I almost snorted out loud in my attempt to hold back my laughter. “I know. I just didn’t expect to hear it from you.”
“Why?” she asked, a smirk on her lips. “Does that surprise you?”
With her repeating my own words back to me, the laughter finally broke free. I slung my arm around her shoulders and guided her to the door. “Come on. Let me give you the grand tour. You and Adi will be spending quite a bit of time here for the next few months. You might as well make yourselves at home.”
She was tense against my side, but she didn’t step away from me. When she glanced up at me, confusion, curiosity, and amusement warred for control over her expression. “Are you a real person?”
“I’m not a toy if that’s what you’re asking.” I winked down at her. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” she said, confusion winning out for a moment. “You’re just different.”
“As are you.” I dropped my arm and put a more respectful distance between us when we walked toward Adi and Hunter.
“All the best people are if you ask me.”
“Yeah, maybe.” She didn’t sound convinced at all, but her attention shifted to her daughter. “So, what’s first on the agenda?”
“Your tour, and then we’ll take a look at that arm,” I said, drawing to a stop when we reached them.
Adi’s eyes were lit up with excitement as she looked around. “Will I really be coming here a few times a week from now on?”
“Yep.” A thought occurred to me as I watched her taking the place in like it was Santa’s workshop on Christmas Eve. “Is this the first time you’ve been out since the surgery?”
She nodded enthusiastically, then winced when she must’ve pulled at a sensitive spot around her wound. “Mom said it was better to stay at home to avoid getting an infection in my scar.”
So she is a bit overprotective. Good to know my instincts are still accurate.
“You don’t have to worry about infections here. We run a pretty tight ship.” I smiled down at her. “Can I show you around?”
“Sure.” She glanced at Hunter. “Can he come too? He’s my new friend. Did you know he’s not really scary?”
“Yeah, I did actually. Hunter is nothing to worry about. Once you hear how he giggles like the Pillsbury Doughboy when you poke his belly, there’s no way you can be afraid of him.” Without warning him, I stuck my arm out and demonstrated for her.
Hunter was good with kids, though, and used to this drill. He pretended to try fighting me off while squealing like a little girl. Adi broke out in a fit of giggles, and even April cracked a smile.
She seemed more relaxed while I showed them around but stiffened when I pulled her to the side while Hunter kept Adi entertained at one of the machines. I only led her a few paces away from them, lowering my voice so we wouldn’t be overheard.
“I’m going to take a look at Adi’s arm now. No matter what, I want you to remember that having full motor function is important at her age. I will make sure she’s okay, even if her mobility is more impaired than I might know right now.”
“You’ve seen something, haven’t you?” she asked, looking right into my eyes.
I didn’t want to lie to her, so I nodded. “I kept an eye on her while we were walking. But again, no matter what, I will make sure she’s okay. We just have some work ahead of us.”
April blew out a soft breath. “Why would you be willing to do all that work for free?”
“Helping people is all I ever wanted to do,” I said earnestly. “It’s never been about the money. That was just a fortunate side effect that now allows me to help more people.”
“Okay,” she said, not questioning me for once. “When do you want me to bring her in?”
“Friday morning at nine.”
“We’ll be here.” She pursed her lips to the side, nodding as she cast a worried glance in Adi’s direction. “But Chris, please promise you’ll be honest with me. If it’s bad, don’t sugarcoat it.”
“I won’t,” I lied through my teeth because there was no way I was letting either of them down. Even if it was bad, I wouldn’t let them know unless I could no longer guarantee a full recovery. Which wouldn’t happen.
Come hell or high water, I wasn’t going to let that Craig asshole’s irresponsible actions dictate the rest