Page 8 of Tough Love

“Hey.”

He continues to watch me, his hands moving slowly over the edge of the pages despite the fact he never breaks eye contact. “Hello.”

“We haven’t met,” I offer, sensing practical and straightforward is the best approach. “I’m your aunty Mimi, your mummy’s sister.”

“We have your picture at our house,” he states, eyes still fixed on my face.

My chest tightens. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Briar’s palms lay flat over the colourful pages. “On our fridge.”

Wow.Way to disable me from the start there, little guy.

“Is Mum going to get better?” He watches me without a hint of worry, or a single sign of any preconceived ideas about why he’s here with two complete strangers.

“Of course she is,” I damn near scoff.Tone it down.No need to freak him out with your awkwardness just yet.

Evan eyes us both, his gaze playing a fair game of tennis as Briar and I chat.

“She just needs to rest up for a bit, okay?”

Briar nods, his jet-black hair swishing and catching the light.

“I’m going to take care of you until she’s better.”

“At my house?”

Um.Guess I should have thought more about the fine print before starting this conversation.

“Would that be better than staying at your aunt’s?” Evan asks.

Briar nods. “Then I can play with my toys.”

“Yeah, you can,” our friendly officer says with a smile. He leans across to me and whispers. “We have her keys in the items that were recovered.”

“Oh, okay.” Why did I not think of this? Of course the kid will want to go home. He’ll need familiar things, safety, security, assurance that everything’s going to be okay, that his mum isn’t that bad at all.

He’ll need an aunt who’s the best damn liar there is.

“How do I get them?” I ask. “The keys?”

“They’re in my car.”

“You didn’t bring them up with you?”

“I wasn’t sure he had adequate supervision.”

“You wanted to scope me out first?” I snap.

“I didn’t knowyouwere here, did I?” His eyes narrow. “Besides, it’s my job.”

I flinch.Fair enough.

“Can I get them, then? Please?”

“Sure. I’ll walk you to your car.” Evan stands, helping Briar place the toys back in the boxes.

“I didn’t drive here.” I lean down and grab the books, piling them largest to smallest.