Any Day Now - Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,40

morning.

I walked to the door and opened it for Silas Mackenzie.

He was halfway up the walk when I opened it, and by the time I stepped back to allow him entrance, he was already halfway in.

“Morning,” Sam muttered, his arms crossed over his chest.

Silas took one glance at him, made sure that he was okay with a quick sweep of his head, then walked to Amelia.

The moment he was there he had her wrapped up in his arms.

Amelia’s arms returned the hug, her fists barely able to close around Silas’ back.

I went to the kitchen and started making coffee, then went ahead and fed King her breakfast before calling out, “Amelia, how do you take your coffee?”

There was a stretch of silence and then, “Cream until it no longer looks brown at all, and like, a smidge of sugar.” She paused. “Shit, I don’t have extra blood test strips with me. And all of my insulin…”

“I got that,” I heard Silas grumble. “In my saddlebag. Went by Lynn’s place and got some shit out of your locker. We’d just gotten your new shipment in the mail, too. Sam, can you go get that? It needs to be refrigerated.”

I heard the stomping of feet as I carried two coffee mugs in both of my hands to the island that separated the kitchen from the living room.

Placing them down with extreme care, I pushed two blacks to the other side of the counter before starting to push Amelia’s mostly cream one toward her.

She surprised me, though, by coming around the counter and reaching for the coffee before I could push it all the way over. “I’m gonna need you to mainline this here in a few minutes.”

I grinned. “I could probably start an IV, but it’s been a hot minute. It’d be easier for me to just take you to my mom instead.”

Sam stomped in then, carrying what looked to be a small girl’s lunch sack.

“Oh!” Amelia clapped. “She found it.”

My brows rose.

“She found what?” I asked curiously.

“The lunch sack that I asked for.” Amelia snickered. “I told her we needed a cuter one to pass off our drugs in. She said she’d find one that I’d like. I’m pretty sure this is the exact one I pointed out to her on the cover of a magazine last month.”

“It is,” Silas muttered as he walked the bag to the fridge. “Check your blood sugar.”

Amelia rolled her eyes but went about doing what her father ordered.

We all sipped our coffee and watched her go about testing her blood sugar, starting with a prick of her finger, moving to place that drop of blood on the strip that was connected to the glucose monitor.

It was only as the number popped up, which I knew to be within range, that she tossed it into the trash and wiped her finger on my shirt.

My lips twitched.

“I was going to wear that today,” I pointed out. “It’s my only clean shirt.”

“You’re joking… right?” she asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

I shook my head. “I have other shirts. I just don’t like wearing them. They have to be soft and…”

“And no tags. Not too tight around the collar. Hem can’t have a scratchy thread.” Sam chuckled then, bringing my attention to him. “Do you know how fucking hard it is to find a shirt for this kid?”

“I have a sensory issue,” I admitted when Amelia’s eyes turned to me. “Do you know how god-awful it was to put on an Air Force dress uniform? I thought I was going to die every time I wore it.” I paused when I remembered the first time I put it on. “Luckily, Kilgore Police Department allows me to wear a polo and tactical pants. Both of which I can buy on my own, or that’d be a disaster, too.”

“I think I remember something about you losing your shit on a family vacation once,” Silas said. “Your sister Catori and you were at the airport, and she thought it would be fun to switch luggage for a little while. She was trying to play a joke on you, but it backfired. The airline ended up losing both of y’all’s luggage after you boarded the plane for Disney. When y’all got there, you didn’t have any clothes, and you both had to buy some. And you stayed in a state of anger the entire time you were there because you couldn’t stand the scratchy clothes.”

“I’m pretty sure he was fifteen.” Sam chuckled.

“For