Page 77 of When We Burn

I run my hand through my hair, watching my daughter breathe with the machine. I doubt she can hear us over the noise of it. As much as I don’t need affirmation about Dani from my brother, I like it. He knows. He’s known for years that Dani has owned my heart.

“I think so, too.”

Chapter Fourteen

DANI

Ineed to get home. I don’t know how I kept it together for Birdie and Bridger this afternoon, because I was so freaking scared when she couldn’t catch her breath. Her face was screwed up in fear, and my stomach was in my throat. I’ve seen asthma attacks before, of course, and I’ve been trained to handle them, but seeing a little girl you love struggle to breathe?

Terrifying.

I never want to relive that again, and from what Birdie told me after she’d calmed down, that wasn’t even a bad asthma attack.

The thought makes me shiver and not in a good way.

Now that school’s out, I rush home and quickly change into leggings and Bridger’s T-shirt, then hurry across the street and knock on the door.

“Is she okay?” I ask, as soon as Bridger pulls the door open.

“Hello,” he replies, his brown eyes warm as he wrapshis arm around my shoulders and leads me inside. “She’s great. Come on in, we’re making cookies.”

I blink in surprise. “You’re making cookies?”

“Sure. Doesn’t that make everyone feel better? Come hang out with us.” He winks at me as he closes the door, but before we cross to the kitchen, he pulls me against him and tips my chin up so he can kiss me softly. “Thanks for coming over.”

“Wild horses couldn’t have kept me away.”

He grins and seems to want to say more, but I pull back and head for the kitchen, where I find Birdie standing on a stool, stirring batter in a bowl.

“Birdie, look who’s here.”

“Hi, Miss Dani,” the little girl says with a grin. She looks perfectly fine. Her round cheeks are full of color, her dark hair is up in a ponytail, and she’s wearing the cutest apron I’ve ever seen. “We’re making peanut butter cookies.”

“Yum, those sound delicious. I like your apron.”

Birdie looks down at herself. “Daddy helped me tie-dye it.”

I eye the pinks and purples and then turn to Bridger, raising an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Made a huge mess,” Bridger confirms as he joins his daughter and takes over the mixing. His forearms bunch as he grips the wooden spoon, and holy Moses, that’s a zing right to the vagina. “But it was fun. Right, peanut?”

“Yeah,” Birdie agrees, nodding. “Can we make the balls now?”

“I think it’s ready,” Bridgerconfirms.

“How can I help?” I ask.

“You sit.” My handsomer-than-should-be-legal boyfriend points at me with the business end of his spoon. “Just talk to us. We’ve got this covered.”

“What happened at the doctor?” I ask, but then shake my head. “Unless that’s none of my business, of course.”

“Hey.” I look up at Bridger, and he crooks his finger at me. “I changed my mind. Come here, sweetheart.”

Jumping off the stool, I round the island, and he turns to face me.

“She’s your business. I’m your business, just like you’re ours, so ask anything you want. Got it?”

“Sure, but why did I have to come all the way over here for this?”

---