Page 60 of Holly Jolly Heat
"We should go have hot chocolate," she said. "Before Maya drinks it all."
"Probably wise."
We headed to the kitchen where Maya had indeed made hot chocolate, the fancy kind with real peppermint and fresh whipped cream. Janet was there, looking far too pleased with herself. Bill was trying not to laugh.
"Dex!" Janet announced. "I'm so glad you're okay. That was quite a fall."
"I'm fine, Janet. Thank you for your concern."
"Of course! You're part of the family now." She said it like it was fact, not hope.
Michelle made a strangled sound beside me.
Lucas and Ro appeared from the living room, both immediately zeroing in on my probably-developing bruise.
"You fell?" Lucas asked, concerned.
"Ladder shifted. I'm fine."
"He's fine," Michelle confirmed, and the way she said it, protective and certain, made my pack exchange knowing looks.
We settled around the kitchen table with hot chocolate, and the conversation flowed easily. Josh wanted details about the fall from a "content perspective." Maya wanted to know if there were any dramatic near-death revelations. Janet wanted to know if Michelle had properly checked for injuries.
"She fussed appropriately," I confirmed, and Michelle kicked me under the table.
But she was smiling.
After hot chocolate, I retreated to the study, my temporary room, to ice my shoulder and catch up on some security protocols I'd been neglecting.
A knock on the doorframe made me look up. Lucas.
"How are you really?" he asked, closing the door behind him.
"Bruised. Nothing serious."
"Michelle was terrified."
"I know. She cried."
Lucas stared at me in shock for a moment.
"She was scared. She thought I was seriously hurt." I shifted the ice pack. "It broke through her walls. Just for a minute. But she let herself care."
Lucas sat on the daybed. "That's good, right? Progress?"
"Definitely progress. She admitted we're important to her. That caring about us scares her because she's already lost someone she loved."
"Her dad."
"Yeah." I adjusted the ice pack. "She's convinced if she lets herself care about us, we'll be taken away somehow. Death, or loss, or failure. So she's been keeping distance to protect herself."
"But today she couldn't."
"Today she couldn't," I confirmed. "Today her instinct overrode her fear. She felt pack pull. She let herself be vulnerable."
"So what do we do?"
"We keep being patient. Keep showing her that pack means safety, not danger. Keep proving we're not going anywhere." I met Lucas's eyes. "And we let her set the pace. Even when it's torture."
