Why couldn’t she finish the silly song?
Because you’re alone with a stranger’sbaby and you’re cold and hungry and scared.
Andno one’s coming.
No one.
And Mom will neverknow what happened to you.
A lump lodged in her throat, and her head began to spin.
Tot cried louder.
Tears blurred her vision, and her breathing came and went in irregular gasps. “Let me root, root, root for the home team ...” But her throat locked away the rest as despair took its place.
A rumbly baritone started up in the back seat. “If they don’t win it’s a shame...”
Her mouth dropped open, heart slamming into her ribs as she twisted to look into the back seat.
Cullen was lying on his back, arm over his head, face bruised and swollen, one brow arched as he grinned at her.
“For it’s one, two, three strikes you’re out at the old ball game,” he finished and then coughed and groaned. “Man, I love that song.”
TWELVE
Cullen heard cryingas he finished the song. His voice was raspy and his entire skeleton felt cracked, but his soul caught fire.
Crying. Two people crying. Proof of life. Kit and Tot.
Both. Thank you,God.
Head spinning, he was attempting to get himself to a seated position when Kit crawled awkwardly over the seat with baby Tot bundled in her arms.
She landed half on his shins and promptly kissed him full on the mouth.
“Cullen.” Her voice was breathy with tears, the baby wriggling between them.
Sparks danced up and down his agitated nerve endings as she kissed him again, on each cheek and once more on the mouth. “You’re alive.”
He forced himself to push words past his clouded brain. “Never has my singing been so appreciated,” he managed.
She laughed and cried, blushed, and scooted over so he could straighten on the seat. His head pounded and his vision spun, but he steeled himself. No way was he goingto conk out again. Her chin was smudged with soot, her swollen eyes red from crying. But she was smiling, and there was a world of emotion in that smile, including a genuine fondness. Or maybe it was simply her relief that she wasn’t stuck in an ATV with a corpse. Or simply his own hallucination.
Positive thinking,Landry. What if she actually caresabout you?He was so happy to see her and Tot that he had to force the goofy grin off his face. Not the moment for it, surely, considering the circumstances. He cleared his throat. “How ... are you? Hurt?” He held out his arms and willed them not to shake as he took Tot.
Kit wiped her eyes. “No serious injuries that I can tell. Tot certainly hasn’t lost any of her spirit. But you ...” She worried her lower lip between her teeth. “You were out for hours. Are you ... wounded somewhere?”
More like everywhere. But he joggled the baby, melting as she snuggled herself under his chin, and considered what to tell Kit. “Shoulder’s kinda messed up and everything hurts, but I can move my arms and legs, and I’m breathing. Don’t see any blood on the seat, so I guess that’s a good report, considering.”
She offered a shaky nod. The confusion in his skull was clearing slightly. He babbled to the baby, filling up the silence, giving Kit time to steady herself since she wasn’t the kind to air her emotions. His own stomach turned into a mass of knots as he looked past the baby to the ruins surrounding them. Nico and Simon weren’t the most significant problem anymore. If he and Kit couldn’t figure a way out, those two would never be an issue again.
And what of Archie? Her swollen eyes told him she’dprobably considered that too. Best not to bring it up. An orange glow caught his attention.
“Is that ...” He peered out the window. “Is that a fire?”
Kit nodded. “Made it with Doritos.” She explained her plan for keeping warm.
He shook his head.
