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“See you two tomorrow night.”
A surprised sound peeped out of me when he pulled me into a massive hug and leaned in close to my ear. “It’s really good that you’re here. Really fuckin’ good.”
Then he gave River a clap to the shoulder before he angled between us to head to the front door.
It rattled shut behind him.
Raven clapped her hands. “Let’s eat.”
FORTY-FIVE
CHARLEIGH
“Come on,Miss Charleigh, I gotta read you a story and then you gotta tuck me in because it’s already thirty minutes past my bedtime. Dad says I keep tryin’ to break the rules, but I really just need to have some fun. He’s gotta know that.”
Affection tugged at my spirit as Nolan hauled me upstairs. He climbed backward, jerking hard at my hand like I wasn’t capable of taking them on my own.
River climbed behind us. His aura battered against me with each step. That dark ferocity that rolled and whipped, though the grunt he released was tender as he said, “Yeah, that’s because you’d stay up the entire night if I didn’t have somethin’ to say about it.”
“He’s got a lot to say about everythin’, Miss Charleigh.” Nolan shook his head as if he couldn’t believe the audacity his father had at setting rules.
I couldn’t stop the ripple of a chuckle that crawled from the crevices of my spirit. Rising up from where all the pain had been trapped, but now it felt as if some of the pieces held there were being freed.
“I think your dad just wants to make sure you get a good night’s sleep so you have plenty of energy to play with yourfriends tomorrow.”
Through all of dinner, Nolan hadn’t stopped going on about Gage and Juni Bee coming to visit.
“Well, he does got a lot of smart ideas, too, and I try to get all the smart ideas like him, but sometimes I just make bad choices.” He cupped his free hand around his mouth and lowered his voice like it was a secret. “Like staying up way past my bedtime.”
From behind, a rumble echoed from River. It skated my skin like a caress. Like joy unfound. Purposed and right.
I still couldn’t quite believe that I was here like this. Sharing another evening with these amazing people who’d weaved themselves so deeply inside me there was no chance I could ever get them out.
Treating me as if they…as if they just expected me to be there. As if I belonged.
“But you aren’t going to be doing that tonight, are you?” River said in that low voice.
“Nope. Like my Miss Charleigh said, I got to have my energy to stay up the whole night tomorrow. We’re gonna party until the sun comes up.”
I choked on a laugh as I glanced back at River whose expression had shifted to pure exasperation. Not sure what to do with the precious child who was definitely a little whip.
We hit the landing, and Nolan led me into his bedroom. Releasing me, he went sailing for his bed. He planted his hands on the edge of the mattress and propelled himself into the air.
His legs flailed, and half his body bent to the side as he attempted the flip that was basically him toppling and crashing onto the middle of his bed.
“Oomph,” he cried when he landed on his back. “That was definitely not an eleven. But if you don’t make it, you gotta try and try again, right, Dad?”
He grinned at River who hovered in the doorway. The man didn’t have time to answer before Nolan was hopping up onto his knees, words spewing from his mouth. “That was another one of my dad’s smart ideas. If you want something and you fail, you just gotta try, and try again until you get it.”
“First person who ever said it.” River’s tone was dry.
I pressed my fingers to my lips as if it might be able to stop the amusement that kept tumbling out.
“Well, it is really good advice,” I told him as I peered back at him. His storm-cloud eyes were different tonight.
The grays lapping soft within the darkness that they always held.
Nolan plopped onto his butt and bounced off the side of the bed before he was on his knees in front of a bookcase that sat on his wall. “What’s your favorite, Miss Charleigh? Dragons or fairies?”
