me to end up on Hannah’s bad side. We needed her too much. I opened Hannah’s door. “Keys? I’ll get the door while you help Liddy.”

She passed me a single key on a worn leather string. “Just… don’t think too badly of me once you’re inside.”

I would never. The words lodged in my throat. Saying them proved nothing. I nodded once and jogged up the sidewalk, sidestepping a broken tricycle and skipping the broken board at the bottom of the steps. The key slid into the lock and turned easily, giving me a chance to enter the house before Hannah.

I swept a look around the small interior. Her entire home could fit in my bedroom. It caused a pinch in my heart to think of them living here, of them doing without.

“Any chance you’d close your eyes and forget you saw any of this?” Hannah lowered Liddy to the floor. “Go get your stuff, honey.”

Liddy ran down a hallway that was all of three steps deep and darted into a side room. Her cheerful voice came through the paper-thin walls as she sang to her animals.

I tapped my temple. “Sorry. Memory like an elephant. I never forget.”

“Figures,” she murmured as her shoulders slumped. Bending at the waist, she picked up a discarded shoe and tossed it into the corner. She avoided looking at me and concentrated on digging a bag out of a tiny closet barely big enough to hold a single person, much less enough outerwear for them both to last the winter. Her embarrassment practically broke my heart in two.

“What about Liddy’s father? Do you need to tell him where you’ll be?”

She snapped around so fast her forehead nearly cracked into mine. When did I move that close? We shared a single, searing breath.

“No.” Her voice dropped to a hiss. “That rat bastard didn’t want anything to do with Liddy. It’ll be ice capades in hell before I care if he knows where we are.”

Okay then. “I take it he doesn’t help out at all?” I already knew the answer, but I was enjoying the heat of her fury.

Lines framed her mouth from the force holding her lips together. “We’re on our own.” She shoved past me. “Thought you came to help.”

The words were a challenge wrapped up in a pretty face. Protective anger rose up hot and fast, so fast I barely managed to keep my face expressionless and my tone cordial. “What do you need me to get?”

“I’ll pack the bags.” A smile like sunshine over the water appeared on her face. “No way I’m letting you in my bedroom. You’d probably steal my underwear.”

“Actually, Arthur’s worried you’ll try to sell his.” I eased my hands into my pockets, a grin on my face as I waited for the explosion.

Hannah did notdisappoint. She dropped the bag, and it hit the floor with a thud. “Are you serious? What kind of delusional egos am I dealing with?”

I leaned into her personal space, meeting those gorgeous blue eyes. “The best kind.” Just then, Liddy walked down the hallway toward us, dragging a duffel.

“Can I carry that to the car for you?” I held out both hands and Liddy placed the handles in my fingers. I had to get out of there before I said or did something I’d regret. Liddy and Hannah deserved better than a punk willing to shirk his responsibility. It ate me up inside, even as the pride in Hannah warmed me. She’d made the best of a tough situation. Herdetermination to take care of Liddy as a single mom proved Arthur had made the right call in offering her the job.

Maybe there was something else we could do to help her out during the upcoming months.

By the time I set Liddy’s bag in the back and returned, Hannah met me at the door. One bag rested at her feet as she carried two others in each hand. “That’s it.”

I opened my mouth, ready to argue that couldn’t possibly be everything, but the warning look in her eyes stopped me. I took all three bags and added them to Liddy’s. I’d already dealt with her landlord and paid in full for the upcoming summer. Hannah and Liddy had nothing to worry about.

“Are you a lion?” Liddy grabbed my hand as I helped her climb into the back seat of the SUV. Her little shoes left dirty imprints on the leather and an even deeper imprint on my heart.

“A lion?” I held out my fingers so they resembled claws and made a roaring sound. “That kind of lion?” She nodded emphatically.

“I guess I am.” I held back my laughter and slid into the driver’s seat.

Hannah covered her mouth with both hands. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I think it’s your hair.”

---