Chapter 32 Vehicular Hokey Pokey
vehicular hokey pokey
Sariah
Seriously? Seriously. How is this man mine?
“Okay,” I mumble into his tee.
“Okay to Rosie? Or okay to everything?”
“You’re pushing it, Murphy.”
“She’s being discharged. Do you want me to go? Are you okay to stay here with Renée and Eleanor?”
His shirt abrades by forehead as I nod.
“Not that I have anything else to do, but I’d feel better not exposing Née right now. What do we do about school on Monday?”
“Well figure it out.” He kisses the top of my head and stands.
“Also, would you set a grocery order for pickup? I don’t know what you both like—other than ‘not meat’ for Renée and real food sounds so good after a month on smoothies and shakes.
Tell me where and I’ll pick it up on the way back from Swedish.
” He pulls a card from his wallet and drops it on the bed next to me. “Use that, would you?”
I shake my head, not in the negative, but in straight-up confusion. A month ago, life was way simpler, way more manageable, and way more alone.
“Anything I need to know about Eleanor?”
“Nah. I’ll let her out before I leave. She’s already eaten.
She may want company before I get back, but she shouldn’t need anything.
Sariah.” He looms over me, and I tip my head back to get a good look at the man in front of me.
Two days of scruff covers his jaw. It’s russet-colored and not yet soft.
“Yeah.”
“Be safe while I’m gone.” He drops his lips to mine, deepening the kiss until every sense is taken over by his mere presence. With a final peck, he pulls back and drops his forehead to mine. “Love you, baby. Be right back.”
I fall back onto the bed and stare at the ceiling. How is this my life?
It takes four hours for Cian to be right back.
Four hours of submitting resumes, of digging through his walk-in pantry and fridge to figure out a grocery list, or straight up staring into space.
When he walks through the door, it’s with Rosie leaning on his arm. He leads her straight down the hall to a room near Renée’s. Renée’s. I can’t believe I called it that.
We follow, but he steps out for her to get changed.
“RoRo?” My daughter’s voice is too small for her personality.
“Yes.”
“Can I hug you?”
“Of course, bug.” She pats the bed next to her where she sat to remove her shoes.
Renée rounds the bed and throws her arms around her grandmother, falling into sobs in her chest.
Rosie looks at me before focusing her full attention on the child in her arms. “Oh, Renée, it’s okay.”
“I was scared.”
“I love you, Née. Very few things scare me, but not watching you grow up is one.”
“Don’t leave me.”
“Never. Well, not for a long, long time, okay?”
“Okay.” My girl’s voice through quiet sobs is enough to break me.
Moving from my place at the door so they could have their moment, I kneel at Rosie’s feet and unlace her shoes. “Socks on or off?”
“Do you have a fresh pair?”
Shit. No. We have only what we came in.
“I’ll get you some. So on for now?”
“You know I hate dirty feet.”
That I do. “Want to go to the bathroom before you lie down?”
“I’d rather close my eyes for a few first. I may regret that later, but I’m tired.”
“Can I stay with you?” Née asks quietly.
“I’d love that.” Rosie pats her hand. “Are your feet clean?”
Renée jumps up and heads to the jack-and-jill bath between their rooms. Water runs, the sound drowning out Rosie’s whispers. “What happened? Why are we here?”
“I’ll tell you when you wake up. Did they send anything home with you?”
“Tramadol.” She winces. “No previous reaction to it and it’s effective.”
“When was your last dose?”
“Right before I left. I’ll need it in”—she looks at her watch—“an hour and forty-five minutes.”
The water flips off. “I forgot my phone,” Renée hollers from the bathroom.
“We’ll get it filled and have new socks when you wake up.” I say, kissing Rosie’s cheek.
“I got it.” My daughter extends her digital tether and smiles as I move for the hall, flipping off the overhead light.
“Get some rest, RoRo. Glad you’re home.”
“Mom?”
“Yeah.” I turn back to the room, to my mom and my daughter.
“I like Cian.”
“Me too,” Rosie adds. “He’s handsome too.”
I can’t stop my grin. That he is.
The man in question is leaning against a wall in the hall with a wide grin across his gorgeous face.
He extends a palm, and I take it, walking back to the living room together. He plops on the sofa and drags me onto his lap, wrapping his arms around me.
“Renée likes me, and Rosie thinks I’m handsome. Am I two for three with Ocotea women today or three for three?”
“You know the answer to that.”
His smile is huge. “Three for three. My day just keeps getting better.”
“What took so long?”
“Hospital everything. Realizing I only had my truck so I ran to Ayla’s and grabbed her car so it was less painful for Rosie to get in and out of. Grocery pick-up in the wrong car. Not to mention the interrogation between those last two.”
“The police?”
“Rosie.”
“But why?”
“Baby, we never met before today, and yesterday was shit for her. Renée might get her sense of self-preservation from Rosie. She asked for my driver’s license and wanted to know why I was alone. She needed a full run-down before she’d leave with me.”
“Smart.” I reach for the collar of his shirt and let my fingers play there.
“Yeah, and the hospital was curious why someone she never met was picking her up, so that added a layer of complexity and that was before the vehicular Hokey Pokey. At some point, I need to get my truck back.”
“We also need clothes.” I look down at myself. “Your sweats are too big for us. Are we good to go back to the house to get things?”
He scrunches his eyes shut. “I don’t know. My gut says not today, but the three of you can’t wear yesterday’s clothes much longer. I’m guessing we need everything?”
I nod. “Everything. And heading to the house will lead anyone watching straight here.”
He sighs and stares off, through the floor-to-ceiling story-and-a-half windows that line his living room.
“That’s my concern too. Toiletries we can double up on.
That part’s easy. A few days’ clothes could be too, but the stuff you love, the stuff Renée needs to feel at home, Rosie’s favorites? What do we do about that?”
I shrug. Those are my thoughts exactly.
“I could ask Liam——”
I swiftly cover his mouth with my hand. Two things hit me at once. One, my daughter’s sniffles; the second is Eleanor’s whimper.
Cian must hear them at the same time, because he lifts me from this lap to set me on the sofa and moves toward the hall with the guest bedrooms. A quick click and his footsteps sound their return.
He rounds the corner, sitting and lifting my legs over his lap.
“Eleanor was nose to the door, making a noise every time Renée did. I cracked the door and in she went. She’s not allowed on the bed, but I’ll bet you that’s exactly where she is. ”
“She’s taking care of my girl.”
He slides an arm around me. “I was saying I could ask Liam, but I really don’t want him in your underwear drawer. Or Renée’s. Christian would behead me for asking my sister, and I already owe her a coffee bean farm in favors.”
What the hell is he on about?
“Easy things first. What can we get from a big box store to start? Can we place an order? Then let’s move to things that you and Rosie and Renée need that don’t come from there.
I don’t know… all the girl crap that you think you need but, in the end, doesn’t make you look any prettier than you do right now. That’s second.”
The huge compliment offered so easily and casually melts me into a puddle of goo.
“That stuff helps.”
His arms squeeze me.
“It doesn’t. It’s all marketing. You don’t need marketing. A little flush in your cheeks from my tongue or my cock. That’s the only thing that ever makes you more than your typical stunning.”
“Ci.” He’s making me swoon.
“Well, it’s true.”
He’s not lying. I can feel his warm length at the back of my thigh.
By Sunday night, the story buzz has died down.
We’ve washed and rewashed the few things we grabbed at Target.
We’ve watched movies in Cian’s home theatre.
We’ve cooked and done dishes and taken Eleanor for walks.
We did one quick hike this morning, leaving Rosie to some peace and quiet since she’s not used to a houseful of activity, either of the human or canine variety.
We didn’t go too far. The sunshine and movement were good for all of us, and Lookout Mountain offered both in spades. I needed to step away from my screen. Renée needed to stop worrying about Rosie. And Cian needed to stretch his legs and said Eleanor did too.
Renée has school tomorrow. Normalcy is important. Fear or no, her education is too critical to play with, and neither of us are cut out for homeschooling. She’d riot, and I’d only be a day or two behind, if that.
She has a new app on her phone called Vigilance24/7.
Liam added it and showed us all how to use it.
It’s basically a “Find My” on steroids and pings data to my phone at regular intervals or as requested.
My daughter would normally balk at it, and maybe she will in a month or so, but for now, she wants to go back to school and this is non-negotiable, so she’s agreed.
Now to get Ci to agree to letting us go home. At least for clothing and personal effects.
His hands have been planted on his hips for long moments. He’s frustrated. Every line of his body screams it.
We’ve been having the same argument for an hour. We need clothes; he needs assurance of safety. Yeah, his is more critical, but ours isn’t unimportant either.
“Get me the list. Line out where everything is. I’ll video call for anything I can’t find, then I’ll bleach my brain for the items Renée needed that I don’t want to have seen.”
And this is our problem. He can handle my stuff, not to mention Rosie and I aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. But Renée… “No teenager wants her mom’s boyfriend going through her toiletries.” Don’t get me started on the underwear drawer. I don’t want that either.
He tips his chin to the ceiling, his chorded neck on full display, as his Adam’s apple bobs. “There’s got to be another alternative.”
“I’ll go with you,” Rosie offers from the hallway. “I’m slow, but I can do it.”
Ci looks at me, studying me. “Yes,” he says the same moment I say, “no.”
“That settles it. I’m going,” she says. Swinging her eyes to him, she adds, “Mind if we go by my house and pick up a few things?”