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Cheri smiled at me. "I see those protective instincts are already kicking in."
I laughed. "I don't know about that. I just want to make sure the kid isn’t freaked out. Reagan can be a real piece of work, but she's good at making somebody feel like she knows what to do, and that's gotta be good for the kid, right?" I rambled.
Cheri nodded. "I would think so. Now, before we go in there, this should go fairly quickly, but don't be afraid to ask any questions you might have. And if you think of any later, as always, Reagan is available to answer any legal concerns you might have, okay?" she asked if she was talking to a child.
I nodded mutely, then followed her into a conference room with a long table. There was a man in a suit sitting at the head of the table, and another man in a suit sitting next to him. They seemed indistinguishable. I was directed to a seat on the opposite side of one of the suited men, and I tried to look around surreptitiously for any telltale sign of Reagan.
I wished she would show up. She promised she would be here. I needed her.
I swallowed hard at the idea of needing Reagan anywhere. Oh, hell, who was I kidding? The world was turned upside down, I needed her here, and there was no denying it. And as if I had willed her to me, she appeared flush-faced in the doorway.
"Sorry about the delay, gentlemen. Had a most pressing matter I had to deal with in my office," she said with a professional smile.
Her eyes met mine. She nodded at me encouragingly. I tried not to think about how strange that was compared to our typical dynamic, though everything was strange right now. I was surprised when she sat down right next to me and even more surprised that I felt instantly comforted. The sweet scent of her perfume met my nose, and I breathed in a deep breath, and it felt like the first time I'd be able to do so in the last seventy-two hours.
She looked at me thoughtfully and then looked at her colleagues. "Shall we get started?"
I nodded again, thinking of how this moment was the one that would irrevocably change my and little Wolfgang's lives forever.
Chapter five
Reagan
Those big brown eyes seemed to be hereditary because they were what met me when I first saw Wolfgang Townsend. The child looked terrified, clutching a stuffed Pikachu, as he dutifully followed me to the curb. I offered my hand, but he shook his head no. All of his responses had either been a nod or a head shake. I had yet to hear the little guy's voice.
I put a bright smile on my face and introduced myself. "I am Reagan. You can call me Rea if that's easier for you, that's what my little sister calls me. And you are Wolfgang, or would you like to be called Wolf?"
He just stared at me, then looked around at the bustling travelers rushing around us. I cleared my throat nervously, deciding that we should just get a move on. "Okay, let's head back to the office where you'll meet Adam."
I hailed a taxi and directed Wolfgang to sit in the back while I threw the rest of his bags into the trunk. As I climbed inside the cab, shutting the door behind me, our driver was struggling to pull into traffic. "Come on, you moron, can't you see I'm trying to get in here? What a doofus."
For the most part, it was just white noise to me after living here for so long. I smiled down at Wolfgang. "Are you hungry? I have some snacks in my bag." He shook his head no, looking at me solemnly.
"How was your flight? First time on an airplane?"
Wolfgang shrugged his shoulders. Boy, tough crowd. Though I couldn't blame him one bit. The things this child had been through in the last several days I would not have wished on my worst enemy. I couldn't stand the thought of how Layla would react if something happened to her parents, even if she did have me to take care of her.
"Are you kidding me? Look at this jackass. Cut me off when I had the right of way. There's a special place in hell for you!" our cab driver hollered out the window.
I looked over at Wolfgang, whose eyes were still wide, and scooted forward in my seat. "Excuse me, sir, but there's a small child back here. Would you mind cleaning up the language a bit?" I said, in my most pleasant voice, no-nonsense voice.
"Hey, lady, you pay me to get you from point A to point B. You don't pay me to sound like the freaking queen of England while I do it," he complained loudly.
I glanced surreptitiously at Wolfgang, who was watching the exchange carefully. I scooted a little further up in my seat and lowered my voice, hoping that the boy would not hear me as I said through gritted teeth to the taxi cab driver, "Now, you listen to me. I am in no mood for this kind of... ca-ca," I said, catching myself before I cussed "There's a little boy in that backseat, it is his first time here, and he is scared out of his mind. Could you just be human for the length of this drive?"
The guy glared at me through the rearview mirror. I sighed. "Fine, I'll give you an extra big tip if you'll do this for me," I offered.
The guy's cold eyes warmed, then he said theatrically, "Well, of course, dear ma'am and young sire. No…caca will come out of my mouth from this point forward, your highness."
I was about to light into him when I heard a sound that made my heart almost burst out of my chest: Wolfgang was giggling. I jerked my head back to see him covering his mouth as he watched me and the driver carefully. "Listen, I know you're being facetious, but it just made that kid laugh. Thank you," I told him sincerely.
The driver was still glaring at me through the rearview mirror, but I could see the small smile playing at his lips at the sound of the little boy's laughter.
I settled back in my seat. Wolfgang sobered up and, after an awkward silence, asked me softly, "What's Adam like?"
Annoying, grumpy, really good in the sack. Get a hold of yourself, Reagan.
"He's a doctor," I started, then added, "graduated at the top of his class." The only reason I knew that was because Adam regularly bragged about it. I looked down to Wolfgang's face, who seemed wholly unimpressed by those two facts. Remembering why the kid laughed just a few minutes before, I tried my luck with something I thought might be slightly more impressive to a young boy. "He can burp the alphabet."
