41. Chapter Forty-One
Chapter forty-one
Peter
My alarm woke me from a fitful sleep the next morning, and I was temporarily disoriented being on the couch, but then remembered everything that had happened the night before and I grabbed my phone.
Shield:
Shield:
Hummingbird:
Shield:
Hummingbird:
Now I snickered.
Shield:
I was getting off the couch when Cole walked out of his room.
“Well, this is convenient. Lynette just asked if Phil and I could cover for you at the lodge today and tomorrow.” As I opened my mouth to respond, he waved me off. “We already agreed to it.”
“I… Thank you, but why?”
“She wants you here for reasons she said you would understand.” He glanced past me. “I’m guessing it has something to do with our new guest.”
“Yeah. Most likely.”
Cole nodded. “Well, I’m going to check on a few things in the security room here, touch base with Ryan, and then head out.”
As he walked away, I headed upstairs to find Quinn standing at the counter, pouring a mug of coffee for herself. “Great minds think alike.”
She gave me a tight smile. “Yeah. For as tired as Lukas and I were last night, neither of us slept very much. We talked until who knows how late.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah, I think we all had a hard time winding down.”
Quinn’s focus snapped to me. “How is she doing?”
I shrugged. “As best as she can? I have nothing I can compare it to. She’s been in impossible positions for years, relying on Lynette to keep her alive, fighting her demons alone most of the time. I’m in awe of how well she’s doing overall.”
Quinn nodded. “I see a lot of myself in her, and I'm both awed and highly concerned.” She let out a deep breath. “Is it weird I want to make breakfast for her?”
“Not weird at all. I’m sure she’d appreciate it. It’s got to be weird for her not to be taking care of things herself.”
A few minutes later, I had a tray with a mug of coffee, a banana, and a plate with a toasted english muffin on it.
Adair’s eyes were wide as I walked into my room. “What is that?”
I set the tray on top of my dresser with a chuckle. “Quinn. She insisted on making breakfast for you.”
She eyed it warily. “Why do I feel like it’s a pity breakfast?”
“I can assure you it’s not. Quinn is a classic hospitality woman through and through.
She wants you as comfortable and cared for as possible while you’re under her roof.
She was also still reeling from everything that happened last night.
Quinn may be the most recent official addition to the Agosti family, but she is always paying attention and doesn’t miss much.
” I couldn’t help but chuckle. “She’s a lot like Lianne in that way.
They don’t dismiss little things so easily, especially when piecing together a complicated puzzle.
When those ladies are in the same room for any amount of time, I almost feel bad for Lukas. ”
Adair chuckled. “You should have seen me and Lianne together.”
I immediately wanted to make it happen.
After breakfast, while I was cleaning up, my phone went off.
Ryan:
My eyebrows went up as I read the message, both surprised and not that he wasn’t using the secure app.
Peter:
Ryan:
Peter:
Ryan:
I wasn’t sure how, but my eyes went even wider.
Peter:
Ryan:
Peter:
Ryan:
I tried to push the thought from my head as I finished cleaning and made my way to Lukas’s office. “Good morning.”
“I get that my mom is Li’s second, but I feel she’s overstepping by rearranging the work schedule for my crew.”
I let out a sigh. “For what it’s worth, she asked them if they’d be willing to cover my shifts. She didn’t dictate anything. Also, the lodge is Edith’s domain.”
Lukas shot a harmless glare my way. “Whose side are you on?”
“Yours. As is your mom and Edith. We’re all on the same team.”
“I suppose so.”
While we were chatting about the near disastrous dinner back in Chicago with Gage and his parents, my phone kept going off.
Lukas looked up at me. “You going to check that?”
I glanced at the screen, skimming over the messages. “It’s Quinn.”
Quinn:
Quinn:
His eyes narrowed. “Why is she texting you and not me?”
I arched an eyebrow. “Are you jealous your wife is contacting me to offer up suggestions of things Adair can do to fill her time?”
Lukas opened and closed his mouth. “I sound like an asshole when you put it like that.” He let out a deep sigh. “Tori knows she doesn’t have to stay downstairs, right? She’d very much welcome to come up here.”
“I’ll let her know.”
Suddenly, Lukas’s phone rang, and he smiled when he glanced at the screen. “I gotta take this. We’re good for now.”
I stood up and headed out of his office as he answered the call, making my way downstairs to relay the information to Adair, whose face lit up about the puzzles.
“How many does she have?”
I smirked. “She’s gotten quite a few in the past year.
Ever since Lianne told her it was one of her coping mechanisms for when she’s stressed, those two have been exchanging puzzles.
One will buy one and put it together and then take it apart and mail it to the other. It’s actually pretty adorable.”
A wistful smile appeared on Adair’s face. “It sounds like she and Lianne get along really well.”
“They do. Like I said earlier, I sometimes feel a little bad for Lukas. The ladies have teamed up on him a time or two. That is a fearsome duo I never want to piss off.” I let out a sigh and glanced up in the direction of a certain office.
“Also, Lukas wanted me to make sure you know you don’t have to stay in our room or downstairs the whole time. You can move around the house.”
She chuckled and nodded. “I figured… I just…” There was a pause. “What are you going to do the rest of the day?”
“I’m here to make sure you’re okay.”
Adair leaned forward, narrowing her eyes at me. “All day? What about work?”
I did my best to play it cool. “Lynette wants me to be here today and tomorrow.”
She scrunched up her nose. “I’m not happy about upending everyone’s schedule, but I’m not going to argue with her. Nothing good ever comes from that.”
A chuckle came from behind us, and when I turned, Lukas had just walked into the basement. “You’ve got that right. Momma don’t play.”
“She does not.” Adair smirked. “By any chance, does your mom still have that get-along shirt I heard about?”
Lukas laughed again and nodded. “Yeah… and she threatened to use it not that long ago.”
“Oh?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Liam was being an ass during Mom’s birthday dinner.
I called him out on it, things escalated a bit, and Dad handed our asses to both of us for ruining dinner.
When Mom entered the lounge to add her two cents, she had the shirt in hand.
” Lukas shuddered. “Liam had enough common sense in that moment to keep his mouth shut and accept his punishment.”
Adair leaned forward, eyes wide as she hungrily took in all the details. “How do you punish a grown man?”
A nostalgic smile appeared on Lukas’s face. “We had to deep clean and organize the armory with the threat of more rooms being added if we bitched about it.”
She shook her head. “How did your dad get Liam to agree to that?”
“Dad promised to keep us out of meetings until it happened.” He smirked. “I can’t remember the last time we worked that well together.”
Now I had to laugh. “Wait. Is that why you and Quinn were a day late coming back from that particular Chicago trip?”
“Yep.”
Adair cleared her throat. “Hey, Lukas, you and Lianne still do puzzles together?”
He gave a curious smile to Adair. “Not as often as I’d like, but yeah. Why?”
She swallowed hard. “Would you like to do one today? I’ll even go upstairs. I’ve missed the sun.”
Tears appeared in his eyes. “I’d love to.”
I soaked in the joy on both Lukas and Adair’s faces while they picked out a puzzle and started putting it together.
The two chatted and laughed like they’d been doing this every day for years.
An idea popped into my head, and I quietly pulled out my phone and took a picture.
It only showed part of the back of Adair’s head, so I felt safe texting it to Lynette.
Peter:
The response was almost immediate.
Lynette:
Later on, I got up and made lunch for everyone. Instead of asking them, I defaulted to the one meal Adair had sent me a picture of: grilled cheese.