Chapter 1 #3
Leave it to her daughter to be excited about something as small as no dust, instead of worrying about where their next meal would come from or where they’d sleep tonight.
But then again, those were things for Penny to be concerned about.
Not a six-year-old little girl. Penny had always done whatever it took to make sure her daughter was fed and comfortable.
That she never knew what the scary men who visited their hut at random times really wanted.
The door to the helicopter slid open, and Penny stared out onto the deck of the aircraft carrier in fascination. Her life seemed surreal right now. First a helicopter ride, and now she was on an actual military ship. Life was weird sometimes.
Hanging back, letting the other women and children get helped out of the chopper first, Penny held Bowie’s hand tightly in her own.
She had some anxiety about what came next for them, but she stayed calm.
Unlike a lot of the passengers, who were still crying and carrying on, she stood patiently with Bowie, waiting their turn.
“You two okay?”
Glancing toward the deep voice to her right, Penny saw the man who’d helped them onto the chopper.
He’d taken off his helmet and headset, so she could see him more clearly now.
He had brown hair with blond highlights, currently damp from sweat.
His dark stubble was more a short beard than an actual five o’clock shadow.
His brows were drawn downward, as if he was truly concerned about them and not asking out of obligation.
“We’re great!” Bowie answered, before Penny could. “That was fun! The way we swooped here and there!” she exclaimed, using the hand that wasn’t in her mom’s to demonstrate how they’d darted from side to side. “And everyone screamed, but not me!”
“Not you, huh?” the pilot asked with a small chuckle.
“Nope. You have a really deep voice. It’s friendly. I like it.”
The man looked taken aback for a moment, then he smiled—and it transformed his face.
Bowie had a way of saying things that people didn’t expect.
She “saw” the world through her other senses.
And if she said the man had a friendly voice, that was a good thing.
A very good thing. Her daughter’s keen hearing often allowed her to cut through the bullshit and easily figure out if people were sincere or not, simply by the undercurrents in their tone.
“Thanks. I like your voice too. I’m Kylo. Kylo Mullins, but people call me Pyro.”
“Kylo, Pyro,” Bowie singsonged. “And your last name reminds me of cotton-headed ninny-muggins. Mullins-muggins.”
“Bowie,” Penny scolded gently.
“What?” her daughter protested, looking up in Penny’s general direction. “It does!”
“She loves the movie Elf. We splurged one year and saw it in the city at Christmastime,” Penny explained.
“It’s perfectly all right. I love that movie too,” Pyro said. Then he surprised Penny by squatting down so he was on Bowie’s level. “So, your name is Bowie? That’s an unusual name, and beautiful.”
“It’s Gaelic. It means yellow-haired, which I’m not but that’s okay, because it was the name of Mommy’s dog growing up and she named me after him.”
Penny wanted to sink into the floor. She loved her daughter, but she had a habit of saying whatever she was thinking, which many times was embarrassing as hell for her mom.
Pyro looked up, and Penny could tell he was trying really hard not to laugh.
“He was a good dog. The best,” she said, defending the dog she’d befriended in one of the foster homes she’d been in—and her decision to name her daughter after the yellow lab.
Pyro turned his attention back to Bowie. “Are you okay? You didn’t hit your head or otherwise get hurt while we were doing all that crazy flying?”
“I’m fine. And I loved the crazy flying!”
Pyro chuckled again, then stood and held out his hand toward Penny.
“It’s good to meet you, but I’m sorry it had to be under these circumstances.”
“Me too. I’m Penny Burns, by the way. This is obviously my daughter.”
Pyro held her hand, and Penny could feel the warmth from his palm snake up her arm and fill her from the inside out. They stared at each other for a long moment, holding hands and not saying a word.
“Mommy, I think everyone else is out already. Can we go too? I want to check out the boat!”
Her words had Penny jerking in surprise, and Pyro let go of her hand. She felt the loss of his touch down to her toes, which was alarming in itself.
“You’re right. Have I told you how smart you are lately?”
Bowie giggled. “This morning, Mommy!”
Two men were standing by the door, waiting to help them down, and Penny turned away from Pyro to lead her daughter toward them.
“Ten steps,” Bowie said under her breath.
That was their thing. Counting steps. It was Bowie’s way of navigating the world. She’d obviously counted how far it was from the door to where she’d sat in the chopper.
“Penny.”
Turning at the sound of Pyro’s voice, she looked at him.
“If you or Bowie need anything…just ask someone to find me and I’ll see what I can do for you. Okay?”
It was a very nice offer. And while Penny didn’t understand why he was making it, why he’d singled them out over all the other women and children on the helicopter, she wasn’t going to question it.
Not that she intended on taking him up on his offer either. She’d learned the hard way that relying on others never ended well. Most of the time they expected something in return, and Penny had nothing to give…to him or anyone else.
She offered Pyro a polite smile and nod, then turned her attention back to Bowie and getting out of the chopper without falling on her face.