Instead of answering, he held up his hand in the universal sign for silence and buttoned his lips. Moving toward the front of the house, he listened at the window.
A vehicle engine rumbled in the distance. Connor turned back toward Winnie and Bliss. “You two try to keep the kids quiet,” he said. “I’ll check it out.”
Bliss’s heart jumped. “You think it’s?—”
“Probably not,” he said calmly. “If someone from DPS were here, they wouldn’t be making such a racket. But just in case, I’ll go out and greet whoever it is.”
The screen door slapped closed behind him.
Winnie watched the door, and though she tried to hide it, Bliss could tell she was nervous. “It’s probably just Reid coming to pick me up,” Winnie said.
Bliss smiled faintly. “Yeah, probably. But I wouldn’t put it past Seagull to swoop in one more time before the hearing.”
Winnie blinked. “Who?”
Bliss shrugged. “The Seagull is what I call the DPS lady, Ms. Talon. She acts just like one.”
“I have a feeling I don’t want to know what that means.” Winnie’s smile faded slightly. “Bliss… how are you really doing?”
Bliss adjusted Nori against her shoulder. “I’m good.”
“You sure?”
“You know, I think I really am.” Bliss smiled slowly.
“I’ve been worried about you living out here.”
“Why in the world would you worry about that? You lived out here for years by yourself.”
Winnie gestured toward the thickest part of the woods that extended far beyond Winnie’s property on one side. “Because the Society is right over there.”
“You mean on the other side of the hundred acre wood. Well, it’d be kinda hard for them to come from that direction.”
Winnie didn’t laugh. Her expression stayed serious. “Bliss.”
“What?” Bliss still rocked Nori in her arms.
“I know from personal experience the Society has no problem making it through the woods.”
“What do you mean by ‘from personal experience’? Are you trying to scare me?”
Winnie hesitated, which had Bliss’s stomach tightening. “Winnie?”
Winnie let out a long sigh, shaking her head. “I asked everyone not to tell you because I didn’t want to scare you.”
“Tell me what?”
“You’ve had enough to deal with, you know? Learning to live outside the Society. Taking care of three little blessings.”
“You’re stalling, Winnie, now tell me what happened.”
Winnie bit her lip.
“Now, Winnie.”
Winnie held up a hand. “Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal.”
Bliss frowned. “What kind of deal?”
