Page 64 of Protecting Addison
MacGyver wasn’t exactly sure what she was trying to say. She understood English quite well now, but speaking it was another issue. She was working hard, but she still struggled.
Borysko asked her something in Ukrainian, and she answered in a flurry of words.
“She is scared you will get hurt,” Artem translated. “Like Borysko did when we were in Ukraine.”
Yeah, he definitely should’ve waited until he’d gotten home to let the kids know about his upcoming mission. He’d messed up, and he wasn’t sure what to say or do to reassure the little girl who meant the world to him.
Thankfully, Ellory turned in her seat as much as her seat belt would allow and spoke directly to Yana. “Ricky will be okay. He’s smart. And he has all his friends with him. You saw how good he is when he was in Ukraine with you. He’ll come back before we know it. And my mom will take care of us while he’s gone.”
“Addy,” Yana said with a sniff.
“Yup. Oh! I know, maybe she’ll let us make a fort in our room! We can drape a sheet over the top of our beds using the brooms and a mop to hold them up, and we can sleep under there. Would you like that?”
“I want sleep fort too!” Borysko said, a tad too loudly for the small enclosure of the car.
The kids began talking amongst themselves, and MacGyver didn’t even scold them for speaking in their native language. Usually he preferred them to use English, so they could practice it and so he could keep his finger on the pulse of how they were doing, but he was too grateful for the distraction to insist on it at the moment.
“Thanks,” he told Ellory quietly.
“You’re welcome.”
“You’re a good kid,” he told her.
“I know,” she said a little cheekily.
MacGyver chuckled.
“So you think Mom’ll let me see Brady again even though you won’t be here?”
The tension MacGyver had felt about Ellory seeing her father returned ten-fold. “I don’t see why not,” he said as calmly as he could.
“Can I be honest?” Ellory asked.
“Of course. I prefer it.”
“I haven’t made up my mind about him. My dad. I can tell he’s trying to be cool, but it feels as if he’s trying a littletoohard sometimes. Like, how did a janitor meet the president? That seems weird to me. But why would he lie about it?”
“Because he wants to impress you,” MacGyver told her. “He wants you to like him, and people sometimes stretch the truth to accomplish that. Even adults.”
“Haveyou?”
MacGyver immediately shook his head. “No. I want you to like me too, but I don’t want to make stuff up in order for that to happen.”
“I like you,” Ellory said without hesitation.
“Good.”
“Haveyoumet the president?” she asked with a grin.
MacGyver returned the smile. “Twice.”
“The same one?”
“Nope, different ones.”
“Cool.”
MacGyver shrugged. “It wasn’t as cool as you might think. There were secret service people everywhere, and both times we just lined up and he went down the line and shook our hands, then he was gone. That was it. I didn’t even get to speak to him.”
