Nate(32)

Seeing me looking at her, Nova started shaking her arms around. “Penna! Mebgggme. Sloof.”

Miss Sloth had replaced Miss Penguin. She was waving the sloth all around, and her little legs began pumping.

Nate knelt, placing her on her feet, and he stood back, letting her go.

She ran to me, her chunky little body weaving a bit.

Nate chuckled. “It’s sheer stubbornness that keeps her going. She runs with that sloth, and it’s too big for her, but she won’t let it go. She’d go down with the ship before she’d drop that thing.”

I grinned, scooping her up and giving her a big kiss on her stomach. She shrieked again, but it wasn’t long before her body was twisting. She wanted to run. So I let her go, and as Nate and I both followed her, both sticking to our sides, I remembered his initial question.

“I haven’t.”

He looked up, those eyes so steady on me.

Flushing, for some reason, I ran a hand over my hair. “Thought about going back, I mean.”

“Ah.”

“Not that I’m opposed to it, though.”

Why was I still talking?

He probably didn’t really care. Nova might’ve seen me, wanted to see me, and he brought her out to the pool house. He was making conversation and being polite. That was all.

Was that all?

Why was I questioning it?

“Why do you ask?”

I had to know.

Why did I have to know?

What was going on with me?

I was acting like I was in high school talking to the popular quarterback.

“Did you play football in high school?”

He had settled down on the ground because Nova found some of the toys I stashed for her over in the corner. She was putting those big blocky puzzles together or just banging the pieces against each other.

“What?”

I was being so weird.

I frowned, scratching at my forehead. Crap. I just loosened some of my hair. I scowled but started fixing my bun. “Why were you asking about me going back to dancing?”

“Uh.” He stared at me a moment, his hand automatically catching Nova before she fell backward. He righted her, answering, “You have time now, and I noticed that you spend a lot of time in here dancing. It’s what you did before, you know.” He nodded at Nova, and seeing she was watching him, he gave her a wide smile. She immediately lit up.

God.

She loved him already, so much.

I can’t compete with him.

I tensed up, not knowing where that thought came from.

It wasn’t a competition. Nova loved both of us.

But that was the thing. We weren’t equals.

I was back to scowling. Honestly. What was going on with me?

“You don’t have to go back if you don’t want to. I didn’t mean anything by asking.”

He thought I was scowling at him.

I smoothed out my face, silently cursing, and then tried to smile. My whole face felt jerky. I was the opposite of what I used to do professionally. So not smooth.

“I’m not—no. I mean,” Breathe, Quincey. Breathe. Slowwww down. I could hear Miss Clara’s voice again in my head, and it worked. My breathing automatically evened out, and I sat on the floor, reaching forward for my toes, stretching down to rest my chest across one knee.

Home. Being in this position felt like home.

I could feel my heart rate slowing, steadying, and I shifted to the other leg. I moved my arms over my head, graceful, until everything flowed naturally again. I was envisioning going through water, it moving over my body.

I took another breath and sat up. That was better. “Since Valerie died, I’ve thought about nothing but her.”

A dark look flashed in his gaze. “Have you heard from your father at all? Logan asked this morning.”

Right. Back to business.

He was only being polite by asking earlier.

I needed to remember that.

“No. It’s not what I expected.”

He frowned. “Yeah. Me neither.” His hand flashed up, catching a puzzle piece that Nova threw. He put it back down, almost as if he didn’t know he did it. “That alarms me, to be honest.”

I grunted. “Me, too.”

“Yeah?”

I nodded, feeling my throat burning again. I moved my legs together and bent forward, turning my head and resting my cheek over my thighs, just short of my knee. I could sleep like this. I murmured, almost to myself, “He’s gearing up for something. Something big.”

“I don’t know what he could do, though, unless he tried to take over your charge for some reason.”

Panic slammed in my chest. It was icy cold. “What?”

“Does he have anything on you that he could stretch? Anything to make it seem like you’re not sound enough to be Nova’s guardian?”

Yes. So much.

That burning doubled. “No.”

“Then the only play he’d have, but I can’t see him even attempting it, is a coup by your other family members.”

“What?” I was tasting acid.

“Your mom. She’d have to go to his side, a united grandparent front against you. But there’s no way Graham or the other sister would go along with it. Well, I can’t speak for the sister. I don’t know her, but not Graham. If anything like that was even in the works, he would’ve called and given us a heads-up.”