Page 76 of Guitars and Cages

I swung him carefully down from my shoulders to hug him tight, rubbing his back as he cried on my shoulder. Damn, how could I have been so wrapped up in my own shit that I hadn’t known about this until now? I made a mental note to talk to Morgan and find out what the hell was going on. Alexia was moving, and I followed her until we came to stand in front of a painting of a grotesque man with skin that almost looked like it was melting.

“Hey, wasn’t that in a movie?” I whispered to Alexia. “The one about the guy who didn’t age because he sold his soul or something, so it was the painting that aged. Dorian something. It was a good movie.”

She turned to me and smiled. “It’sThe Portrait of Dorian Gray, and yes, this is the same painting that was in the movie. It’s one of the ones we’re studying.”

Rory hid his head against my chest, his voice muffled in my shirt. “That’s scary.”

I rubbed his back, and Alexia reached up and stroked his hair. “It’s just paint. It can’t hurt you.”

“You promise?”

Alexia and I locked eyes then, sharing a smile over Rory’s head.

“We promise,” we told him together.

He peeked, and an older couple who’d stepped up beside us smiled.

“You have an adorable little boy,” the woman said.

My jaw dropped, so did Alexia’s, and we both stammered out a “thank you” because really, what the hell else were we gonna say? As soon as they moved out of earshot, we burst out laughing. I put Rory back up on my shoulders as we wandered from exhibit to exhibit, talking about some of them and just staring at others until Rory started to get squirmy and impatient.

I tapped his leg to get his attention. “Getting hungry?”

“Uh-huh. Can we get ice cream now, please?”

I chuckled. “We can get lunch, and then ice cream.”

Alexia stood in front of a sculpture, and I walked over and slid my arm around her shoulders. She looked up at me and I could see the surprise in her eyes.

“What?” I asked.

“Thanks.”

Now it was my turn to be confused. “For what?”

“Still treating me like we’re family.”

Damn. I hugged her tighter, cursing Cole because I knew that was who Alexia was thinking about. “Wearefamily, and that ain’t ever gonna change. Rory’s getting hungry; did you get the notes you needed?”

“Yup, plenty, and I’m pretty hungry, too.”

“Me, too. Let’s get out of here.”

“I liked the museum,” Rory said as we buckled him into the car. “Can we come back again?”

Alexia smiled. “Sure, and there are others we can visit, too. There’s even a children’s museum.”

“Ohh, can we go?”

“Not today, but soon, I promise,” Alexia told him.

“Will you come, too, Uncle Asher?”

“Yeah, kid, it’ll be fun.”

That brought a smile to his face, and I slid into the passenger seat and leaned my head against the window. My head was pounding, and I was trying hard to ignore it.

“You really wouldn’t mind?” Alexia asked as we drove up the street.

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