“Kendall,” she replied, taking a step away from Collin. His hand lingered at her back, but he let her go.
Kendall froze about ten feet in front of her. Helia wanted to go to the girl. Wanted to wrap her in a big, safe hug, but she didn’t want to do anything to make her uncomfortable and to date, she hadn’t been very touchy.
“Can I…Can I hug you?” Kendall asked.
Tears pricked Helia’s eyes, and she opened her arms. “Yes, please?”
The girl flew toward her, wrapping her thin arms around Helia’s waist. Collin’s hand at her back kept her steady as she embraced Kendall.
“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Helia said, her voice quiet, her heart breaking for the young girl who’d experienced far too much in life already.
Kendall’s arms squeezed her, and she sniffled. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said, her voice muffled.
“Me, too,” she murmured. They held on to each other, a moment that needed no words.
Finally, Kendall stepped back. Helia let her go, but hid her surprise when Kendall kept hold of her hand and pulled her toward the couch. “You should lie down,” she said.
Helia didn’t have much experience with grief or loss, but it wasn’t hard to figure out that Kendall was dealing with hers by taking care of Helia. And so Helia let her. Taking a seat, she curled her legs underneath her, then accepted the blanket Kendall handed over. She had no intention of sleeping, but between the fire and the blanket and the comfortable couch, it might be harder to keep her eyes open than she anticipated.
“Do you want any water or anything?” Kendall asked.
Helia shook her head. “Sit with me. You can tell me about how badly you’re beating Dulcie at the game,” she said, waving to the board on the table.
“Pretty badly,” she replied.
“How you know so much about movies that came out before evenIwas born or about countries that don’t even exist anymore is beyond me,” Dulcie grumbled, pulling a small smile from Kendall.
“While you two are catching up, Dulcie can help me with the groceries.”
“I’m glad your truck stayed cold enough they didn’t go off,” Helia said.
He waved the comment off. “Makes things easier, but it wouldn’t have been a big deal. I would have sent one of my brothers later,” he said, before he and Dulcie left the room.
Kendall sank onto a cushion on the floor, her back to the fire. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She’d already lost one person today; Helia wasn’t about to let her worry about losing another. “I’d lifted my arm to wave to Collin, and the dart hit me in the side, not my biceps, which probably saved me. Well, that and Collin’s fast response.”
Kendall nodded. “Your reflex reaction to lower your arm probably knocked it out before it could dose you fully.”
“That’s what the doctors think. And because Collin was smart enough to gather the dart, the doctors were able to analyze the contents and counteract everything. I’m tired. Like really, really tired. But there will be no lasting effects.”
Kendall studied her, then slowly nodded again.
“It’s a stupid question, but how are you?” she asked, keeping her voice quiet as the men traipsed in and out, shuttling the grocery bags to the larger kitchen at the back of the castle. Idly, she wondered if these trips were Collin’s first time setting foot in that part of the building again.
Kendall’s eyes dropped, and she futzed with one of the game pieces. “I don’t really know,” she said, a single tear dropping onto her hand as she answered. “Is that dumb?”
“No,” Helia said without hesitation. The desperation in Kendall’s expression broke her heart. “I’m not going to pretend to be some sort of guru on loss and grief, but you’re dealing with a shit ton of emotional stuff right now. The death of your mom and, in many ways, the death of the life you’ve always known. Plus, there’s the reality of a future that you probably never imagined and all the questions that come with what that’s going to be like. Everything from new relationships to a new place to live to a new way of growing up.” She paused, then huffed out a breath. “Now I’m stressing myself out, too.”
A ghost of a smile touched Kendall’s eyes. “Sometimes it’s hard to know which direction you’re going when you’re in the middle of a storm?”
Helia blinked back tears. Out of the mouths of babes. “Yeah,” she agreed. “And you’re in one helluva storm right now, sweetie.”
Grief dulled Kendall’s expression, but she nodded. “Want to play?” she asked, gesturing to the board, apparently done talking about her mom.
“I don’t think I can sit up for too long. Why don’t you read out questions, and you can laugh at how many I get wrong.”
Kendall’s lips tipped up. “Done,” she said. A few minutes later, Dulcie and Collin joined them. Dulcie took the seat he’d vacated earlier while Collin sat at the other end of the couch, tugging her feet onto his lap. He also handed her a pillow, and she stretched out, resting her head on the arm of the sofa, the pillow tucked underneath.
