Page 60 of Stay Baby Stay

“Why the hell not?”

The kitchen door whines. Holly, Teagan, and Burger emerge from the house. My baby girl’s thrown on one of the white tee shirts I packed, and is wearing it like a nightgown—a very sheer nightgown. I can definitely see her nipples through the fabric, which means the others can, too.

I’m about to tell her to run inside and throw on something proper when I see her gaze catch on Austin’s open bag of guns. Her eyes widen.

“Are you guys leaving soon?” Teagan asks.

“As soon as we’re all packed.” Jonah clears his throat. Austin quickly zips up the guns and shuts the back of the van.

“You girls still planning to hit the pavement today?” I ask.

Teagan nods. “Mary’s coming over after work. As soon as she gets here, we’ll head out.”

Jonah kneels in front of Burger to scratch his neck and behind his ears. “You take good care of these little girls, boy.”

Burger responds by licking Jonah’s face.

I walk over to Holly, steering her toward the back of the garage.

“Don’t you worry about those guns, sweetheart. They’re just props.”

“They didn’t look like props to me.”

She sighs as I cup her cheek.

“Be careful out there today,” I tell her.

“Yoube careful.”

I kiss her gently. “Always.”

Jonah and I climb into one van while Mike and Austin hop in the other. As Holly and Teagan’s reflections shrink in the rear view, I get the undeniable sense that I’m driving away from my future.

“You know,” Jonah says, “Holly kinda reminds me of Teagan, back when I first met her.”

“Oh yeah?”

“She’s got that look. Like she’s waiting for all the good things in her life to fade like a dream.”

“Sounds about right.”

“I take it she’s been through some shit,” he says.

I think back to the motel where she was staying, the job she was working. The road paved in desperation that eventually brought her to King’s mansion.

“More than most,” I say.

“Gotta go easy on a girl like that,” he says. “Can’t be giving her more than she can handle.”

I glance at him, brow cocked. “Hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothin’. Just sounded like you two were going pretty hard last night.”

“Oh, yeah? You build your house with fuckin’ paper-thin walls?”

“Don’t talk shit about my walls.” He smirks. “My walls are sound.”

“Sounds like they need sound proofing.”

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