Page 51 of The Forbidden Sitter
How could she do this tohim?
After bathing him and putting his clothes on, I took him with me to find his father. I found Josh still in the hallway, and he got up when he saw that we were dressed and on the move. Silently, he followed behind us as we went to thekitchen.
When I found no evidence of Gannon having had coffee or breakfast and also saw that Samson wasn’t around, I had to ask, “Did Gannon and Samsonleave?”
Josh looked at me for a moment as if he had been told not to tell me anything. But then he looked off to the right. “He and Samson went intotown.”
I was a bit shocked. He’d left us alone, a thing he’d said he wasn’t going to do until the shooter wascaught.
Had the shooter beencaught?
“Did they catch her?” I asked as I set to work making Braiden’s breakfast after putting him in the highchair. We’d moved it to the kitchen so we could keep an eye on him while wecooked.
“No.” Josh took a seat at the island bar, opening up his book and reading again. “There were no prints found around the windows. No reason to take herin.”
He offered no more information so I chatted with Braiden as I cooked his oatmeal. It did little to help me not to think about Gannon and what he wasdoing.
Why’d he leave without saying a word tome?
He had to be up to something he knew I’d beg him not to do. Probably putting himself into a dangerous situation. I knew that had to beit.
Why else would he leave us alonehere?
Well, we had Josh, and I knew there were still guards all around the property and at the gate. But he’d said he would stay with us until it was all over. But it wasn’t over, according toJosh.
After getting the oatmeal ready and cutting up some organic strawberries, I fed Braiden, all the while chatting to him. I shut up when it occurred to me that I might be aggravating Josh with all of my mindlesschatter.
With my silence, he put the book down and looked at me. “You okay,ma’am?”
The man was at least ten years older than me, so calling me ma’am was ridiculous. I put my hand on my hip and looked right back at him. “Josh, don’t you think that calling me ma’am is a bit over thetop?”
He shrugged. “What else do you call your boss’sgirl?”
It hit me hard. He knew aboutus.
Well, of course, he does, youidiot!
I really was an idiot. The man had seen us practically naked on the floor in Braiden’s bedroom the night the shots were fired. What else would hethink?
I let it go, nodded, and went to work, cleaning everything up after giving Braiden a wooden spoon to play with, or rather bang, on the tray of his highchair with. It kept him content, so I dealt with thenoise.
When I was all done, I got myself a bottle of water from the fridge, picked up the child, and headed to the playroom. I was going to put all of my focus on him and working with him thatday.
It would help me get my mind off Gannon and what he was upto.
Josh followed us to the playroom and took a seat in the far corner and got back to reading his book. I pulled out the blocks with the letters and numbers on them and sat on the floor withBraiden.
Holding up a block, I pointed to the letter. “This is the letter B. Do you know what word begins with the letterB?”
Braiden laughed as if I’d told a funny joke and he took the block away from me and threw it down. But then he did something amazing. He looked at me and looked around the room. Then one eyebrow rose as he asked, “Da?”
My heart skipped a beat as I teared up. I grabbed him and hugged him. “Da! You said a word,Braiden!”
He laughed and wiggled, so I had to let him go. Then he asked again, “Da?”
I was laughing as tears rolled down my cheeks. “I don’t know where your daddy is. Let me call him, and you can ask him thatyourself.”
I took out my cell from the back pocket of my jeans and called Gannon. Wherever he was, he was going to love hearing his son talk for the firsttime.
