Page 178 of Heartless
The rest of the group had spread out, each of them seated by themselves.Some had notepads laid on their tables, others were on their laptops while one woman was checking the back of her camera.
When I arrived at her table, I made my voice gentle.“Baby.”
She jumped off her seat and into my arms.“Jake.”
Wrapping my hand around the back of her head, I held her tight.My kitten had been scared.
I cupped her pale face and tucked a damp curl behind her ear.“Are you okay?”
“I saw a bear,” she whispered.
There was so much happening in her eyes.I pulled her back to me.
Erica cleared her throat to demand the group’s attention, and no one reacted.I signaled Garrett who was standing behind her.He said something in her ear that made her shoulders hitch.
Putting some strength in her tone, she tried again.“Is everyone okay with drinks and towels?”
She received a few grunts in response.One of the women had walked up to the one leaning over the sketchpad.“Is that Sienna?”
At the mention of her name, Sienna’s head jerked up, and she stepped out of my arms to join them.The others followed suit.
Sienna sat beside the thin blonde.“Thelma, that’s really good.”
The blonde smiled before returning her attention to the page.
A young woman with blue and green hair giggled.“That’s me.I look good.”
Garrett glanced at me and mouthed.“What the fuck?”before we both approached the table.
While the women talked over the table, I watched my butterfly.She needed quiet.
Chapter Forty-Four—You and me
Sienna
Since we’d burst into the store as if the bear had been chasing us—it hadn’t—I’d been trying to clear my mind.Running down that mountain for my life, more scared than I’d ever been, my only thought had been I wanted more days.More of everything.
