Page 44 of Katherine's Last Hope
“Stickers only.”
Ollie grinned. “Obviously.”
The way he said the word made Cody think the kid would have had a field day if he thought he had free rein over hisaccount. He offered the boy his phone. “Let me see what you pick before we buy anything, deal?”
“Deal!” Ollie grabbed the device, the screen quickly absorbing all his attention.
The door opened, and Katherine poked her head through. “Finished eating?”
“Yeah,” Ollie said, eyes still glued on the phone. “Now I’m picking out stickers.”
“Eyes up when speaking to me please,” Katherine said.
Ollie glanced up.
“Explain.”
“Cody said he’d buy me stickers. I get to pick them out.”
Katherine aimed her raised brow his way. “You don’t have to do that.”
He shrugged. “I broke my arm as a kid. I wanted to decorate it and wasn’t allowed. I had to draw my own designs on it, and none of them turned out cool. I understand the need to transform that hunk of plaster into something he’s okay with looking at.”
The tender look in her eyes warmed the hard pit that always formed in his stomach whenever he talked about his childhood. He wouldn’t mention his father was the reason he’d gotten that broken arm in the first place.
“That’s very nice of you, but you’ll have to do it in a little bit. Right now, you need a shower.”
“Oh, man. Can’t I do that later?”
“No, sir. We should have washed that hospital stink off you as soon as we got back, but I didn’t want your food to get cold. It might be tricky with your cast, so let’s just get it over with. No arguments.”
Ollie heaved out a dramatic sigh. “Fine. Can Bailey come?”
“Not a good idea,” Cody said. “If she jumps in that shower with you, it’ll take days to dry all that fur. She’ll be waiting for you when you’re done.”
“How about you bring her inside?” Katherine asked.
Suspicion crinkled his eyes. “Why?”
“Dad’s waiting for you in your office. He wants to go over some things about the case.”
Her wide smile told him she was as nervous about that scenario as he was, but he couldn’t refuse. Besides, if he planned to stay a part of Katherine’s life, he and her dad should get a few things settled.
“I guess I’d rather take on your dad than get this one showered.” He hiked his thumb over his shoulder at Ollie.
“Hey!” Ollie laughed.
“You’ll be fine.” Katherine squeezed his shoulder then rounded the back of Ollie’s wheelchair. “All right, little dude. Let’s go.”
He waited for them to get inside before signaling for Bailey to follow and heading for the office.
Mike stood with his feet shoulder width apart, his hands locked behind his back, and staring out the window. “You’ve got yourself a nice place here.”
“Thanks.”
He turned to face Cody. “We have some work to see to, that’s what’s most important, but before we start, I want to apologize.”
“There’s no need,” Cody said.
