“Babes! Oh you two look just darling.” Kelvin stands before squatting to greet Petal.
“Hey, Kels.”
He stands.
“Oh honey, what the hell happened?” His face scrunches with concern.
I huff a breath that sets my lungs on fire.
Fuck.
I’m manhandled to the bench, and we sit. Kels folds me into a hug that swishes with every movement of his tracksuit set. It’s almost enough to make me laugh. This eccentric, gorgeous friend of mine.
He holds me at arm’s length. “You remember we had this conversation, right? At any time you want to bug out of this job, just do it. Nobody will think less of you. I promise.”
I look up, hoping the tears welling will dissipate.
“I can’t.”
I’m invested now.
I can’t let any of my crew go in there without me. I want to be there to make sure I have their backs.
I can’t letDaveygo in there without me.
I just can’t.
Wow. It hits me how far we’ve come.
“I’m fine. Really. It’s an emotional learning curve, I guess.”
Kels tilts his head, giving me that empathetic,oh my god girllook of his. “Stop it,” he utters. “You don’t owe anyone anything; you’ve been through enough for ten lifetimes.”
I can do hard things.
“And that’s exactly why I’m still here. I’m still here. I can do this. If I can live through that, I candothis.”
His face twists. “I know you can, honey. Never had a doubt.”
I huff a strained laugh. “Good, now that’s sorted. Look at our sweet girl, Kel. She’s thriving.”
He runs a hand along Petal’s coat, his mouth tipping up in a smile that has more emotion than anything I’ve seen before. “She absolutely is. The big buff fireman is good for her.”
He’s staring at me like the sentence has a double meaning.
“He’s doing okay, I guess.”
“Just okay, babe?”
“We are talking about Petal, remember?”
“Oh, yeah, sure. Petal, baby, how do you feel about the spunky fireman?”
He rubs her up, loving on her like he’s her daddy.
Oh god.
The thoughts of Miles being Petal’s daddy, which only now occurred to me, has my cheeks heating.
