“But where…?”
“They’re kids,” she said with a sigh. “They do occasionally have playdates. I scheduled one for them today at my friend Stacy Kellman’s. They’re staying there for dinner. Stacy’s even a nurse, so she can fix them right up if they get any cuts or scrapes.”
Mick nodded, but he didn’t apologize or even step away from her.
“Now aren’t you sorry you wasted your Sunday afternoon, racing over here to protect…my girls?” Uneasiness filled her as she’d nearly saidme. “How did you know I didn’t already come yesterday?”
“From the snow still on the roof of your minivan, I figured you hadn’t left the house all day. I know. Stalker.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Now that you can see that the girls aren’t here, you can go watch football or nap on your sofa or whatever else you had planned for your day off.”
“You might remember that I don’t currently have a sofa or a TV. Besides, you’re here.”
Rachel swallowed as he lifted his gaze to hers. It was so warm that she couldn’t help shivering. He didn’t have to say that he’d shown up at her father’s house as much to protect her as her daughters. Relief she shouldn’t have been feeling flooded her insides. She couldn’t let it take hold. There was a difference between letting him help her search for answers and allowing herself to really need him. Though that line was blurring, she couldn’t let it disappear.
“I don’t need you to watch over me. I’m perfectly safe here.”
Even under the threat of torture, she wouldn’t confess how many times she’d checked to ensure she hadn’t been followed.
“But since I’m already here, and there’s not much to do at my apartment, mind if I stay? It would be a favor to me really. Something for the new guy to do on a lonely afternoon.”
“Fine. Anyone ever told you that you can be over-the-top?”
“My ex-wife, but she wasn’t my biggest fan,” he said with a grin.
“I won’t make you relive those days.”
“I appreciate that.”
“And I appreciate your help.”
His wide-eyed response to her comment told her she should have said that before now. He’d been under no obligation to support her or her brother. But he’d shown up, anyway. And he’d kept showing up, until she’d recognized that his assistance wasn’t such a bad thing.
To dodge the temptation to say more, she pointed to the garage. “What were you doing in there, anyway?”
She shot a look back at the driveway. “And where’s your truck?”
“I parked it not far from here.”
Mick gestured to the garage and then started back to it. Rachel stomped after him through snow that hadn’t been plowed since Riley checked in at the rehab center. Some of it had already melted into patches of ice.
“But why the garage?” she asked again from behind him.
“It was the only unlocked door I could find. And it’s cold out here.”
“It wasunlocked?”
Without waiting for his answer, she marched past him. He caught up to her again just as she reached the entrance. She bent and checked the doorknob, the bolt and even the strike plate.
“I didn’t see any tampering, but then you’re the expert,” he said.
She frowned back at him. “Do you think Riley could’ve just forgotten to lock it?”
“People forget things all the time. Even those who aren’t possibly hitting rock bottom.”
Rachel blinked several times. She hadn’t thought about that.
“Have you been back here since he went inpatient?”
