Page 171 of Daddy's Trust
Addie guessed that was just the way life went sometimes, right?
She still felt lost and alone. And now, as well as Butch watching them, they had Ethan Stone. He was nice enough, but he was no Cash or Ralen.
She sat down on the sofa next to Monroe. Weirdly, Dotty was in the living room, pacing up and down.
“What’s going on?” she asked Monroe.
“Huh?” Monroe asked, staring over at her in surprise. “What’s going on where?”
Another stab of worry hit Addie. Monroe looked terrible, pale with dark marks under her eyes.
“Are you getting any sleep?” Addie asked.
“Not much,” Monroe confessed. “But then, are any of us?”
Yeah, that was true.
Suddenly the door opened, and she sat up straight. Maybe that was Cash. Maybe he was back. But it was just Butch stomping into the room. He stalked in and eyed them all.
“You all look like shit.”
She hadn’t spent much time with Butch, but he didn’t really seem the friendly, cozy type of guy. However, she hadn’t quite expected him to just bluntly say that.
“Thanks so much,” Dotty said dryly. “That’s what I always love to hear, how crappy I look.”
Addie winced. That was Dotty’s ice queen voice. It had frozen many a man and woman in their tracks. But Butch seemed remarkably unfazed by the chill seeping from her words.
That was pretty remarkable, really.
“Can you blame us?” Dotty asked. “After everything that’s happened?”
Butch crossed his arms over his chest. “Could be worse, couldn’t it? You could all be dead.”
Monroe sucked in a deep breath, while Addie let out a small pained noise.
Butch grimaced. “Fuck sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you all. But it’s just the truth. Things could be worse.”
Dotty sat on an armchair and sighed, nodding. She rubbed at her temples. “You’re right. Things could definitely be worse.”
Did she have a headache? Addie should get her some painkillers. But before she could even get up, Butch had grabbed some from the counter in the kitchen and brought them over to Dotty with a glass of water.
Dotty stared at them with a look of surprise, as though she couldn’t understand how they’d even gotten there.
“Oh, thanks.” She glanced up at Butch, then away.
Huh. Was there a little bit of red in her cheeks? Was she embarrassed over something?
Butch’s phone started to ring, and he drew it out of his pocket with a frown. “It’s Ink. Got to take it.”
Turning, he walked out of the room.
“He talks so much, it’s hard to get him to shut up,” Dotty said wryly.
Addie grinned at her. “He’s a regular chatterbox.”
Dotty swallowed the pills and looked over at Addie. “Your voice sounds much better.”
“My throat feels a lot better.”
