Page 11

I madeit to the hotel room, crossed to the bed, and flopped. I’d forgotten how comfortable beds could be, and murmuring my contentment, I crawled to the middle, snagged every pillow I could get my hands on, and curled up. Someone sat on the edge of the bed, pulled off my sneakers, and after a few tugs, freed the blanket from beneath me.

“I guess we’re not going to have to find somewhere to feed her right away,” Bradley whispered, and he covered me with the blanket before tucking it around me. “She went from coherent to gone in five seconds flat.”

Well, I wasn’t quite gone yet, but I saw no need to be bothered with opening my eyes or notifying them I clung to consciousness. I appreciated he’d pulled my shoes off, though. It spared me from mustering the energy to do it myself.

“To be expected. I thought she was going to fall asleep on her feet before you came back off the beach. I’ll call her parents. They should be awake by now, and I’ll take the blame for them not being able to talk to her. I’ll put the call on speaker so you can contribute. I doubt Janette will wake up, so try not to fret. We’ll just make sure we’re nearby so we can reassure her when she wakes up.”

I doubted I would need reassurance, although I expected to be confused upon realizing I wasn’t still chained in some empty room with books for company.

The bed bounced again, and I assumed Bradley’s father had opted to use the bed as a chair as well. A moment later, a phone began to ring.

“Hello, Mr. Hampton,” my mother answered. “What can I do for you?”

Uh oh. My mother had gone formal on Bradley’s father. I hoped he would survive the call—and that Bradley wouldn’t get caught in the blast radius.

“You could call me by my name, Tanya,” Mr. Hampton replied in an exasperated tone.

“I could, but that was before I found out that you’re actually also a Bradley and went by your middle name to distinguish yourself from your son, who is also a Bradley. If I call you Bradley, everyone will get confused.”

Bradley’s father laughed. “I legally changed my name from Bradley and gave it to my son so he wouldn’t have any weird numbers attached. I thought I was being considerate. Call me Paul. That’s my original middle name, before I got rid of it because it annoyed me. That way, you’ll be happy because you’re aware you’re inevitably making me twitch because I can’t escape my birth name. The only thing I left unchanged was Hampton, as I didn’t want my mother to cry. I changed my name to what she would have named me if my father hadn’t been stubborn.”

Things had truly become strange since I’d been kidnapped.

“You’re in a good mood. All right, Paul. What can I do for you this morning?”

“The lead was a hit, and your little girl is passed out in my hotel room, not quite fit as a fiddle, but close enough. I’m going to call in Dr. Mansfield to handle her checkup and pull some strings for access to a private clinic rather than take her to a hospital. She would have talked to you directly, but she passed out fairly hard the instant she got near a bed, and I didn’t want to try to wake her, tired as she is. We fed her, and she’s underweight. She was taken care of, but I suspect solitude led to some depression and a lack of interest in eating. She was kept in confinement alone and restrained from my understanding of the situation. The whole time we’ve had her, she’s been firmly attached to either myself or my boy. She must have lost enough weight she was able to slip the cuff and escape. She went to a library and emailed Bradley, and Bradley did as we’d asked, dragging me along for the ride.”

“She’s really okay?”

“She’s really okay, and there wasn’t anything she could have done to come home sooner as far as I can tell. She hadn’t been aware she’d been shot, so they must have had her under full sedation for at least a month at the start of her kidnapping, maybe longer. I’ll ask Tawnlen about the specifics to get a timeline. I suspect longer, because they did some significant work to her foot.”

“What did they do to her foot? Is she okay? Who do I need to kill?”

“Goodness, Tanya. How did you go from asking about her foot to wanting to know who you need to kill?”

Bradley snickered.

“I haven’t had coffee yet,” my mother admitted. “But if they did something to her foot, they’ll make her cry, and then I feel I should be justified in a little murder. And don’t you laugh at me, Bradley Hampton!”

“They did a great deal of restorative work on her foot. She’s walking again in regular shoes. No cast, no boot. Judging from the feel of it, they’ve installed a bunch of pins, maybe a rod or two, and otherwise reconstructed it. She had no idea the procedure even happened, so they must have kept her down and out through the entire recovery process.” Bradley’s father chuckled. “Honestly, after seeing how much she struggled after her procedures, I find myself unfortunately indebted to them for saving her from so much pain and anguish. However, I’m really upset with how badly her disappearance hurt my boy. Janette seemed quite excited about the goats, so I expect she’ll be visiting soon enough with her fluffy goddess in tow. Bradley made mention of escaping to somewhere quiet for two weeks with Janette, so I expect we’ll stay out here until she’s had a chance to catch up and he settles down. You can wrangle the other kids and prepare them for her return. We’ll want to make sure somebody is always available to keep Janette company, especially for the first while, until we see if there’s any trauma.”

“I can wrangle the kids, and I’ll make sure none of them make a fuss. If she needs two weeks to settle down with Bradley, then that’s what she needs. Knowing she’s all right will be good enough until she comes home. So, she doesn’t need to go pick a switch?”

“She rescued herself as soon as she could, so I feel she doesn’t need to pick a switch. That said, if she’s picking one to herd my boy off, we’ll let her pick several if she expects to break the first few smacking him to get a move on.”

Bradley laughed, and the sound relaxed me as nothing else had been able to. I snuggled into the warmth of the blankets and pillows, fighting sleep to listen to them. His father’s warnings had worried me, but the conversation reminded me reality rarely matched my fears.

My mother could be upset with me and still love me and want me to come home. Even when I scared her to the point she questioned if I still lived.

“I’ll bring her home as soon as she’s ready,” Bradley promised. “I think she’d convinced herself we’d hate her because she hadn’t rescued herself sooner. But we’d expected everything except complete solitude, and I have no idea what that has done to her emotionally. My current plan is to stay in the room so she can find me easily until she’s ready for some independence, and I’ll make sure Dad’s around if I’m in the bathroom.”

“Don’t you go luring my daughter into any bathrooms,” my mother warned.

The fastest way to convince me to go chasing after Bradley into some bathroom involved my mother telling me I couldn’t, and I filed that away as something to explore in the near future, assuming we could evict his father from the room long enough to take advantage of the situation.

A bath large enough for two would make a bathroom adventure interesting.

“What about if she lures me into a bathroom?” Bradley asked, his tone curious.

“She can do whatever she wants to you if she’s the one doing the luring. You Hamptons are pushy, and you won’t be pushing my little girl right now, you mark my words. Ruthlessly use those damned goats to bring her home in a timely fashion. I will send pictures. I’ll even go find another little girl for the herd if you promise within three weeks.”

“You like the goats,” Bradley accused.

“We might be expanding the enclosure to get a herd of our own,” my mother confessed. “They’re adorable little devils. And it seems I am going to be owning two horses, because someone in my house went to an animal auction this morning, saw these two sad horses, and is refusing to leave unless he can bring them home. I don’t have any damned idea where we’re going to put two horses!”

Mr. Hampton snickered. “I’ll call work and talk to Jerome. His wife owns a construction company, and I’m sure she can fit you in for a barn raising and a quick fence job. The stalls you got aren’t big enough for the horses?”

Since when did my parents have stalls?

“That’s the goat barn.”

“I’m sure your goat barn can fit two horses until you can get a horse barn up. What kind of horses are you getting?”

“They’re thoroughbreds from that bankrupt farm down in Maryland. There are six of the poor things about to go to the butcher since nobody else wants them. The cream of the crop were already taken, although nobody wanted the foals. They were only down to three broodmares when they went under. The buyers wanted the yearlings who could be trained to race right away or the trained horses. We’re getting a filly to go with our mare. The foal’s still nursing. He says they’ve got the papers for them, too, so they’re pedigree thoroughbreds. He wanted to take the whole lot of them, but I don’t think we can realistically get it set up. They have to come home today.”

“I can talk to Jerome if you want the whole lot of them. We know people with horse farms if you need temporary lodgings for the other mares and foals. Have you checked their race history?”

“The broodmares never raced, so they’re unproven. They’re bred from winning racers, but they weren’t racers. We can break them to saddle and ride them since they weren’t broken early, too. They’re between five and six years old. I asked, and they should be ready to be ridden within a year.” The excitement in my mother’s voice startled me, as I’d never taken her to be the kind to be interested in riding horses. “I read online some horses can race until they’re eight. We could try the mares on the track after their foals are weaned.”

Mr. Hampton chuckled. “If you want to try your hand at raising racers, I’m certainly not going to stop you. You’ll just have to take care with the foals. You don’t want to start them too early.”

“I read about that,” my mother announced. “I ain’t saddling a horse of mine until they’re at least four, and ain’t nobody gettin’ on their backs until they’re five and only if a vet clears they’re full grown. Maybe six. We can teach them on the ground without a rider until they’re ready to carry somebody without hurting them.”

Goodness. I would need to take care with my parents once I got home, if they’d gone to the stage of having a midlife crisis involving horses.

“How much are your horses going to cost you?”

“Three and a half thousand for the whole lot.”

“All right, go buy your horses, and if you need a trailer, I’ll call in favors and make sure your new pets get to your home, and I’ll get temporary homes for the ones we can’t keep at your place until we get a good setup for them. If you want goats and racehorses, it won’t break your budget, especially not with the stock work my boy’s been doing for you. Bradley, how much can you skim off for their horse budget without breaking their portfolio?”

“I already told you they hit big with the one long-term stock and sold it out before it dipped. Money’s no issue if they need funds for their new horses. It’s the same stock I went in hard on. We got lucky. I invested for them the same time I did.”

Just how long had Bradley been playing the stock market for my parents? Obviously, I needed to do more snooping into their private matters. Also, I would need to make use of his money-making skills.

I wanted to be able to buy a whole herd of horses as a rescue on a whim, too. And goats. I hadn’t even met my first few goats, and I already wanted more.

“I’ll text you,” my mother promised. “Bring my little girl home when she’s ready. If I’m going to have a bunch of horses around here, I’ll grab an extra so your little boy can ride a horse, too. Wake her up long enough to see what her favorite color of horse is, and we’ll see if there are any at the sale barn. It looks like I’m running an animal rescue, so who cares if it’s a good horse if it’s the right color?”

Bradley shook my shoulder, and he persisted until I cooperated and grumbled curses at him. “What’s your favorite color of horse? I don’t want you mother to kill me.”

I dug through my librarian knowledge in search of a color, one that might keep my mother busy for more than five minutes. Then I dredged through the little I knew of the colors and picked a pair of colors I thought had seemed pretty. “Dun or buckskin.”

As far as I could remember, there were differences between duns and buckskins, but if not, I’d get a color I liked.

“Dun or buckskin,” Bradley reported. He gave my shoulder a rub. “Go back to sleep, Janette. Your mom is expecting you home in a few weeks, and she’s planning presents.”

I yawned, burrowed into my nest, and covered my head with the blanket.

“She’s just about gone again already. She burrowed, and I don’t think she’s coming out again for a few hours.” Bradley took the time to tuck the blanket around me again. “I like this. She’s a lot easier to get up without the medications she was taking. No heart attacks waiting to see if she’s going to react to the drugs again.”

“Good. Now, what in the world is a dun or a buckskin?”

“No idea,” my fiancé admitted. “Dad? Any idea?”

“Tan or golden coats with black tail, mane, and ear tips, and they have dark socks, too. Duns are based on a different gene, but they’re very similar in how the horse looks. I’ll help you check the market for one. Riding would be a good physical therapy option, especially since her foot is healing. And with how much she likes animals? We’ll have her haunting your place most weekends.”

“Excellent. We will go forth and find her a good horse of the right color. We’re also going to get some barn cats. I found a lead on several litters of kittens with their feral mothers, and they’d make wonderful barn cats. Just have to get them taken care of, get their trackers installed, and make sure we protect them against the local wildlife. It’ll be a challenge.”

“I see you have decided to start a zoo.”

“We got the farmhouse, so why not have a farm?” My mother sighed. “I best be getting off the phone and get this place ready for the latest residents. If she’s not up for a phone call, let her know we don’t mind none, because she’s more of the kind to come crawling home so she can look sad and hope for forgiveness.”

No kidding.

“Tanya, is there any reason you’re unleashing your southern accent today?” Mr. Hampton asked.

“I haven’t had coffee,” my mother reminded him.

“Go have coffee. Please.”

My mother laughed, wished the Hampton men well, and hung up.

Bradley poked my side. “I know you’re playing dead, so you may as well fess up and stop pretending.”

How had he busted me? I peeked out from under the blankets. “How did you know?”

“You have a faint snore right after you fall asleep. You were quiet, so I figured you were playing dead and dodging talking to your mom because you’re scared of rejection.”

Double busted. “I do not want to be rejected right now, Bradley.”

He reached over and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “We’re not going to reject you. It’ll work out, you’ll see. Now, settle in and get some sleep. If you need me, wake me up. If you need to be close, we won’t tell a soul if you end up crawling into bed with us. And if you want me to crawl into bed with you, I’m game.”

I scooted towards the other edge of the bed. “Save yourself having to change beds, and for the sake of my pride, maintain silence. We never speak of this ever again.”

“I won’t say a word,” he promised. “I’m going to take a quick shower, and then I’ll be back. Dad’ll be nearby if you need him, all right?”

“Bubble baths are better than showers.”

He laughed. “Would it make you happy if I took a bubble bath?”

“Only if you’re relaxing with a book.”

“I have your e-reader, and it’s waterproof. I’m sure there’s at least one good book on there,” he teased. “But I shall do as you wish and take a bubble bath with a book and relax for a while. I’ll even turn on the jets and the heaters and be properly spoiled.”

“We have a jet tub in here?”

“Fortune smiled upon us. This is a nice hotel, and I was willing to pay for a good room,” Bradley’s father said, and he laughed. “You want to take a bubble bath now, too, don’t you?”

“Yes,” I groaned, worming out from under the blanket and swinging my legs off the bed. I got up, leaned over, and grabbed Bradley’s hand before marching in the direction of the bathroom, dragging him along with me, although he didn’t put up a fight. He held me back long enough to grab my big purse, which had survived as promised. “Don’t wait up for us, Mr. Hampton.”

“I think I will enjoy a book and get some sleep. Just keep your bathtub adventures quiet. Bradley, if she takes a nap in the tub, make sure she doesn’t drown, get her into her pajamas, and tuck her in. There is birth control in your purse should you decide to indulge. Just keep that portion of your adventure quiet. I’m an old man with a weak heart.”

I halted, turned, and narrowed my eyes. “Do I need to do some work on you?”

“I’ve been seeing doctors appropriately, but you can satisfy yourself with a proper checkup after you’ve gotten sufficient sleep. So, yes you do, but it can wait. I have my medication, and I’m taking care.” Mr. Hampton got up, went to his briefcase, and pulled out an e-reader. “Have a good time, kids.”

I planned on it.

Bradley had gottenhimself an e-reader just like mine, and while we shed our clothes and shared a tub, I limited my display of interest in his person to snuggling close to his side while browsing my digital book collection. As I’d always expected, a lean man lurked beneath his clothes, and I looked forward to exploring him when exhaustion didn’t weigh me down. I’d grown so accustomed to medical staff seeing me in various stages of undress I’d forgotten how to be embarrassed without a thin barrier of clothes blocking his view of me.

Sometime after settling in with an old-fashioned western, I glanced up from my book and asked, “Have I ruined bikinis for you yet? We did that slightly out of order.”

“Bikinis are mysterious, and just because I’ve seen you naked does not mean the allure of a bikini has been ruined,” he replied without looking up from his book. “And right now, our clothing is in bubble format. I’m waiting for you to fall asleep so I can dry you off, wrangle you into your pajamas, and tuck you into bed. I have a slight advantage. I caught a nap on the plane. I figured rather than indulging in anxiety and apprehension, I would catch a few winks in case you were actually there. And look, you were. I’m surprised your mother was as laid back as she was, though.”

“Me, too. Your dad made it sound like she was really miffed with me.”

“Well, that’s the impression I was under, too. I’m thinking she was more miffed with me for not dragging you back home sooner.”

I would need to have a talk with my mother to make certain she didn’t actually have a problem with Bradley. “Well, it’s certainly not your fault. I did go to a dinner meeting with a senator. I invited trouble. I do deserve to be yelled at a little for that.”

“There are things I’d rather be doing than yelling at you over doing your job. I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something mutually beneficial, which will require we delve into the dark depths of your purse for the birth control our parents have been squirreling away in there. Also, I’m pretty sure there are more condoms than any one couple needs at one time in that thing. Considering I located your stash of various adult entertainment products under the bed, I think we’re covered across the board. I didn’t have the heart to tell our parents we already had a healthy supply of condoms.”

I giggled at the thought of our parents trying to send a hint about what they wanted us to be doing. “They’ve been putting condoms and birth control in my purse?”

“Yep. Since most of your guns are locked up at home, I think they wanted to fill the space with something else. I did manage to get Lenard to give me Prejudice. She’s in your purse. We even did all of her paperwork to get her into cargo on the plane, and when we arrived, we made sure she was in a locked case so we stayed legal until back in your possession. I have your Federal license with us; everyone who qualified was issued a permit. The cell laws override most state rules on concealed carry, so you’ll be able to keep her with you. I just couldn’t carry your gun on the plane.”

“That implies you could carry your gun on the plane.”

“It’s one of the perks of being in a cell. One of the downsides of being in a cell is that we can be recruited by law enforcement if needed. My mother got certain upgrades on our cell. Now that you’re back, we’ll be able to make use of them.”

“Upgrades? What upgrades?”

“The Federal concealed carry permit is one of them. It’s basically a fancy license that informs the states that they can’t charge us for having concealed weapons if we’re working. We’re currently listed as actively working on a case with jurisdiction in all states and US territories. That was issued after your kidnapping. We can also work with the FBI and local law enforcement if we think we might be onto a hot lead. Right now, we’re paper shuffling. We got access to the full files of the shootings a few weeks ago, so Beatrice and Mickey are working on making sense of it all. Once they’ve gone through everything, we’ll start at the very beginning and do a top to bottom of financials, the murder locations, and so on.”

“Wait, you got full access to the FBI’s files on the shootings?” Senator Westonhaus’s warnings stirred in my memories, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how it would benefit the government to give us more intel if they were behind the killings. “You have the financials of the victims?”

“Yeah, that one surprised me, too. Ultimately, the FBI is involved with the regulation of the cells, and they can opt to treat a cell as an unconventional group of agents, offering additional privileges. Since we check off so many of the general boxes for qualifications, we got upgraded. It also means the FBI might hand us cases they can’t investigate on their own. We’re supposed to handle one such case a year. We did one already.”

“You did? What sort of case?”

“It was doing some undercover work checking into a money laundering outfit. Pretty easy stuff, actually. We just had to go to the shops they’d identified while wired, then run the serial numbers of the cash we got to determine if the bills were stolen. Whenever we got confirmation of stolen cash, we’d do a few more hits to see if we got more stolen cash. Once we had enough proof of wrongdoing, the FBI would take over to gather additional evidence and close out the case. Not exactly glamorous work, but it benefited everybody. We got to see real investigations up close and personal, learn new tricks of the trade, and we got a few lessons on how to prepare to handle our own case. I think they want to use us as a test to see if the cells can be cultivated to become a functional branch of the FBI.” Bradley sighed, set his e-reader aside, and stretched out in the tub. “We have so much to bring you up to speed on.”

“Almost nine months.”

Bradley worked his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. “It’s pretty remarkable, really. You literally vanished without a trace. We’ve been searching for months, and nobody had been able to find a single clue about your whereabouts.”

“They had an illusionist.”

“A good one, apparently. I just don’t understand why. And to do so much work on your foot?”

I thought about that for a few minutes, relaxing against Bradley and lifting my battered right foot out of the bubbles so I could admire it and all of its scars. “I remember there being an infection, before they operated and fixed the whole thing. I went through at least two different rounds of antibiotics, and I guess whatever meds they were giving me did an even better job of disrupting my magic than the bracelet, since I turned that off whenever I tried to look at my foot. It was just something I couldn’t fight. I guess the only way to fix the infection was to cut my foot open? And at that point, if it was the group behind the murders, they had the right people needed to work a miracle, right?”

“It disturbs me that it’s entirely possible that’s the case—or you’ve been kidnapped multiple times without knowing it.”

“I only remember the one place.”

“But if an adept illusionist was working on you, they could have moved you around a lot and tricked you with illusions. A skilled illusionist can overwrite reality.”

I winced, as I hadn’t considered having been moved around. “They would have had to move all of the books, too. Those were real.”

“They were probably real,” he conceded. “Still, I resent I am somewhat grateful right now. You’re walking without a boot, and while I caught you limping, I think it was more out of habit than pain. You didn’t look like you were in a lot of pain. You looked like someone who had been on your feet a little too long and needed to take a load off, not like before.”

I bobbed my head in agreement. “I also resent my general gratitude. How dare these kidnappers make me be at all grateful?” I pointed at my foot. “I have new scars, and they’re beautiful.”

We spent several long minutes staring at my foot. Finally, Bradley nodded. “They do have a certain charm to them, don’t they?”

“I bet it’s going to hurt like a fucking bitch in the winter.”

“While I don’t want you to be in any pain, I look forward to being able to carry you around like you’re a princess. Our new apartment has a fireplace, so I will enjoy cuddling up with you in front of the fire while your feet warm up.”

“Wait. Our apartment has a what?”

“Fireplace.”

“Who did you rob to get an apartment in New York with a fireplace?”

“I didn’t rob anyone.” Bradley laughed. “Why do you think I robbed someone to get us an apartment with a fireplace?”

“We live in New York, and I have apartment hunted in New York before. I’d have better luck finding a unicorn. The unicorn is probably cheaper.”

“I will not dispute the cost factor. Our apartment is not cheap. It’s spacious, there’s a tub a lot like this one in it, and there is a fireplace. That tub is why I have this e-reader. I can read in the tub, and I’m looking forward to many a night of you reading in the tub with me.”

I gasped. “Don’t you be telling lies, Bradley Hampton.”

“We have a tub a lot like this, and there is a fireplace,” he repeated, and he grinned. “Once we are out of the tub, I’ll even show you pictures. I have some on my phone.”

I escaped from his hold, scrambled out of the tub, wrapped a towel around myself, and headed for the vanity to grab his phone, although I dried my hands off before picking it up. I figured out how to turn the display on after a bit of fiddling to discover I needed a code to access it. I walked over, dripping every step of the way, and held out the device. “Open.”

Laughing, he cooperated, tapping at the screen. Then he touched the screen a few more times and swiped. “There. That’s the album dedicated to our new home.”

I sat on the ledge and checked out the photographs, which showed a kitchen my mother would appreciate, a dining room with the kind of table his mother would like, a bedroom with a rather large bed, dresser, two desks, and a badass walk-in closet, two different offices, one of which resembled the study of a book-crazed scholar, a ridiculous living room with a stone fireplace gobbling up an impressive section of wall, and a bathroom with a tub larger than the hotel’s. “There is no way that’s an apartment.”

“I told people it was an apartment.”

“It’s a condominium, isn’t it?”

Bradley refused to look at me. “It could possibly be a condominium, but I’m calling it our apartment.”

“Is it on the upper floors of some ridiculously expensive building?”

“It’s not far from your work,” he replied.

“So, it’s on the upper floors of a ridiculously expensive building.”

“It comes with four parking spots.”

“Four?”

“Rich people have car fetishes,” Bradley muttered.

I stared at the pictures, swiping through to discover even more rooms, one of which had a grand piano. “How many condos did you buy so you could tear down the walls and make a larger home?”

“Why are you accusing me of buying several condos?”

“Because you have an entire music room with a rather large piano in it?” I swiped through more photos of the gallery. “And there are two rather large tubs in this place. The only thing out of place is the lack of a second kitchen. It looks like you merged two four-bedroom condos together to make a super condo.”

“The original kitchens were sharing a wall, so it was rather easy to merge them,” he admitted.

“So you did buy two condos and merge them?”

“That may have happened.” Bradley coughed. “My family hasn’t been to our place yet, as I refused to let anyone other than you see it next. So they think I live at some apartment, since I refuse to give them my address. They would show up and see it before you. I spent the first two months after you were kidnapped fixing the condo. I sparsely decorated it, hoping you’d rampage through the place and teach me the error of my ways.”

I chuckled at that, as even when I’d lived in the Hampton residence, we’d had vastly different ideas of how to decorate. Grand pianos, which he could play rather well, were more up his alley.

I liked books and magazines, and I hoarded them. I swiped to the picture of the office. “And this one is mine?”

“I figured you’d like a ridiculous number of books in your throne room.”

I snorted at that, checking out the pictures of the kitchen again. “The kitchen might be wasted on us.”

“Your mother keeps trying to teach me how to cook so her little girl won’t starve to death.”

“How is that working out for you?”

“We’re at high risk of starving to death,” he informed me in a solemn tone. “She’s thinking about sending me off to cooking boot camp. I’m not sure what that is, but I’m concerned.”

“Hell,” I informed him, thinking of several family friends who might be able to beat the basics of cooking into Bradley’s head. “You’re not allowed to tuck me in because you have to share my blanket with me.” I got up and went to work drying off and changing into my pajamas. “I’m sure you can come up with an acceptable alternative.”

“I have noticed you have not protested a single time I’ve held you, so I am going to continue this trend.” Bradley drained the tub, got out, and took the towel I offered to him. “We are going to make sure I can go into the bathroom without you, though.”

“I’m sure I can handle five or ten minutes of solitude without going mad. But I have found this lounging in the tub while reading to be to my liking. I even enjoyed the company.”

He snickered, and he changed into a pair of dark pajamas, a pair I recognized as one of his favorites. He bought a new pair every year, the exact same style and color, but he only threw them out when they became threadbare. “As a fair warning, my father will probably take pictures.”

I could live with that. “I’ve been under observation enough times at the hospital to not be bothered by this. Just don’t do anything terribly embarrassing.”

“What counts as terribly embarrassing?”

“Using me as a blanket is embarrassing.”

“You’d make an epic weighted blanket, though. I volunteer if you wish to take up a hobby as a living blanket.” Bradley opened the bathroom door and peeked out. “Were you making sure we didn’t fall asleep in the tub?”

“Not particularly. I was reading this thing called a book. Did Janette pass out?”

“I have not passed out,” I said. “But I’m about to.”

“Good. I’ve taken care of my calls, so we’ll get some sleep. How long do you need to be functional, Bradley?”

“Call it three hours.”

“I’ll set an alarm. Janette, you are under no obligation to get up when we do. We’re just trying not to completely pooch our sleep schedule. You probably don’t have a sleep schedule right now.”

“I really don’t.” I pushed Bradley out of the bathroom, headed for the empty bed, and crawled under the blanket. “I can probably handle being left alone for a few minutes. I’ve gotten quite good at it.”

“Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you should give us a demonstration,” Bradley’s father countered. “Also, I don’t care if you decide Bradley is a bed, just let me leave the room first if you have any other plans in mind.”

I laughed. “I think I can manage that much.”