Page 146 of Remiss
Axel giggled. “Yeah, okay. I love you, too. Bye.” He hung up.
“When is she calling back?” CJ demanded.
“I’m calling her later,” Axel announced.
“You know Mom’s burner number?” Ransom asked.
Calm, Axel stuffed another sausage in his mouth, then considered the last two on his plate. “I was there with her, wasn’t I? She gave it to me, so I could call her whenever I missed her. I called before I came down.”
“Call her back,” Diesel ordered.
“No.” Setting his fork on the table, Axel slid Jana his plate. “You want my sausages?”
She hesitated.
Axel cocked his head to the side. “Are you afraid of boys?”
“W-why do you say that?”
“’Cause I was watching you. The louder we got, the more you slid down. Now, you look like a vat of unbleached flour as pale as you are. We’re not going to hurt you.”
Diesel smiled at Axel, so astute for his age, and a protector. He slid the plate completely in front of Jana.
“Eat them,” he told her. “I promise it’s fine. If I want more, I’ll get it.” Axel’s eyes lit up. “Do you know how to cook?”
“I do.”
“Then you can cook fresh sausages. You live here now, too.”
“Does anyone else want more sausage?” she asked after a moment.
“We do,” Ryder and Ransom said.
“I’m done eating, Jana,” Bishop said. “I can—”
Axel shook his head. “Tomorrow. She got to feel safe here. If she feel like this is her house too, she will.”
Biting down on her lip, Jana nodded and her nose reddened. “That’s the nicest thing I’ve ever been told,” she said around sniffles.
Diesel grabbed her hand and squeezed. “You’re safe here, sweetheart.”
“Come on, Jana,” Bishop said, getting to his feet. “I’ll show you around the kitchen.” He looked at Kaia. “You want to come? We can give you cooking tips.”
“Stay, Shop,” Gunner wailed, lifting his little arms up.
“Why don’t you come with us?” Kaia offered and lifted the little boy out of his booster seat.
The moment the four of them walked out, Diesel, CJ, Ryder, and Ransom turned to Axel.
“Call Mom, big head,” CJ said.
“If she wanted to talk to you, she would call you,” Axel retorted.
“I’ll pay you.”
“It’s still no, C. I’mnotgoing against her fucking wishes. Just you asking tells me you haven’t learned your fucking lesson and will fuck up again when she gets back.”
“Oh, so, now you know Mom best of all because you snuck away with her?” The hurt in CJ’s voice was unmistakable. “I’ve known her much longer than you.”
