Chelsea: Don’t waste the good stuff on them. Natty Light is all they need.
A laugh burst out of me, startling Kennedy. She let out a rather creative curse. “If you don’t want me to lose a finger, don’t scare me like that.”
“Sorry.”
“Who is it, anyway? New boyfriend?” She waggled her eyebrows in my direction.
I rolled my eyes and shoved my phone back into my pocket. Boyfriends had not been on the docket for me. Not since my first and last had landed me in juvenile detention for two and a half years. I’d gone on dates here and there, but it never quite seemed worth the risk. And I’d had other things to worry about—like staying alive.
“It was Chelsea, checking on Lyla and Justin.”
“Where are they, anyway?”
“They’re helping watch the younger ones on the playground.” There was little that made me happier than seeing my niece and nephew fall in love with the shelter. From the first time they’d visited with Chelsea, staying in my small cottage at the back of the property, they had simply understood the special nature of Hope House. And they always wanted to help.
Kennedy dumped a pile of carrots into the pot that would be beef stew in a few hours. “They have a way with them. It’s not typical for an eleven-year-old boy to be so eager to play babysitter.”
“Justin has a tender heart under that preteen bravado.”
A gentle smile stretched across Kennedy’s face. “You’re right there. And Lyla is the sister all the little girls wish they had.”
I chuckled as I remembered the gymnastics camp my niece had held yesterday afternoon. She’d taught cartwheels, handstands, and other things I didn’t know the names of. “The gymnastics teacher over in the rec center asked if she could hire her.”
“It’s not a bad idea. She’s got the touch.”
I poured my pile of veggies into the pot and turned down the heat. “Okay, this just needs to simmer for a few hours. Want to go find the munchkins, or do you need to get home to Cain?”
Kennedy took off her apron, hanging it on a peg. “I’m with you this afternoon.”
I hung my apron up by hers and headed for the door. “How is Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome?”
The goofy smile that stretched across Kennedy’s face had me averting my gaze. “He’s good. Busy. They’re about to start on a big new project.”
Kennedy’s husband had built a second headquarters for his security company in Sutter Lake. Halo was one of the best in the business and had brought a lot of new jobs into the community. “That’s exciting.”
“I don’t understand a word he says when he’s talking about it, but it’s adorable how excited he gets.”
I snickered as I pulled open one of the double doors that led to a massive outdoor space with a playground, sports fields, and a picnic area. “Somehow, I don’t think Cain would appreciate being called ‘adorable.’”
Kennedy bit her lip. “Probably not. Better to only call him that behind his back.”
“Smart woman.” My steps faltered as I took in the scene on the playground. Kids ran around screaming and laughing, a whirling flash of limbs as Justin chased them. But in the center of it all, a tall man held Lyla and another little girl upside down by one ankle each as they cackled. “What’s he thinking?” I asked as I started towards the fray.
Kennedy caught my arm. “Mason?”
“Yes, Mason. That’s dangerous. One of them could fall and get seriously hurt.” I could only imagine how injuring one of her children would halt the progress of my slowly mending relationship with Chelsea.
Kennedy’s lips twitched. “He’s like six-foot-four and has muscles for days. I’m pretty sure Mase isn’t going to drop them.”
My cheeks heated. I knew what he looked like. It was the kind of size that was hard to ignore. But he was always gentle and unassuming as he moved through the shelter, as if he understood that his size could be intimidating to the women and children there—people who had fled situations where size had been used to terrorize. “It doesn’t matter how many muscles he has. Accidents happen.”
She sobered, studying my face. “What is it with you and him?”
I clamped my mouth shut. It was impossible to explain just how or why Mason Decker got on every last nerve I had. “He…he’s too nice.”
A laugh bubbled up out of Kennedy, building on itself until she had to brace an arm on my shoulder to hold herself upright. “I’m sorry, did you say he’s too nice?”
I scowled in her direction. “No one’s that nice all the time. It’s weird.”
She patted my shoulder. “Oh, my paranoid friend. It’s no wonder you and Cain get along so well. You both think everyone is a potential serial killer.”
“Hey, if you would listen to those true crime podcasts I keep sending you, you would, too.” I kept my tone light, but pain lit a path along my sternum. A sensation carved by all the stories I’d heard in juvie. All of the things I’d seen. Hellish nightmares that would never leave. I knew that the worst of humanity could hide under a pleasant expression. Worse, it could hide under a face you’d always trusted.
Kennedy wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I think it might be time for a breather from the creepy podcasts.”
“One woman’s creepy is another woman’s Zen.”
“That’s really messed up.”
“Anna! Anna! Did you see? I was upside down, and Mase made me fly.” Lyla ran at me, crashing into my middle and wrapping her arms around me with an oomph.
“I did see. Looked like…fun.” Incredibly dangerous fun, but at least she’d have a high before her concussion.
“Hey, Kenz. Anna.”
I looked up from my niece’s face to meet swirling hazel eyes. Something about the dance between gold and green was hypnotizing, which only annoyed me more.
“Hey, Mason,” Kennedy greeted.
I nodded in his direction. “Mason.”
The corner of his mouth quirked. “I’ve told you time and again, call me Mase.”
“Sure.” But something about using his nickname was simply too familiar, too comfortable. I wanted clear boundaries. Those had been hard to come by since Mason had started volunteering here. Cain had a program where he encouraged his employees to get involved with organizations in the community for a certain number of hours a month while still getting paid as if they were working at their desks. As vice-president and chief operations officer of the company, Mason led by example and worked every single one of his hours at Hope House.
“I need to head back to Halo. But, Anna, the kids want to come over and go fishing in the lake this weekend. They’re welcome anytime. Just text me.”
I ground my back teeth together. “If we have time.”
“Pleeeeeeease,” Lyla begged. “I want to catch a fish.”
Justin appeared next to Mason. “Yeah, it would be fun. Can’t we go?”
“How about Sunday? I’ll even provide the lunch,” Mason offered.
I heard a soft laugh coming from Kennedy’s direction. I studiously ignored it and did my best not to bite Mason’s head off for offering this outing to Justin and Lyla without running it by me first. “Sure. That would be nice. Just tell me what I need to bring, and what time to be there.”