Page 166 of Renegade
Caroline broke into a smile. “I love that, Axel.”
“Okay,” Axel said as he waited for Addison to cut up his chicken. When she finished, he picked up a small piece with his fingers, and ate it. “Yummy.”
“Your home is beautiful,” Caroline said. “That view is amazing.”
“We’d love for you—Greystone too—to spend a weekend with us at our farmhouse,” Addison said. “There’s too much going on now, but after we get this job done, I’ll text you some dates. It’s only forty-five minutes away, but it’s a completely different world. So much fun. There’s work, but we love being outside.”
“I can’t speak for Grey, but I’d love that.”
“Sure you can,” Hawk said. “That man’ll follow you anywhere.”
“You think?”
“Yes,” Addison replied. “We do.”
Caroline smiled. “That makes me happy to hear.” After pausing to eat, she asked, “How do you juggle work, and the kids, and married life?”
“We don’t know what’s going on,” Hawk said, and Addison laughed.
“We have help,” Addison said. “My dad, Nicholas’s Mom.Axel goes to daycare twice a week. Truth is, we don’t sleep much.”
“I still own Hawk Security, but I turned over some of the day-to-day, so I could focus onspecialprojects.”
Caroline appreciated they didn’t talk shop, not just because their children were there, but because she needed a respite. She loved hanging with them, and especially the children. Axel was too busy eating to say much, but when he finished, he started talking nonstop.
Caroline thought he was adorable, but she was intrigued by Riley. She was engaged in all their conversations, but she said very little. Riley reminded her of Greystone. Definitely not a talker.
After dinner, Hawk said, “I got these wild ones. Why don’t you two chill?”
Addison kissed his cheek. “Thank you. I’ll clean up later.”
“I’ll help you now,” Caroline said.
“No,” Addison protested.
“We can chat and clean. Dinner was really good and I was starving, so now I’m stuffed. I wouldn’t mind moving around.”
Hawk took the kids upstairs, and she and Addison started clearing the table.
“How are you holding up?” Addison asked.
“Not gonna lie, I’m stressed out big time. Being a handler was stressful. Being an IO was a different kind of stress. I tried meditation, but I didn’t stick with it long enough. I exercise, but I don’t do it daily, especially now.”
While Addison loaded the dishwasher, Caroline sponged off the table. “How do you de-stress?”
“Hawk and I make sure we spend time together, even if it’s here. My mother-in-law loves to take the kids for an overnight, and that’s been fun for us. Don’t get me wrong, we love our children?—”
“I understand,” Caroline replied as she rinsed the sponge, then started going over the center island.
“We like working out together,” Addison continued. “Every now and then, we have game night. We get together with Nicholas’ brother Prescott and his wife Jacqueline, and my sister Brit and her husband Rebel, but it’s usually with the kids. And we spend time with our core group at work. We’re all pretty close.”
Caroline rinsed the sponge, then started wiping down the counters. “So, you’re on the go all the time.”
Addison laughed. “Exactly. But there’sonething we always, always make time for.” She held up a pod of coffee. “Yes?”
“I thought I’d take off,” Caroline said. “You’ve got your hands full and I feel like I need to work.”
Addison dropped the pod into the coffee machine. “One cup for the caffeine hit.”
