The tears dry. It sounds like she’s taking me seriously. “Yes, of course. Anytime. Anything you need.”
“I’ll call you back.”
She hangs up, and I sit, staring at my phone, trying to process.
Zinnia needs me. And I’m here alone because all three guys are in Arizona.
I call Zephyr. It goes straight to voicemail.
Try Callum. Same thing.
Try Jax even though I know he won’t answer.
He doesn’t.
I text all three of them: CPS called. Zinnia’s placement fell through. Need help.
Then I call Marcus and sigh when I get his voicemail. I leave him a message and pace the house, wondering why absolutely no one is answering their phones. I walk back and forth for thirty minutes and check my phone every two seconds.
Finally, my phone rings. It’s Zephyr.
“Tiger? What’s wrong?” he says when I answer his call. He sounds out of breath.
“I’m okay, kind of. Just CPS called, and… Zinnia’s foster placement isn’t working. They want to move her, but they need a co-guardian and a completed home study, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Okay. When do they need this?”
“Today. This afternoon maybe. I don’t know. I’m waiting for a call back.”
“We left Arizona this morning, so we should be there in a couple of hours.”
Relief floods through me. “You’re coming back?”
“Yeah. The game was last night. We’re already on the road.”
“All of you?”
Pause. “Yeah. All of us.”
My chest tightens. I wonder if Jax can hear me.
“Okay. Okay. Thank you.”
“Text me when you hear from CPS again. We’ll figure this out.”
He hangs up right as I sit on the couch and try to breathe.
Two hours later, I hear trucks in the driveway.
I’m on my feet before I can think about it. I walk to the window and watch them unload their bags.
Zephyr. Callum.
And… Jax.
My heart stops when I see Jax. He looks tired. Angry. But he’s here… in front of me, and that makes my stomach fill with butterflies.
They walk in together. Zephyr sees me first.
