Chapter 5 #3
“Thank you. They won’t reach out, but if you’d like to meet them sometime, they’d love it, I’m sure. Also, I won’t tell Thora’s mother. I don’t know if she’s even still alive. But if at some point you ever want to talk to her, I’ll help you make contact,” Nate offered.
“Thank you.” She leaned back into me. Wes squeezed her hand.
“Is Adriana still in jail? I worry that she’ll come after Grace.” Brennan asked.
“She’s in jail waiting for the judge. I cooperated fully.
Not taking you in was one thing. Paying Rosalind to whisk you away so that I’d never find you, then allowing me to look for you, is something else entirely.
I… I’ve forgiven her for so much over the years.
But I’m not sure I can forgive that.” Nate sighed again.
I felt a little sorry for the children in the pack. If Adriana went to jail, it would massively affect their family. At the same time, what she did was terrible and wrong. How could she simply sit back and let her mate hurt like that?
Grace eyed the doorway. “I understand. It’s a pretty horrible thing. Not to mention she stabbed my mate. Are you here alone?”
“Pip’s here. But they wouldn’t let her past the nurses' station. They let me in because I’m on your record as being your father. I hope it’s not an overstep. I was worried when I heard what happened.” He clutched something to him. “I’m sorry she stabbed you.”
“It’s okay,” I assured. Okay, I’d be pressing charges, but it wasn’t his fault.
“Are Tru, Hale, and Mercy all right?” Grace added.
“Tru was pretty scared. But she’ll be okay.
So will Hale and Mercy. Um, so, at one point, I thought I’d found you.
I was so excited, and I got you this. Only it wasn’t you.
I kept it for when I found you. You don’t have to take it, but I brought it in case you wanted it.
” He held it out, and I realized that it was a doll.
“Oh. Thank you, Professor.” She got up from the bed. “Was the girl Barrett’s? I remember you asking me if I was looking for him.”
“Yes. Barrett has a few. Deep down I knew that she wasn’t you.
But one could always hope.” The look on his face was mournful.
“The others in the pack thought hiring a PI was a waste of money. Barrett hired the PI that traced Rosalind to Europe for me because he knew how disappointed I was that the girl I’d found was his, not you. ”
A waste of money? More like Adriana didn’t want Grace found.
Grace sucked in a breath and took the doll. “Thank you. The doll is adorable.”
She leaned in and gave him a little hug.
“I also brought you this.” He handed her a card. “You don’t have to open it, but I found a few pictures of Thora and printed them out so that you’d have them.”
“Thank you.” She returned to me, and I hugged her as so many conflicted emotions came through the bond.
Nate looked at me. “Hale and Mercy said that Adriana mentioned people murdering your other mate?”
I nodded. “While it was deemed a car accident, I always wondered if it was purposeful in retaliation for her beliefs. Adriana’s statements about not knowing they were going to kill her, that she just thought they’d scare her, only cemented my suspicions.
They being the organization she belongs to that’s against the work my mate and previous company did. ”
Later, I’d have to see if my sources found any more information. Perhaps Jett would help.
Nate’s look turned to one of horror. “Oh no. While I always found them to be a little… overzealous, I didn’t think they’d go that far.”
“They literally throw paint at people going into their workplaces.” Brennan gave him a look.
“Adriana thought that I brought Grace into your life as revenge,” I said softly. “It wasn’t. It was all a coincidence that Grace met someone who knew Creed.”
“I know Inara quite well and I can see the situation unfold in my head. Accident or not, I’m really glad that we finally found you.” Nate looked a little anxious.
“Fuck of the morning, Bitches, we have brunch. Spence, you’re awake, thank fuck.” Riley burst in with brown handled bags, Jett and Evan following with another bag and drinks in a carrier.
Evan beamed. “Spence, it’s so nice to see you awake.”
Riley stopped short and stared at the professor. “Sweet baby cheeses.”
“Um, hi. I’m Nate. Are you Riley? Mercy and Tru were telling me about you.” Nate gave a little wave.
“Yeppers. Mercy and I want to go to skate smash camp together this summer.” Riley put the bags on the couch next to Brennan.
Nate smiled and nodded. “That sounds fun.”
“I’m Jett.” Jett put the carrier of drinks on the table, then moved the flowers.
“And I’m Evan.” Evan had a duffle bag.
“Well, I’ll leave you to eat your meal. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. Grace, Spencer, I wish you speedy recoveries. Again, I’m so sorry.” Nate gave us one last look and went toward the door.
“Professor?” Grace asked.
Nate turned, looking hopeful. “Yes?”
“We’ll still have that lunch when you come to Rockland?” She sounded unsure and anxious.
He beamed. “I’d like that very much.”
Nate left, and Riley handed out beverages.
“Are you okay?” I asked Grace, kissing her temple.
“Yeah.”
Riley frowned as she handed something to Grace. “Who got Grace a fucking Everydoll?”
“The professor,” I replied. They were a lot more expensive than the average doll but very popular. There was an entire store of them at one of the malls in Rockland.
“Oh. That’s kinda weird?” Riley’s head cocked.
“He got it when he thought he found me and saved it for when he actually did.” Grace bit her lower lip. “I thought it was sweet.”
“Oh, that is sweet. You have one of the older ones? Nice. I think her hair could use a trip to the doll salon,” Riley replied as she gave Wes his drink.
“Would you like me to take the two of you to the Everydoll boutique like I did when you were younger? We could have tea, then you could have their hair done, and get new outfits for them? We haven’t done that in a while.
” It was something Riley and I did every year for her birthday up until a couple of years ago.
Riley flinched. “I don’t have one anymore.”
“You don’t?” Evan frowned as he put out the containers. “You loved them. They always had wild adventures. You used to send me videos.”
Going to the Everydoll store was one of our first outings together and not long after her parents died.
Her grandparents needed me to get her out of the house.
She was very young. I didn’t know what to do with her, so I’d brought her there and we’d had a lovely afternoon of tea and dolls followed by a movie and a trip to the pizza arcade.
“What happened to them? I won’t be mad if you traded them for a dirt bike,” I reassured her. From her look, I was pretty sure that wasn’t the case.
Riley mumbled something as she set something for me on the tray.
“Um, Sasha did what to your dolls?” Evan turned and looked at her, stricken.
“She was mad at me, so she gave my dolls and all my doll things to the neighbor. Sasha said I was too old for them, anyway. Sonja and Grandma told her off but didn’t make her get them back and wouldn’t let me ask for them.
They also told me not to tell either of you.
Grandpa promised to get me a new one. And he did, but it wasn’t an actual Everydoll, it was just from Swoop.
” Riley wrapped her arms around herself.
While it was nice of him, I could see a discount store doll not quite being the same. While she’d just had a couple of dolls, she had quite the collection of accessories and clothes.
“Shit, I’m sorry. Sasha can be mean sometimes.” Evan wrapped his arms around her.
“I mean, I’m not a kid anymore. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t still like them. Lots of people collect them.” She buried her face in her brother’s shoulder.
“Ugh, it’s not like she doesn’t still have hers.” Evan made a face. “I know because she left them at Grandma’s when she moved.”
Riley looked up. “You don’t think I haven’t thought of kidnapping them?”
“When was this?” I asked. My heart broke. Sasha was sometimes resentful of Riley, but that was pretty awful.
“The summer between seventh and eighth grade, around when you were talking about me moving to Rockland for high school,” she mumbled. “It was one of the reasons I agreed. I knew you all wouldn’t touch my shit.”
That timing correlated with her saying that she wanted to do something else with me for her birthday.
“My mom did that, too–got rid of my toys and gave them to other kids,” Grace whispered. “My dad saved one, but it still was awful.”
“It won’t replace what you lost, but you could choose a new one? Then we can have tea, and go to the doll spa, and you and Grace can select new outfits for them?” I offered.
“I suppose. But only because they just launched a line of official skate smash outfits for Everydolls, and I want a Rockland Raiders outfit for mine,” she said.
Grace was on her phone. “Tiny skates and helmets? Count me in. Ooh, there are so many dolls to choose from.”
“They’re always putting out limited edition ones, too. Some of them are really fancy. I think it’s fun to have one or two, but it’s creepy when you have an army of them.” Riley looked at Grace.
“We had something like this in my world. I always wanted one of those dolls, but I never got one,” Grace said wistfully.
“Oh, they had a limited edition Theodosia one. You can still get her on some resale sites. She comes with a tiny working piano,” Brennan said, looking at his phone.
Riley started laughing. “Fucking shit, Bren, really?”
He had it bad for her. Hmmm. That was going to be a courting gift, wasn’t it?
“Fuck, Grace is going to amass a doll army, aren’t you? We’re going to have a creepy doll room.” Riley rolled her eyes.
“I could buy lots of these, couldn’t I? I want a room of dolls and stuffies and a permanent blanket fort.” Grace’s eyes went alight as she continued to scroll on her phone.
“I mean, there are worse hobbies. My sister had an army of them,” Brennan said.
Wes shuddered. “I remember. My sister had one. It was always watching me.”
“Watching, always watching.” Grace laughed.
Riley let her brother go. “Thanks, Spence.”
“Anytime, Riley,” I told her. “Really. You can both amass creepy doll armies.”
“Hard pass on the doll army. I will take a chicken army.” Riley grabbed a container and plopped down.
“I’m not sure that’s allowed in our neighborhood,” Brennan said.
Grace snorted. “That’s silly. I had a chicken army growing up. Maybe we’ll get a duck, too. To the hardware store!”
“Right, because that’s where your chickens come from.” Brennan rolled his eyes.
Jett handed me a container. “Why don’t we eat before it gets cold. Also, I vote for a bunny army.”
“Hedgehogs. I had one when I was small.” I nodded as I opened my container.
Evan handed one to Grace. “Oh, I remember Sir Pemberly.”
“I want all the pets,” Grace declared. “Let’s get a kitten and a puppy, too.”
“I like the way you think,” Riley agreed. “Though I’d like a mini tiger.”
“What?” Grace blinked.
“Oh, someone decided to genetically engineer a few animals to be tiny and sell them as pets, such as mini tigers,” I explained, realizing she might not have them.
Jett shook his head. “Mini tigers don’t actually make good pets. They might be the size of dogs, but they’re still tigers. Also, they might eat the chickens and bunnies.”
Riley rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
I’m sure they’d find another pet for us. Yes, we were going to have an army of dolls, pets, and children, weren’t we? I wouldn’t want it any other way.