11. Sloane #3
Callie sees it and crosses the foyer, putting her hand over mine where it rests against the wall. “You stayed still so long I think it hurt.”
I look down at her. “A lot of things hurt, baby.”
Her fingers close around mine. “Then sit down.”
Garrett’s gaze moves from her to me. “Let’s move this to the study,” he says.
Garrett takes the armchair instead of the desk, tablet on the side table with the screen dark.
Idris sits on the couch but doesn’t sink back, one ankle braced, attention still working through the visit.
I sit beside him with my knees spread and both hands loose between them while Callie stands in front of me, still full of the visit in a way she doesn’t seem to know how to set down.
She steps between my knees and climbs into my lap before I reach for her. The first breath I take with her weight against me almost takes my voice with it. My arms close around her waist, and she settles in like she knows exactly how much of me has been held back all afternoon.
Her fingers slide into my hair. I press my face to her shoulder, cardamom and peach blossom clinging to the knit of her cardigan, tucked into the sleeve he kept finding, caught near the place where her hair brushed her shoulder.
Callie goes still the second she feels me notice. “I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“Come here,” I murmur, even though she’s already in my arms. I hold her closer, my hand covering the stretched place in her sleeve. “He kept finding you all afternoon.” I kiss her temple, then the side of her head. “You should’ve seen your face every time he did.”
Callie’s fingers tighten in my hair. She doesn’t answer, but some of the stiffness leaves her body, and I keep my hand over her sleeve while the room settles around us.
Idris leans forward with his forearms on his knees, attention on Garrett now. “I want to talk about the card.”
Callie turns her head against my shoulder. “The yellow one?”
“Before that, he was overwhelmed, but he was still with us,” Idris says. “Eating, looking around, answering when he could. Andrea gave him a command, and he needed the card.” His mouth tightens. “We have to be careful not to push before he’s ready.”
“Which means we let Theo lead,” I say. Callie shifts in my lap, and my arm tightens around her before I can stop it, my hand still covering the sleeve Theo held. “It has to be his show. What he wants comes first.”
No one in the room misses where my hand is when I say it. Garrett doesn’t challenge me as he leans back in the chair, one finger resting near the dark tablet. “Agreed.”
That surprises me enough that I look at him fully. Garrett’s attention moves from Idris to Callie. “I spoke with Andrea in the hallway earlier,” Garrett says. “She expected more verbal locking and less independent response. She also mentioned how quickly he settled near Calliope.”
Callie’s fingers pause in my hair. I kiss her temple again, slower this time.
Garrett sees it. “I don’t like the way Andrea handled him,” he says before the pause can turn into something uglier. “I don’t like the visible-hands correction, and I don’t like closing practice that turns the end of a visit into another performance. I’ll address it before she comes back.”
Idris nods once. “Good.”
“Bellwether will still read patterns,” Garrett continues. “They’ll ask what helps him open up to the pack and what narrows him when he’s under stress. We need an answer that protects him.”
Callie’s smile is gone now, but the happiness hasn’t left her completely. It’s still there under the new caution, still warm from lemon bars and plant leaves and Theo’s hand in her sleeve. “He seemed comfortable here,” she says.
“He did,” Garrett says. “We just have to make sure that’s enough.”
I study Garrett over Callie’s shoulder. For once, his control’s pointed in the same direction as ours, and I let myself take the relief without deciding what it means.
My thumb keeps moving over the stretched place in Callie’s sleeve.
“So, what’s our next step? I think we all agree we want Theo and if he accepts, we’ll have to show the Center that we can operate under their rules until the paperwork is fully signed. ”
Idris sighs as he leans back in his chair. “Maybe a change of scenery for the next visit? Bellwether usually does two visits, right?”
Garrett nods. “Bring him to the campus.”
Callie perks up as she glances at him. “My campus?”
“Yeah, baby.” I brush my thumb over the stretched cuff. “Why not? It would give him a little bit of outside. More of you.” I run my nose along her cheek. “We could all have lunch together after one of your classes.”
Her face changes, startled first, then shy, then warm enough that I have to pull her closer.
Garrett writes that down. “I’ll make sure the off-site visit is cleared with Bellwether.
” His gaze drops to our Beta, his smile spreading a little farther across his face.
“And I’ll make sure they send someone else other than Andrea. ”
I snort, stuffing my face into Callie’s throat. “Good. I’ve been trying very hard not to say I didn’t like her.”