all tucked in for the night,” I say soothingly. “Tomorrow we’re going to the authorities.”
He blows out a long breath, and I can imagine the way he’s rubbing his forehead right now. He did the same thing when he heard that his niece had to be rushed to the emergency room with a high fever.
Luke is a good man. I haven’t known many of those in my life. To be honest, I haven’t known even one before Luke, and I somehow managed to collect him along the way. Lucky me.
“Kayla needs a home,” I say simply.
He draws in a breath on the other end of the connection. “Okay. But what does that mean? You’re staying there?”
“Here?” I nearly screech. “No. No, that’s not what I mean at all! I mean that I’m going to try to get custody and bring Kayla home with me. If I can guide her through the last two years of high school, be a mentor to her, she’ll be in a great place to get into college and make something of her life. If she stays here, she doesn’t have a chance. These people . . .” I growl instead of ranting about them.
“Oh,” Luke says. “I see.”
“These people are eating her alive. She has the same challenges with emotion that I have. I know what that’s like. I can actually help her, and I can’t really say that about too many kids.”
“Yeah.” The word is a little faint, but then he clears his throat and lets go of his shock. “Well, of course you have to.”
“Oh. Of course. I can’t just abandon her. That would be wrong.”
“Whatever you need from me, you only have to ask. This is going to be a huge change for you.”
I explode in a hard laugh. “That’s probably the understatement of the year.”
“Listen.” I can hear him settling in to help already, his voice edging into determination. “She’s practically an adult already. And you’re her aunt.”
“True.”
“All she needs is a little bit of support for a couple of years and a nudge in the right direction. You can do that easily. No problem.”
“Right. I can do it.”
“Absolutely.”
In that moment I really do wish I were home with him. I’d even cuddle right into his arms for a few minutes before turning his attention toward sex.
He treats me like I’m real even if I’m not, and sometimes just being near him feels like intimacy. I’ve always needed sex to access that feeling, and I certainly need it with Luke too, but sometimes, on very special occasions, I feel close to him without it. Right now he wants to make my life less stressful, and even a sociopath can appreciate that.
It’s time for the biggest step, and I have to approach carefully. “I’ll need a bigger place.” I let it sit there for only a moment. “Kayla can’t live on my couch for more than a few weeks. That wouldn’t be fair. She needs to feel like she has a home.”
“Sure,” he says faintly.
“But listen, that’s not your problem. We’ll discuss all those complications when I get home. It’s not something I need to figure out now.”
“You don’t. You have enough on your plate. Don’t spend any time worrying about it at all, okay? You just concentrate on Kayla.”
I feel another surge of anticipation at the thought of this fun new adventure.
“What will you have to go through to get her moved?” Luke asks.
“I looked into it,” I say. “If she were in foster care, it would get complicated. Tons of paperwork and court hearings and agreements between the states. But on first glance it looks like her mom can give me temporary guardianship, especially if Kayla agrees. All I have to do is get everyone to buy into the idea that Kayla belongs with me.”
His chuckle is warm and soothing. “I’m not sure it will be as simple as you make it seem.”
It won’t, but I don’t mention our planned meeting with Bill Morris. “Eh, the approach is always the same with my family. They’ll want to be bought off. We just need to find the right combinations of levers for threats and rewards. Kayla says she can get her mother to agree.”
“Stressful,” he sighs.
“Yes. But I might be home within a few days if it all works perfectly.”
“God, it will be so nice to see you, Jane. My bed is lonely as hell without you.”
“Well,” I drawl, “I won’t be able to spend the night, but I bet I