He wanted to swoop her into his arms and reassure himself that she was alive—the Dreamer woman hadn’t killed her. And now that he wasn’t on shift anymore, he could keep her safe without having to focus on his job while he wondered what was happening to her.
“We do both need sleep,” he pointed out. Not really sure why he was determined to noodle her into reacting. “Could be fun to negotiate the couch together.”
Eliana’s hands slipped off her hips, and she flounced her way to his kitchen. He’d have thought that was her being self-absorbed and dramatic, but right now he knew it was only the result of the day she’d had and how scared she was. Everything that was happening was so far out of their control it wasn’t even funny.
But in his house, he could almost pretend they were safe, and none of it was happening.
Eliana straightened out of the fridge and slammed the door shut. “You have nothing to eat.”
“Are you hungry?”
“No, but is that the point?”
Carlos smiled, walking to the end cupboard and pulling down a big bag of sweet popcorn.
She hurried over and stuck her hand in, grabbing a massive wad. “You’re a lifesaver.” She tossed a handful in her mouth.
Carlos chuckled. “You and Luci used to go through bags and bags of this stuff.”
“I think it might be one of the few things we agreed on.” A note of grief entered her expression.
Carlos swallowed against the lump in his throat and ate a handful, even though he didn’t really like the stuff. “So you’re taking my room, and I’ll sleep on the couch.”
She eyed him. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You probably want to set up a guest room. For when you have family visit.”
Carlos wasn’t sure his dad was prepared to leave Salt Lake City but didn’t want to talk about it. “I don’t know if I want to stay. After we find Luci, anyway. Maybe it’s not always crazy here, but it’s a big city. There will always be something.”
“No burning desire to be a detective here? Or a lieutenant like your dad was?”
“No burning desire to eventually be the director of the Shrine?”
She shook her head, looking amused finally. “I doubt it. I was writing up my resignation letter before I went over to Patience’s apartment. Before…” She looked away.
“You took care of it.” He set the bag on the counter and put his hand on her shoulder. “The Dreamer is in custody now, and she’s the only one who got hurt.”
Eliana closed her eyes and nodded. “Thank God.”
“Agreed.” If Carlos was going to get his spiritual life back on the right footing, he could start by thanking God that things weren’t a lot worse.
“You weren’t really serious about sleeping on the couch together, were you?”
Carlos let his hand drop from her shoulder. “Just trying to get a rise out of you.”
“That’s what I thought.” She walked away again, this time to his couch. She slumped onto the seat and pulled over a pillow, hugging it to her front.
Carlos sat next to her, turned so he could face her with his knee up on the seat between them and his foot bent under his other knee. “Pretty sure I learned that tactic from your parents. They’re always trying to nudge the other one out of a serious mood, or out of their own head, with a little levity.”
She eyed him. “True. But is that really a healthy way of dealing with your problems?”
“It works for them. That doesn’t mean it has to work for you.”
She looked away and stared quietly at his blank TV. He didn’t get the feeling she wanted him to turn on a show or movie. But he didn’t know what shedidwant—and got the feeling that maybe he never had. At least, it had been a long time since he knew her well enough to say he understood what was going on in her head.
“Are you going to stare at me intently all evening?”
