“That damn theme park song.”
I start to hum the song, and he groans.
“Yes, that one. Over and over.”
He starts to sing the song softly. I hear it through his chest, and I relax. By the time we make it to the main floor, I’m feeling much better.
Once the doors open, I try to tell him what happened, but I’m still not ready. So I wait until we get into his car.
Taking a few deep breaths, I sigh. “I was in the bathroom when I had a flashback.” Mostly true. “But I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? Because if someone here made you upset?—”
“No, nothing like that. Look, can we just go home?”
“Of course.” He glares over his shoulder, so I place a hand on his.
“I’m fine. No one hurt me,” I reassure him.
“Maybe I shouldn’t bring you with me when I come here.”
“Brendan, I’m fine, and I like coming here.”
“Why, all you do is sit on the couch and wait for me? Or is that all you do?” He turns wild eyes on me. “Rory. These are dangerous people. I don’t want you getting mixed up with them.”
“Dangerous?”
“Aw, shit.” He runs a hand down his face. “I didn’t mean dangerous dangerous, I mean they’re dangerous businessmen.”
I give him a questioning look. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“You know what, never mind.”
“You can’t just tell me they’re dangerous and leave it at that.”
“I’m hungry. Are you hungry? How about we get ice cream for dinner?”
My heart leaps for a second. “No, wait, don’t distract me.”
“Rory.”
“Are they going to hurt you? Do you owe them something? Is it a mob thing?” I whisper the word mob, and Brendan laughs.
“No, pixie. It isn’t a mob thing, but they are helping me with something, and in return, I help them with medical issues.”
“So it is a mob thing!” I gasp.
“Why would you think that?”
“Cause they would go to a normal doctor for normal issues. But for illegal issues—” I whisper.
He squeezes my shoulders with a chuckle. “Iama normal doctor. Come on, let’s go get dinner.”
“You said ice cream for dinner.”
“That was before, when I was trying to distract you.”
“Fine,” I huff. “Then I want nuggets.”
