Page 94 of Lies and Lullabies
“Hey, Jonas? Can you write me a song called One-nut Wonder? I could use it to pick up guys.”
“That would totally work,” Jonas agreed, not bothering to hide his smile.
“So, I think I’ll sleep now?” Adam said loopily. “Can you take care of Kira? I think she’s freaking out.” Then Adam’s eyes seemed to roll back in his head, and he relaxed onto the pillow.
I let out a shaky breath, my heart quaking. Adam had come through the surgery, but nothing was settled.
“Can I take you home?” Jonas asked.
I shook my head. “I want to stay until he wakes up again. Or at least until five o’clock.” I checked my watch. “That’s about as long as I dare to impose on the friend who’s taking care of Vivi right now.”
“Okay.” He paced. “What if I picked up Vivi? I could bring her home to your apartment, and feed her some dinner.”
“Oh.”My heart dipped at the idea of Jonas and Vivi walking the streets of Boston together. Could I really just hand Vivi over to him?
Jonas stepped closer to me. “Hey.” He tipped my chin gently toward him. “I’d never let anything happen to your little girl. I can keep her safe. Is she far away from your place?”
My eyes met his, and the familiar warmth I found there gave me a jolt. When he looked at me like that, it was hard to be afraid. But also, it was hard to say no. And that couldn’t be good. I cleared my throat. “She’s at our friends’ house right across the street.”
“Ah.” He smiled. “Then how is this hard? I can take care of her, Kira. I’m not saying that I’m a natural. But I promise to text you if I have questions. And Vivi is so quick, she’ll tell me if I’m fucking up.”
I had to smile, because it was true. “No f-bombs, for starters.”
He smiled back at me, and that smile could power the Eastern Seaboard. No wonder women threw their underwear at him. “Noted.”
With a resigned sigh, I dug my keys out of my pocket. “This is the outer door. And these two are for the apartment. Top and bottom locks. If you guys get hungry, the take-out menus are in a kitchen drawer. Vivi knows where.”
“What does she like to eat?”
“Everything. Indian, as long as it’s not too spicy. Chinese. Pizza.”
“Really? What a fun kid.”
“She is,” I whispered.
With another smile that practically turned me to a liquid, he picked up the stuffed horse, tucking it under his arm. “What’s your friend’s name, and which door am I knocking on?”
* * *
When Jonas had left,I took a minute to check on Adam. He was sleeping peacefully, his hands relaxed at his sides. His breath made a faint whistle each time he exhaled. I wanted to put a hand through his hair, just touching him to reassure myself that he was okay. But I didn’t want to disturb his sleep.
So I sat down on the hard little plastic chair beside his bed and took out my phone. I dialed my friend’s number and spoke softly when Kathy answered. “Adam is doing fine,” I assured my friend when she asked. “But there’s been a little change of plans. Vivi’s father is on his way over to pick her up.”
A shriek came through the phone. “Saywhat?”
The volume made me wince. “Yeah. He’s… back in our lives all of a sudden. I haven’t wanted to talk about it until I was sure.”
“You know,” my friend dropped her voice, probably so that the girls wouldn’t hear her. “Vivi told me that she met her daddy, and I’m ashamed to say that I thought it was just a fantasy.”
A fantasy was a good word for it. I still wasn’t quite sure that he was here for good. “Well, it’s true. And in fifteen minutes, when a guy knocks on your door, that’s him.”
“What does he look like?”
“Well… do you know the band Hush Note?”
“Sure?”
“He looks a lot like the lead singer. Also, he’s carrying a big stuffed horse.”
