Page 145 of Hot Shot

Her face is all screwed up in confusion. “I have to go to school tomorrow.”

“We’re gonna take a few days off. Don’t worry. It’ll be okay.”

A flush blooms on her cheeks. “Is it because I ran away?”

In a heartbeat, I’m out of my seat, but I stop when Wilder kneels in front of her and cups her face.

“No…you scared us, and you can’t do that again, baby. But no. That’s not why.”

“Then why?”

His thumb shifts on her cheek. “I want to talk to you about this, but I don’t think it should be now. Can you trust me that you need to go to Nana’s for a few days? I promise we’ll talk about it soon.”

Uncertain, she says, “Promise?”

“Promise.” He offers a pinky, and she hooks it. When they kiss their thumbs, I very nearly burst into tears. “Okay, now go pack up a bag and we’ll boogie.”

“Okay.” For once, she doesn’t run.

Wilder turns his back to her and spends a second scrubbing his face with his hand.

The unfairness of it all is a physical weight on my chest. We lied, and they might try and take her for it. They might take heraway because she told them the truth. She told them the truth because I yelled it at Wilder with nothing but a door between me and the little girl I want so badly to protect.

Now she might lose all this. Now we might lose her.

“This is my fault,” I whisper.

“What? No.”

I’m shaking from head to toe, my voice wavering uncontrollably. “I said… I was so upset and I said all those things, and I hurt her so badly that she ran away. She was always going to tell them. Once she heard me say it, that was it. I… Oh, God?—”

I burst into tears, and immediately, he’s got me in his arms.

“No,” he whispers into my hair, kissing my crown. “I should have found another way. Shhh, don’t cry. Please don’t cry. We’ll figure this out. They’re mad now, but they want what’s best for her. I’ll earn their trust. I’ll fix it. Let me fix it.”

“What if you can’t?”

“Then I’ll get the best fucking lawyers in Tennessee and make sure we can keep her.”

“It will put her through hell, Wilder. It will hurt her so bad. We can’t?—”

He backs up enough to bracket my face with his hands and tilt it up to his. “Let’s hope we don’t get there. Okay? Let’s start with what’s in front of us. And right now, what’s in front of us is two very angry guardians of our little girl. We’re going to take her there and try to talk to them. If that doesn’t work, we’ll leave her there until they cool off for a few days and try again. It’s gonna be okay. Okay?”

I nod in his hands, my cheeks cool and wet. “Okay.”

He kisses my forehead and whispers, “Okay.”

“Okay,” I mutter.

And then I pray to every god that is and was that we don’t lose her.

CHAPTER 53

FOR WORSE

WILDER

When I park the truck in the Wilson’s driveway, I don’t move, wishing I could hold on to this moment of limbo even for just one more second.

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