Page 24 of Hot Puck
“You can and you will. It’s what I’m asking for in exchange for my help today.”
She’s using her no-nonsense voice again, has that steely don’t-argue-with-me look in her eyes too. “Okay. Fine. But don’t be surprised when I turn you down.”
Folding her arms over her chest, she shoots me a smirk. “We’ll see.”
I don’t know this woman, but I’m not an idiot. I think I’ve just challenged her. I’m going to hate disappointing another person, but I can’t in any way see how I could possibly go back to my old world.
“Stop worrying about it and have something to eat. I’ll get the girls ready for bed. When you’re done, come up and say goodnight to them.”
“Wait. Candace needs a bath.”
“She’s had one.”
“I slept through that screaming match?”
In the months since my baby sister was born, I’ve waited for the cops to knock on the door because the neighbors have called about a baby being murdered. There’s no way I slept through that.
“We bathed her down here in the kitchen sink.”
I blink. My gaze darting to the sink and back to Natalie. “You”—I shake my head—“In the sink?”
“Yep. Crystal warned me about bath time so we moved things down here so we wouldn’t disturb you.”
“She cries loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood, moving down here wouldn’t have helped.”
“It did. She didn’t make a peep.”
“Not a peep,” the words whisper through my lips as their meaning solidifies in my head. With a groan, I lower my face to my hands again and say, “I’m really not capable of doing this.”
“It’s not you.” I peek through my fingers at Natalie. “Don’t look at me like that. It isn’t you. It’s the situation. There’s too much tension in all of you. And tension feeds off tension.”
I raise my head. “So what? Because I’m stressed, they’re stressed?”
“In a way, yes.”
“It’s as simple as not stressing about giving a baby a bath?”
“Yes and no. I’m not an expert but I have done a time or two on a therapist’s couch, and you’re all stressed in one form or another. You more so. And that tension escalates and escalates because you aren’t doing anything to fix it.”
“How the hell do I fix it?” I snap. “I can’t bring my parents back!”
Her eyes widen, but other than that she shows no reaction to my raised voice. I want to yell at her. Shout at the ceiling, what, I don’t know, I just have the urge to scream as loud as I can.
And in the next moment I realize the reason for my outburst isn’t her fault. She has nothing to do with the situation I’m in. But I’m angry at her for making it worse with her starting goalie offer.
“Fuck!” I shove off the stool and storm to the back door. When the thing won’t slide open, I slap my hand against the glass three times.
“Here.” A hand reaches around me, flicks the unlock lever, and pulls the door open. “I’ll take care of the girls.”
Fuck!Closing my eyes, I drop my head until my chin hits my chest. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Go outside, get some air. I’ll get the girls ready for bed then we’ll come find you to say goodnight.”
“I can’t keep doing this,” I mutter.
“You won’t. It’s just today. Maybe another day here or there, but you have this, Chase. You’ve had this for months now.”
“It doesn’t feel like I’ve got it.”
