Morgan huffed a quiet laugh.
“And…” My hand went to the bottom of the box. I hesitated before lifting the tiny, knitted hat, the cream yarn glowing under the warm lights. “This is… just something I thought she might want. Or need. Or both.”
I didn’t offer it to him. I just held it, waiting, stupidly nervous.
Morgan reached out, brushing a thumb over the teddy bear.
“This is…” His voice caught. “This is really sweet.”
And when he smiled, and his eyes brightened with emotion, I couldn’t breathe for one tiny impossible second.
“Have you heard anything from Rowan or Harold?” I asked.
He frowned. “Only that Gabbi is definitely my daughter,” he said, “but they probably already told you that.”
“No. They’re working for you, not me. They won’t share anything without your say-so. Not even Rowan—and she’s my best friend.” I wasn’t sure why I added that. Maybe I wanted him to know he could trust her. Perhaps I wanted him to trustme. Flustered, I stood and picked up Tyler’s guitar, unsure what to do with my hands.
“Do you play?” he asked.
I threw him a rueful smile. “No, I’m tone-deaf. I’m more of a practical numbers person.”
“Cool.”
“What about you?”
“I don’t play; I’m more of a…” He stopped, then shrugged, and something about the hesitation pulled at me.
“What?”
“A reader. Stories. Literature. At least, that’s what I was planning to… I read a lot.”
“What were you planning to do?” I picked up on that one thing, and he frowned again.
He shifted, eyes flicking away for a second. “When I left the infantry, the plan was to use the GI Bill—get to college, studysomething I actually cared about. I always figured I’d end up there sooner or later.” He let out a breath and shrugged again, a smaller gesture this time. “But now… I think I should focus on finding work. You know. Something steady. Something that pays.”
The way he said it—quiet, resigned—made something in my chest tighten.
“Where I work, what I… I mean… we have on-the-job training programs—and an excellent on-site daycare. It’s free for employees. You should apply.”
“And me with no fixed address?” he said, throwing me a wry smile. “I don’t even know what your company does.”
“Money, investments, that kind of thing.”
“As we said, not my area of expertise.”
“We’re considering putting feelers out into publishing,” I lied like a rug, and he stared up at me, and I knew he didn’t believe me. He gave that look which implied I couldn’t fix everything.
I freaking well knew that.
But I wanted to.
SEVEN
Morgan
I felta thin thread of panic as I weighed Cole’s suggestion about office work. It wasn’t what I’d pictured for myself when I first signed enlistment papers, but that was before Gabbi had become my priority.
Office work. A desk. A routine. A badge on a lanyard instead of learning and maybe teaching. I used to joke I’d rather chew glass, but that was when my life was just mine. Now I’d do anything—even the quiet and boring stuff—even as a flicker of fear ran under my skin at the thought of being trapped somewhere I couldn’t run from.
