Page 70 of The Grief We Hold

“Not anymore, she’s not. Come on, Blue.”

“But we need to…”

The cop’s words fade out as I lead Raven and Fen down Main Street and we cross the street by the hardware store.

“Will I get into trouble?” she asks quietly. There’s a hiccup in the middle of the sentence as she tries to calm herself.

“Spoke to Tanner. Told him what I was doing and that he could have your statement later.”

There’s a stirring by my shoulder. “Is Momma gonna be okay?” Fen asks.

“She’s safe. So are you. I’ve got you both.”

Fen relaxes back against my shoulder. I feel his steady breath against the side of my neck.

There’s a reflection of the three of us in the window of the hardware store. It’s a shock to see how we fit. How right everything looks.

Because this trio looks and feels perfect.

Her black straight hair and my light blond curls are startlingly different. But other than that…

When we get to the apartment, Raven’s hand shakes as she tries to get the key in the lock.

“Let me,” I say, gently moving her hand so I can grab the key. One turn, and I push it open. “Up you go, Blue.”

Raven treads up the stairs, and my eyes follow her ass. It’s a fine-looking one, and my cock stirs at the memory of how it felt when I held onto it as I thrust into her.

Then Fen stirs against my shoulder, and I’m reminded why I’m here.

I turn my mind to counting the number of steps in the damn staircase to shake the inappropriately timed memory.

When I get to the top, I put Fen down, but both Raven and Fen simply stand there. As if what happened stripped their propulsion.

Shock has set in for both of them. You can see it in their glassy-eyed stares.

“Fen. Go run a bath, kid. I’ll take care of your mom until you’re done, okay?”

His fear-filled wide eyes look up at me. “I need my pajamas.”

“We’ll bring you some once I’ve got your mom settled.”

“You won’t go anywhere?” he asks.

I don’t make promises I can’t keep. “We’re gonna need something to eat, so I might have to leave. But I’ll be back. Leave the bathroom door open so I can see you’re okay in there.”

He nods and goes to the bathroom, and I hear the splash of water hitting the tub.

“Come here,” I say to Raven, tugging her into my arms.

Her body shakes against me. Definitely shock. I run my hands up and down her arms to increase the circulation in them. “You’re safe in here.”

When she finally looks up at me, I hate the fear etched on her features. “I think they came for me.”

I shake my head. “Don’t know why you’re here, Blue, but I guarantee they were here for the club. We had a run-in with them recently. Can’t tell you any more than that. Club business is club business. But they were here for vengeance. They saw the bikes and took their chance. Foolish, really, with the cops sitting right there.”

I feel her shoulders sag and the whoosh of air she releases. “Oh.”

There’ll come a time when we’ll need to discuss why she thought they were here for her, but bringing more trauma up when she’s so shook up would be plain cruel.

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