Page 484 of Hell Hath No Fury
I cocked my head. “How come?”
“Because if I don’t, I’ll peel you out of your clothes and…,” she whispered, waving her hand in frustration, “…you know.”
I chuckled. “You say the word, baby.”
She let out a quiet grunt. “Not helping, Harmon.”
“Not tryin’ to, just Bryn.”
Briggs walked our way, shoving two pieces of pizza stacked on top of each other into his mouth. “Need help?” he asked, mid-chew.
“Briggs Matthew, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Bryn admonished.
He swallowed then asked the question again.
“Sure,” I said. “I can show you how to do a couple of things if you want.”
“Cool,” Briggs said, and joined me on the floor.
* * *
Brynley
I bit back tears as I watched Harm walk Briggs patiently through the process of changing a front door lock. My kid was lapping up the one-on-one attention and Harm was so incredibly sweet with him. To avoid completely melting down in front of them, I escaped into the kitchen and cleaned up Briggs’s mess.
“Mom, Harm wants you to come set your code.”
“Okay, honey.”
I had just set the pizzas in the fridge, so I followed him back to the foyer and Harm showed me how to set and change my code should I need to do so in the future.
“I’m going to call Delaney,” Briggs announced. “Thanks for letting me help, Harm.”
“No problem. Appreciate it, bud,” he said, then turned to me. “It’s gettin’ late, so I should head out. I have a job tomorrow, but I can swing by after if that works for you.”
“Yes,” I said. “I’m off the next three days.”
Once Briggs was up the stairs and I heard his door close, I leaned in close. “Oh my god, Harm, he’s beaming.”
“He’s a good kid.”
“What time are you done tomorrow?”
“Should be done around three. I can probably be here around four,” he said as he packed up his tools. “Does that work?”
“You don’t have to take Maisie to the hospital?”
He shook his head. “Razor’s on tomorrow since I gotta work.”
“And you’re sure I’m not taking you away from anything else?”
He didn’t answer, just gave me an eyeroll before closing up his toolbox.
“I sound a little needy, huh?”
He chuckled. “No, you don’t sound needy enough.”
“Briggs is taking Delaney out, so I can cook if you want.”
