Chapter 17 #2
“Oh my God.” Jorja sat on the end of the bed, while Glenna started getting dressed. “I was trying to take his mind off something else, and the first thing that popped into my head came out of my mouth.”
What on earth?
“I’m not following.”
“I found a litter of kittens in the vineyard, and I have them and their momma in my closet,” Jorja admitted.
“We were getting busy last night and then the kittens started crying, and I had to think of something to distract Gunnar, because he’ll lose his dang mind if I have more cats in the house. I’m so sorry.”
“Umm...” Glenna paused with one leg in her pants and one not. “Are you serious?”
“Please don’t hate me.”
How could she stay mad when Jorja had the most ridiculous excuse on the planet? “I’m not mad. But dang, girl… we need to get you some sex talk training manuals or something.”
“I swear I’ll order a bunch from Amazon today.” Her phone beeped, and she glanced at it. “You need to finish getting dressed so you can leave.”
“Wait, what? Leave? Where am I going?”
“Zorro is taking you two out for the day.” Jorja tossed her a pair of sandals. “He thought you and Kelsey could use a day outside these walls.” She jerked her chin toward the courtyard. “Somewhere normal. No guns, no war rooms, no McKinleys breathing down your neck.”
“No Gunnar throwing black credit cards at me?” She shoved her feet into the sandals.
“That too.” Jorja grinned. “Go have fun. See if this is just as good out of bed as it is in it.”
“I don’t know how to do this. Any of it.” Glenna wrangled her hair into a knot on top of her head and went looking for a hair tie. “It’s been years since Dwight’s been gone and even longer since I dated. I haven’t a clue what I’m doing.”
Jorja’s expression softened. “Yeah. I remember that feeling. Pro tip? Stop thinking. Just follow his lead today.”
Follow his lead?
Damn.
I don’t follow orders very well.
I did last night.
Crap.
Well, here goes nothing.
By the time she made it out the door, Tyrone was waiting with Kelsey balanced on his hip, her sandaled feet kicking idly against his thigh. He’d changed into a black tee and a pair of cargo pants that she just knew were going to do awesome things to his already fabulous butt.
Kelsey spotted her first.
“Mommy.” She wriggled, and Tyrone set her down just in time for her to barrel into Glenna’s legs. “Zorro’s taking us on an adventure.”
Glenna smoothed a hand over her daughter’s wild curls. “Yeah?”
Tyrone’s gaze flicked to her throat, to the marks he’d left, then away. “I thought you and Kels here might like to come spend the day with me.” His voice was low, rough. “If you’re up for it.”
A conversation would be needed at some point soon, like speaking to her before her six-year-old. “Where are we going?”
“Just the zoo.” He shifted his weight. “Um, Siobhán is putting together a picnic basket.”
The zoo and a picnic.
Oh boy.
She followed his gaze toward the kitchen. “Okay, let’s do it.”
Glenna shuffled things around in the wicker basket, carefully arranging the sandwiches Serena had wrapped in wax paper, making space to tuck in some more bottles of water, a container of sliced peaches, and a handful of the chocolate-dipped biscotti Jorja had made yesterday.
Kelsey bounced at her elbow, clutching a stuffed rabbit by one ear. “Can we bring Bandit?”
“Bandit’s a cat, baby. He wouldn’t like the car.”
Kelsey pouted, then brightened. “What about Zombie?”
Across the courtyard, the Belgian Malinois lifted his head at his name, ears pricking forward.
Tyrone leaned against the doorframe, with his arms crossed, watching them.
“Zombie stays. Because if we bring him, we have to bring Talon, and if we bring Talon, we gotta bring Petra, and then Chaos. We just don’t have room in the truck.
” His voice was quiet, but the dog immediately dropped his chin back onto his paws.
Glenna’s fingers tightened around the basket handle. “We ready?”
“Nemo’s truck’s out front.” Tyrone pushed off the frame. “It has a car seat, so we’ll use that rather than mine.”
Kelsey whooped, darting past him into the sunlight. Glenna moved to follow, but Tyrone caught her wrist, his thumb brushing the delicate bones. “You good?”
Her pulse jumped. “Yeah.”
Kelsey clambered into Nemo’s black Toyota Hilux with Tyrone’s help, chattering about elephants and ice cream. Glenna slid into the passenger seat, the leather warm from the sun. The cab smelled like gun oil and pine, with a faint undercurrent of something spicy—Nemo’s cologne, maybe.
Tyrone placed the picnic basket behind the seats and folded himself behind the wheel. His knee brushed the gearshift, his shoulders taking up too much space. He cranked the AC, the vents blasting cool air over Glenna’s flushed skin.
Kelsey kicked her feet. “Go fast, Zorro.”
A huff of laughter escaped him. “Not today, kid.”
The engine growled as they pulled onto the winding road, the compound shrinking in the rearview mirror. Glenna watched the olive trees blur past, her fingers curled tightly in her lap.
Tyrone drummed his thumb against the wheel. “You ever been to a zoo before?”
Kelsey gasped. “No. Only in books.”
Glenna swallowed. There’d been a petting zoo at the county fair once, back when Dwight was still alive. She remembered the way he’d lifted Kelsey onto his shoulders to see the goats, his hands steadying her small legs.
Tyrone’s gaze cut to her, sharp. “Glenna?”
“Once,” she managed.
He nodded, like he’d heard everything she hadn’t said. The truck slowed as they rounded a curve, the Bay of Poets sprawled out in front of them.
Kelsey hummed tunelessly, her rabbit pressed to the window. “Look, Mommy. Boats.”
Glenna turned her face to the sun, letting the warmth seep into her skin. She had missed this, a trip on an open road, winding to somewhere she couldn’t yet see.