I couldn’t hold my head up anymore; it dropped and landed on his chest because at the same time he pulled me close now with both his arms around me.
I sucked in deep breaths and tried to process this. I couldn’t process it so I asked, “Did the kids see?”
“When we got back, I saw they left the door ajar. I brought the kids over here and then I went over there. Then I called in some uniforms. They didn’t see but they know somethin’s up. Even Billie’s on guard.”
I nodded, my forehead rolling on his chest. At least this was good. Kind of.
“You and the kids are spending the night here,” he informed me.
I nodded again.
“You need to tell me what you need, sweetheart, so I can go over there and get it.”
At that, I lifted my head. “I’ll go get it.”
“Maybe we should tackle you goin’ over there some other time. When’s your next day off?”
“Tuesday.”
“Then we’ll go over there tomorrow night.”
I stared up at him knowing with grave certainty that it was level fifteen bad if he didn’t want me to see my place until I had time to react to what I saw.
I closed my eyes.
“Honey, tell me what you need,” Mitch urged and I opened my eyes.
“I need to go over there.”
“I’m thinkin’ now’s not good.”
“Mitch, I need to go over there. I can’t go to sleep wondering. I need to know.”
“It’s late, you can know tomorrow.”
“Mitch,” I leaned in and got up on my toes, “please, I need to know.”
He studied me again. Then he muttered, “Fuck, all right. Hang on and I’ll ask Bradon or Brent to come over here in case one of the kids wakes up.”
I nodded and he let me go with one arm to pull his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans.
While he did this I asked, “Where are the kids now?”
He hit some buttons while he answered, “Billie is sleepin’ on the pull out in my second bedroom. Derek and LaTanya had an inflatable mattress and that’s in there too, Billy’s on it.”
I bit my lip as he put his phone to his ear and then said, “Bray? Mitch. Yeah, hey. Can you come over here for a few minutes while I take Mara over to her place to get some of her shit?” He paused then said, “Thanks, man.” Then he flipped his phone shut and shoved it into his back pocket before his arm went back around me.
“This is a new level,” I told him when he did.
“Sorry?” he asked.
“Vandalism,” I explained. “It’s a new level for the Trailer Trash Twins. They’re stupid, crazy and mean but this…” I trailed off and my eyes went to his shoulder.
It dawned on me that I’d been doing this for a while and Mitch hadn’t responded so my eyes slid back to his to see he was staring at me thoughtfully.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothin’,” he answered and there was a knock on the door.