Chapter 29
MITCHELL
“Charlotte Jaye Rose!” I shout through the house for the third time. Rolling my eyes, I head for her room and sure enough, she’s rolled over and gone back to sleep. Again.
“You know, if you don’t get up and get ready for school then there will be no one there for Jace and Charlie to pick up this afternoon.
” It’s a gamble, but one that pays off when she springs out of bed, shoving me out of the way and slamming the bathroom door closed behind her.
I smile when the shower turns on a few seconds later.
Well, that was effective.
Grabbing her bag from the floor, I head back downstairs to find Marissa already in the kitchen, pulling a juice popper and string cheese from the fridge.
I walk over to the bench, grab the wrapped sandwich, packet of chips and muesli bar and put them in the lunchbox.
Rissa startles when she turns around and I quickly catch the popper she drops before it falls to the ground.
Lightly slapping my shoulder, she chuckles. “Every damn morning,” she curses, and I smile, holding the lunchbox out for her to drop the cheese in, followed by an apple and small ice pack to keep them cool.
“Well then, you think you’d be used to it by now,” I tease, winking as I shove the now full lunchbox in the bag and place it by the door with CJ’s shoes.
“One of these days, I’m gonna put a bell on you,” she threatens, and I laugh.
“Oh, please do.” The words slip out when I don’t mean them to, and we both freeze before Rissa bursts out laughing. There’s a glint in her eyes that I haven’t seen before.
I don’t get a chance to comment because Charlotte comes running into the room, almost knocking her mother over but I quickly reach out and grab her by the hips to stabilise her.
Charlotte heads straight for the door and I quickly stop her. “Breakfast, young lady and don’t forget your socks this time.” She was so excited yesterday that she forgot to put them on before her shoes.
Realising that I’m still holding Marissa, I clear my throat and drop my hands before helping Charlotte with her toast. Normally, this is where Rissa and I will have a cup of coffee, leaning over the bench and discussing our plans for the day while Charlotte eats, but given we’re planning on having one with the guys, we’re left simply staring at one another.
I lean against the counter and watch as CJ takes a butter knife, stabbing the butter and pulling out a huge chunk. Wincing as a huge clump smears against the bread, I kick off the counter and step up beside her, gently taking the knife from her hand.
“Like this,” I say, scraping the butter off the knife and grabbing a smaller amount, hovering it over the bread and demonstrating to her how to do it. “Hold the knife like this,” I tell her, handing it back and stepping away.
This time she’s able to smoothly smear the butter over her toast, and I give her an encouraging smile. Before Rissa, I had no experience with kids whatsoever.
The first time Charlotte got colic, I called Mark in the middle of the night in a panic. He rushed over, not commenting on receiving my address instead of a safe house, and after a quick look at Charlotte, he chuckled.
I swear, I contemplated murdering the bastard, but he took pity on me, explaining what colic was and how it was a normal thing that almost every baby experiences. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the first time I overreacted when either one of them got sick.
Blinking back the past, I shake my head wondering where the time went.
Once CJ is finished, we grab our stuff and head for the door. Like every morning, Marissa hesitates at the threshold, but after a quick breath she steps outside, turns and locks the door behind her.
I’m not sure if it’s finishing sharing her story online, or the two men it brought to town that are responsible for her courage, but I can’t deny there’s a lightness to her that wasn’t there before and I’m grateful.
“Do you think they’ll be mad?” Marissa chews her nail, and I gently pull it from her mouth.
“Why would they be mad?”
“This isn’t what I said we would do.”
“If the past two days have taught me anything, it’s that you know those guys inside and out. So, tell me. Do you really think they’ll be mad at the change of plans?”
She sighs, staring out the window at the little bakery that doubles as a café. “No,” she mumbles and goes to chew her nail again but catches herself.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” I tease, cupping my ear with my hand and she rolls her eyes.
“No.” This time she says it with more confidence and a smile on her face even though she tries to hide it.
“So, what’s really the problem?”
“I should be able to do it.”
I shrug my shoulders, turning the car off and turn to face her. “This is what you’re capable of doing today. It’s a hell of a lot more than what you were capable of a few weeks ago. They’ll understand. And if they don’t, they’re idiots and I’ll kick their arses.”
“You’ve been calling them idiots since the moment they arrived.”
“They’re alright,” I admit. “Now, should I call or text them and ask what they want before we head over?”
“They gave you their numbers?”
“In a matter of speaking.” What actually happened was I slipped Jace's phone from his pocket without him noticing and got their numbers, among others, from their contacts.
“You stole it, didn’t you?” Well, at least she isn’t surprised. “You don’t need to message them; I know their orders.”
She rattles off their drinks and I quickly get out of the car, deciding not to point out that it's been years since the three of them were together. There's a good chance they don't drink the same drinks as they did as teenagers.