Page 56 of Grumpy

She wondered if Grumpy did. Even with his scars and grafts, he seemed far more comfortable naked than she ever was. Kelly didn’t want him regretting inviting her mom to live with them, too. Living with her would, of course, be an adjustment and a change, but Kelly had faith in them, especially after last night. Had he thought through how much of his life was going to change because of her mom?

The thought made her contemplate pulling out her laptop and checking her email, paying some bills, and maybe peeking on social media to see how things were going in the outside world. That thought barely lasted thirty seconds before she nixed it, and crawled back into bed with Grumpy.

Not knowing how her body heat under the covers with him would affect his temperature, they’d left the room cold, so her little jaunt to the bathroom had left her chilled and turned her nipples into hard pebbles.

Retaking her previous position, Kelly settled onto her pillow and reached down to retake his hand. Grumpy’s fingers squeezed hers immediately.

“Everything okay?” His voice was raspy and his words slurred.

“Just needed to pee,” she whispered back. “I’m sorry I woke you.” She hadn’t been as careful getting into bed as she had leaving it.

His fingers clutched hers again. “Knew you left,” he paused, “when you let go,” he paused, “of my hand.”

Kelly shifted closer to him. The giant body pillow that helped support his front kept her from getting too close. The right side of his face was still pressed into his pillow, so she doubted he could see her. “Can I get you some water? What do you need?”

“Just you,” he forced out.

Kelly was both flattered and annoyed by that answer. “Grumpy, I’m serious. You sound like your tongue is made of sandpaper.”

He made a grumbling sound that was muffled by the pillow. “Water, please.”

Kelly leaned down and kissed his fingertips before scooting from the bed again. This time she did put on her robe, because she needed to head out into the kitchenette area. Grabbing a new water bottle from the fridge, she also retrieved her stainless steel straw from her travel mug so it would be easier for him to drink lying down.

Not seeing any evidence that Jackson had been inside their room yet, she closed the bedroom door behind her again.

Grumpy drank nearly the entire water bottle, sucking it down so fast that Kelly wondered if it would upset his stomach. Afterwards, they repositioned him so he was still laying down but his face was tilted enough that he could see her.

“Good morning,” she said, leaning down to kiss him.

“Morning.” His voice sounded much better. He worked on his jaw exercises between speaking. “We’re going to cross into Texas today.”

Kelly nodded. “Have you thought about what you’re going to say or do when you see her?”

“What do you mean?” Though his expression didn’t change, she heard the frown in his voice.

Kelly stared down at him, wondering if he could really be that dense. Then again, guys tended not to overthink the emotional stuff. “Grumpy, you’re about to barge back into Maddie’s life. Clearly something drove her to Mount Grove six months ago, but she’s made no effort to contact you since. We don’t know what your mom said to her or what her own mother said about you prior to her death. You might think of her as your daughter, but there’s a chance she doesn’t think of you as her father anymore.”

He was silent for a moment, his long hair hiding the left side of his face. “I never stopped loving her as my daughter. The restraining order her mom forced on me made it so I couldn’t see or talk to Mads, but I never stopped. I don’t care what it takes or how long. She’s over eighteen now, and as much as Tanya’s death saddens me, it also means she can’t influence Mads against me anymore. I didn’t realize how much I missed her until I saw that video of her at the hospital. I need Mads in my life, Kells. I’ll figure out the how afterwards.”

Kelly nodded slowly, understanding and sympathizing. “She came to Mount Grove. That’s a good sign. We’ll make it to Austin today and get a hotel tonight. Based on her school schedule that Keys sent us, we can figure out where and when to meet up with her tomorrow.”

Grumpy worked his jaw up and down several times before asking, “Do you think I’m making a mistake by not calling her ahead of time?”

Kelly hesitated. “I don’t know. You know her better than I do.”

“I haven’t ‘known’ her since she was twelve,” he reminded her, his voice rough. Kelly handed him the water bottle so he could drink the remaining liquid. “It’s cowardly, but I don’t think I could handle her telling me not to come see her over the phone.”

Kelly took the empty water bottle back and then reached for his hand. “You are the least cowardly person I know. You haven’t seen or spoken to her in ten years. It’s natural to be nervous, even scared of how she’ll see you.” She reached for his face, brushing his hair back to reveal his empty eye socket. “You’re not the same person she knew,” Kelly said gently. “And neither is she.”

“I knew she was growing up, knew the money I sent her was paying for the start of her adult life. College, house, car… Wasn’t like she’d stay twelve forever. But somehow that’s how I still see her.”

Kelly ran her thumb over his knuckles. “You know, kids aren’t something we’ve actually talked about. Beyond Maddie, of course. I’m not exactly a spring chicken.” When he opened his mouth to defend her word choice, Kelly hastily added, “I meant that biologically, not as a diss against my body.”

His eye twitched like he wasn’t sure he should believe her. “You better have.”

Chuckling, Kelly kissed him gently. “Well?”

Grumpy shrugged. “My track record with children hasn’t exactly been outstanding.”