Chapter 18 #2
It didn’t mean he could resist the adorable lad and all his excitement.
He led Sky around to the back of the truck, where the doors were open to display the compartments and control panels.
Sky’s eyes widened like saucers as he took it all in, and Warren offered out a hand: an option rather than a demand.
It had taken him a lot of trial and error, learning how best to accommodate disabled and neurodivergent civilians, something that was always missed out of training days despite Warren bringing it up often, and, yes, getting labelled a jobsworth for it.
He was still learning, still fearful that he might unintentionally make Sky uncomfortable.
So, when Sky put his hand in Warren’s, his arm stiffened in surprise.
“Would you like to get a better look?” Warren asked.
Sky’s head bobbled excitedly again, another sound of excitement leaving his lips. Yes .
Warren lifted him up. When Sky didn’t protest, relaxing into Warren’s touch, he balanced him on his hip, arms wrapped loosely around him. Nice and steady, but not trapped.
“So, this here is the fuel tank,” he began.
“You need a hefty one to power this beast. And then we have the ladder mount on top in case we need to rescue anybody from super-duper tall buildings.” He stretched his free hand to demonstrate, then pulled a funny face as he added, “Or, more commonly, save Captain Angus’s dog, Doris, from climbing trees.
Always chasing the squirrels and getting herself stuck, that one.
Maybe we should build her a little tree house. What d’you think?”
Marvel twinkled across Sky’s soft features, accompanied by an amused grin that let Warren know he was listening. Enjoying.
“Could you keep the other kids round the other side for a bit?” he asked Nate when he saw a few families hovering around the engine. “I don’t think Sky likes crowds, do you, mate?”
Sky shook his head, curls wafting in Warren’s face. He smelled like candy floss and, beneath, the paper of Eiley’s beloved books.
“And maybe wave his uncle over on the woodwork stall to let him know that we’ve got him, aye?” Warren continued. “Looks like he’s wandered over here alone.”
“Yep, no worries.” Nate stepped into action.
Warren returned his attention to Sky, and, once the other children scattered, Warren took him to the front of the truck.
“How do you fancy driving this thing?”
With a jiggle, Sky reached for the door.
Warren opened it to set him down in the driver’s seat, grinning when his little fingers curled around the steering wheel.
“This is where, in an emergency, we have to put the sirens on to say nee-naw nee-naw .” He did his best impersonation of the sound, crossing his eyes until Sky’s bubbling laughter filled the cabin.
He mimicked Warren, howling, “ Nee-naw nee-naw !” between giggles.
“Sky!” A voice cut through the noise, and Warren’s heart skipped over itself.
Shite.
He whirled to find Eiley ghostly white, elbowing her way to the front of the crowd.
“Nate tried to find you—” he began quickly, but was soon cut off.
“Oh my god!” It came out in a relieved sob as Eiley reached his side, covering her mouth when she found her son grinning from ear to ear. “I thought he was crying. It sounded like he was crying!”
“He’s fine. He’s laughing. He’s safe, love,” Warren soothed. “We were having bags of fun, weren’t we, Sky?”
He rubbed warmth into her trembling arms – and it was only then that her gaze sliced into him. He took an instinctive step back, holding his breath.
Just in time, Nate arrived with Fraser in tow, the tall bloke marching over to demand: “What the hell’s going on here?”
Eiley massaged her temples. “Sky went running off. He must have wanted to see the fire engine.”
“And you didn’t think it might have been a good idea to return him to his mum?” Fraser’s nostrils flared.
Warren held up his hands. “Aye, I did, which was why I had Nate get you. In the meantime, I didn’t think there’d be any harm in letting him see the engine. He was excited.”
“He was probably terrified! He doesn’t like strangers, let alone arsewipes like you!” Fraser cast him a scathing look, and with the world stilling around them, Warren suddenly became very aware that half the town were watching their beloved handyman demean Warren.
He was done with it. He’d done everything right. Kept Sky happy, made sure to find his family so they weren’t worried.
He clenched his jaw so tightly that his molars scraped together, choking back his own irritation. “Then you’d better take him, hadn’t you?”
Fraser did, ignoring the child’s whines of protest as he pulled him out of the truck.
“Fraser, you’re upsetting him. Put him down.” Eiley’s eyes shimmered with suspended tears. He couldn’t look at them, at her. He wouldn’t let her convince him that he was the cause of them, even if everybody else believed it.
Fraser did, smoothing Sky’s hair down apologetically. “C’mon, Eiley. Let’s get him somewhere quiet, aye?”
“He was laughing,” Eiley whispered. “He doesn’t laugh that often. Not with strangers.”
Warren didn’t know what she wanted from him, so he only took another step back. Gave her plenty of room to go on and deliver one last barbed remark.
But she didn’t, instead kissing Sky’s forehead before addressing her brother. “Can you give us a minute? Go and take Sky back to the bookshop?”
Warren’s heart pounded in his ears.
“You can’t be serious,” Fraser said.
“For once, can you just trust that I can look after myself?” she snapped.
Fraser set Sky down, casting Warren a final warning glare before he walked off.
And then Eiley turned to him, and he looked at his feet, waiting for the blow.
It never came. “Can we go somewhere to talk?” she asked instead.
As much as he wanted to say no, he was unable to deny her even now. If nothing else, he wanted to put an end to all this.
So he made sure it was all right with Nate, then followed her away from the crowd, crackling with a tension he’d never felt before. A tension only she ever managed to draw out of him.
That thread, pulling him even now, even when his mind bellowed at him to walk away, leave it be.
For all his love of rationality, safety, gut instinct, he couldn’t find it in himself to listen.