Hudson snorts, and I glare at him as I sit down.
“And anyway,” I mutter, dropping my bag to the floor and shoving it under the seat in front of me, “you really should be in bed. It’s late. Where’s Finn?”
“Finn’s sick.”
I stiffen. “She’s sick?” I say. “Howsick?”
“She took medicine and is sleeping. I was with her, but Olive and Pear woke me up and I think maybe they might be cold.”
I shake my head.Focus.
“Listen, baby,” I say carefully. “I’ll be home in a little over an hour.”
Luckily we’re in Tahoe and the flight back to Oakland won’t take long.
“Okay.”
“Can you do me a favor and be an extra big girl?”
“Yeah!”
“Oh, good. Thanks, baby. Now can you go in Finn’s bedroom and keep an eye on her for me?”
“Yeah!” she says. “I’m really good at watching out for my friends.”
“I know you are.” I pause. “Tell me when you’re there, okay?”
“’Kay.”
I hear her footsteps on the floor as she walks. “Olive and Pear are here too.” Her voice drops to a whisper. “But Finn’s sleeping.”
“She’s sleeping?” I say, my mind racing, my heart threatening to beat its way out of my chest. Finn is four and headstrong and…she’s basically home alone in the middle of the night.
Fuck.
Focus.
“Oh, that’s good,” I push out. “If she’s sick, she needs rest. Can you climb in next to her, make sure she doesn’t get cold?”
Now I hear blankets rustling and?—
“I tucked her in nice and tight.” More rustling. “And so are Olive and Pear.” Her breath rattles through the speakers. “And now I am too.”
“Great job, honey,” I say and listen as she tells me about Olive and Pear being sleepy kitties then when she starts sounding drowsy, I remind her I’ll be home in an hour and quietly hang up.
Then groan, scrub my hands over my face.
“You good?” Huddy asks.
I nod and focus, pulling up the camera app on my phone, scrolling through the various feeds at the house. I don’t have cameras in every room and none in the bedrooms, but I have several views of the downstairs and one of the hallway.
I go back through the recordings, watching Chloe head upstairs and into Finn’s room, and exhale in relief.
Then leave the live feed open to the hallway, even though the forward doors are closed and the flight attendants are starting their final checks for takeoff. Thank fuck the plane has Wi-Fi…and the flight attendants don’t say a word about me monitoring the cameras.
“I’m good,” I mutter, my eyes glued to the screen.
Minutes later we’re in the air.
