Page 19 of Songbird
Silence follows, and I know Drew’s thinking about Jack the same way I am, but he’s the first to clear his throat.
“I’ll have something to you in a few hours. Eight tops.”
“Thanks, buddy. I really appreciate it.”
I end the call with a frown at the screen, then hitch the blanket higher on my waist as I return to the porch and take a long look out at the gently flowing river. Twenty-four hours ago, my life was simple. Easy. Complication free. Now my body is on the kind of alert I haven’t felt in nearly a year. It’s not uncomfortable and I don’t hate it, but it’s not how I want to live anymore. After ten years as a SEAL and two months as Rosie’s bodyguard, I returned to Aster Springs for a different kind of life. One that was quiet and calm with zero stakes. No new attachments and nothing to lose. Has it been easy to adjust to the country life? No. It’s fucking boring. But I was getting closer to figuring it out.
And now all that reconditioning has been undone, and all it took was a single phone call.
Behind me, the front door squeaks on its hinges, and when I turn around, Rosie’s blonde head pops through the doorway. Her hair is thrown up in a ponytail and her cheeks are pink and pillow creased. I bet that soft place just beneath her jaw is sweet and warm right about now.
She steps all the way out onto the porch, eyes sweeping down my body, and the corner of her lips curves upward at the blanket hanging off my hips. “Good morning.”
“Morning. How’d you sleep?”
“Good. Fine.” She clasps her hands in front of her, those long fingers made for an instrument. Guitar. Piano. Flute. Fiddle. I read an article once that said she can play eight, like her idol Dolly Parton. “And you?”
“About the same.”
Rosie smiles and her eyes fall to the phone in my hands. “I thought I heard you talking. Is everything okay?”
I promised her honesty, but until I know more about the whereabouts of her attacker and Chip’s toxic media campaign, I refuse to give her half-truths that will only scare her.
“How about we go inside, and I’ll make you breakfast?” I suggest. “I’m starved and we can talk while we eat.”
“No,” she says, and at my lifted brow, she rolls her eyes. “I mean, yes, but let me make breakfast as a way to pay you back.”
“You don’t have—”
“I know.” Her hands twist together, back and forth. “But I want to.”
“Okay. Thanks. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. I’ll throw on some clothes and collect Dakota so I can feed her first, and then we’ll meet you inside.”
Twenty minutes later, I’m regretting life.
“How is it?” Rosie piles more underdone eggs onto my plate and tops up my mug of bitter-tasting coffee, then grimaces as she hands me a piece of cold buttered toast. “I’ve never cooked anything before. I didn’t know it would be so difficult.”
“It’s… great.” I choke back another bite of charred bacon and chase it with a mouthful of coffee I do my best not to taste. “It’s… It’s…”
“Awful.” Rosie sags in her chair, then perks up again. “But I’m sure it just takes practice. I’ll do better next time.”
I thud my fist against my chest as I fight down a mouthful of toast and glance at the scraps of burnt bacon on the floor next to Dakota. She’s curled up with the meat scattered right under hernose, and you know food’s bad if you can’t get a Labrador to eat it. “Next time. Sure. Just takes practice.”
“So… that phone call you took outside. It was about me, wasn’t it?”
Grateful for the excuse to stop eating, I push away my plate and turn to Rosie where she’s perched on the edge of her chair with her hands splayed on the tabletop.
“Yeah. I reached out to the firm that hired me as your bodyguard last year and asked them to do a little research about your situation. You said you don’t trust your current security team and I don’t want you returning home without a few basic protections in place. This firm is the best I know to provide it.”
“That’s kind of you, Finn. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, but I didn’t do it to be kind, Rosie. I did it to be practical, and to keep you safe. Once you leave here, I won’t be around to protect you, so if you’re serious about ending your relationship with Chip, you need to start rebuilding your teams. Security comes first.”
“Of course.” Her throat works as she nods her understanding. “And Iamserious about breaking up with Chip. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”
“Have you switched on your phone yet? Turned on the television?”
Rosie drops her eyes. “No. I couldn’t face it last night and my phone battery was dead when I tried to turn it on this morning. Why? What’s going on?”
