Page 71 of Guarding Over You
Whatever it took.
He helped her into the back of his SUV, then the booster seat he’d moved from Arden’s car.
“What kind of pizza do you like?”
“I like cheese pizza. And cheese sticks.”
“Mozzarella sticks? Or cheesy bread?” he asked.
“They have cheesy bread? Like grilled cheese?”
He laughed. “Not quite. How about we get some and you can try it?”
“Yes, please.”
“What does your mother like?” he asked, pulling out of the lot. “Does she eat cheese pizza?”
“That and salad. She likes salad with meat on it.”
He grinned. “We’ll get Mom a salad then too. Do you eat it?”
“No. There are too many things touching in it.”
He laughed. “My brother Ash used to be that way too. Liked his food separated on his plate.”
“Me too. Only three things too. More than that, they can touch.”
He’d make a note of that.
“I’ll call now.” He hit the button on his steering wheel, scrolled down, found the pizza joint he always ordered from and placed the order for delivery. “I bet it arrives close to the same time as your mom does. Want me to text her to see how long she’ll be?”
“Can we call her?”
“She might be busy,” he said. “But I’ll text.” He didn’t want her to panic and answer if she was still talking to Tate. She didn’t need to be distracted either.
“Tell her I said hi.”
He hit the button, found Arden’s name and spoke. “Gracie says Hi. We’ve got dinner ordered for when you get back. No cooking for anyone tonight.”
He hit send and let it go off without adding anything else personal, no matter how much he wanted to ask how she was holding up. If she needed him. If she wanted him to do anything else for her.
Not yet. Not in front of little ears.
23
TRUTH SLIPPED OUT
“Ican’t believe you had the police call me!” Billy screamed into the phone.
Arden winced, lowering her voice even as his rose. She sat on the patio beside Blaze, the phone held a few inches from her ear. She didn’t know if she had another confrontation in her.
But at least being with Blaze she felt much safer.
“I had no choice,” she said evenly. She could have ignored the call. Could have put it off, like Billy used to do with her. Ignore, avoid, deflect. She’d become a pro at that.
But she needed this handled before tomorrow. Before she dropped Gracie off for the visit.
If he gave heranyreason to cancel, she would.
