The kids immediately dove into the game, running toward Theo’s Blazer while calling Viggy to follow. After a few seconds, he perked up slightly and trotted after the children. When he got closer to the SUV, he slowed, his whole body seeming to shrink in on itself.
Theo moved away from the open hatch and watched as the kids crowded around the back of the SUV, urging Viggy to jump inside.
“Load.” The word came out too loudly, making the kids and the dog jump and look at him anxiously. Theo gritted his teeth, sucking in a breath through his nose before trying to moderate his tone. “The command is ‘load.’”
The three kids relaxed and returned to their efforts. “Viggy, load!”
Reluctantly, as if Viggy was just as loath to return to the reality of grief and loss as Theo was, Viggy jumped into the rear compartment. One of the twins—Tyson, Theo was fairly certain—lowered the hatch door. The ease with which these children had gotten the dog to relax and play made Theo envious. At the same time it raised a flicker of hope that the dog would someday be the happy, confident Viggy he used to be.
“Thank you.” His words were stiff, but they were lucky he’d managed to say anything at all. Theo felt his lungs tighten. This family—the hot waitress and dog-whispering children and their not-quite-hidden flinches—was starting to wake something inside of him. His emotions were bleeding through the armor he’d built to contain them, and it was making it hard to breathe. He needed to leave.
After a single step toward the driver’s door, he paused. “The stove fire is under control?”
Jules grimaced. “Yes. All that’s left is the cleaning.”
“Have it checked before you try to use it again.” The suggestion came out more as an order, but Jules didn’t look offended. She did appear tired and a little sad as she gave him a forced smile that could have meant anything. Theo was pretty sure it wasn’t the response he wanted, though. “Something could’ve been damaged by the fire, and that thing is ancient. You don’t want to mess around with gas. Have your landlord get it checked.”
“Okay!” Jules held up her hands, palms out, in a gesture of surrender. “I’ll have someone look at it.”
Her promise was too vague to satisfy Theo, but there was nothing he could do except call the stove repairman himself. As much as he wanted to do exactly that, he barely knew this family. They’d never accept his help. With a stiff incline of his head to Jules and her siblings, Theo got into the driver’s seat and started the SUV.
As he eased down the driveway, Theo glanced in the rearview mirror at the family that was watching him leave. He’d expected to feel relief at being away from their agitating presence, but he didn’t.
All he felt was hollow.
*
“I like that dog,” Dez said, watching the SUV disappear around the first curve in the driveway.
So had Jules. The dog’s partner was a different story. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him, but “like” was such an inadequate word for what she’d felt. His continued visits to the diner had made most of her initial cop-sighting panic fade. If he’d known what she’d done, what she was hiding, then he’d have arrested her already and the kids would be back with Courtney. Her stomach lurched at the thought.
She’d been shocked to see him in her house, all her fears returning in a crashing wave, and she’d had to shove back the instinctual urge to tackle him and yell at her siblings to run. He’d just been concerned about their oven fire, though. And he’d been worried about her. Contented warmth flowed through her at the thought.
“Jules.” The impatient note in Tio’s voice told her that it wasn’t the first time he’d said her name.
She tore her gaze from the spot where she’d last seen the cop who was a little too fascinating—and around a little too often—for her peace of mind. “Sorry, T. What’s up?”
“Can we go to the library?” he asked. “I’d like to see if someone scanned in an owner’s manual for our stove.”
She nibbled on the inside of her lip as she studied him, her mind working.
“Do you not want me to go to the library?” Tio finally prompted when her silence went on too long.
“No.” She shook off her distracted thoughts. “I mean, I’ll take you. I’m just wondering if it’s irresponsible of me to let you work on the stove. Shouldn’t we have a professional…um, oven person look at it? Like Theo said, gas is nothing to fool around with.”
He gave her a look of mixed condescension and long-suffering patience that sat oddly on his fifteen-year-old face. “I’ll be fine, Jules. I know what I’m doing. At least, I will when I get that manual.” He tilted his head toward the SUV meaningfully.
“Okay.” She headed for the house to grab her keys and lock up, calling over her shoulder, “But if you get blown up, I’m going to be annoyed!”
Sam followed her inside, and she gave him an inquiring look.
“Th-Theo?” he repeated, frowning.
Examining her brother’s extra-tense face, unsure of what, exactly, he was asking her, she said, “The cop who was just here.”