Edge of Danger (San Antonio Security #2)

Chapter Eight

“Happy birthday, dear Walker...” Tessa leaned over to kiss her son’s forehead. “Happy birthday to you.”

She snuggled him a little closer, laughing at herself for even thinking of singing Happy Birthday to a five-month-old.

“It’s your five-month birthday,” she whispered with another kiss before putting him in his highchair. It was brand new, one of many things Brax had purchased over the past two weeks. “You’re getting to be such a big boy now.”

Walker waved his fists, smiling from ear to ear. Even if he couldn’t understand what she was saying, she could tell he liked the sound of her voice.

So she talked to him all day long. Anything to make him happy. It didn’t hurt that it made her happy too. When she wasn’t talking to the baby, she was singing. Every song she knew, one after the other.

Not only because he enjoyed it, but because she did too. It had been so long since she’d sang or had any reason to sing. Being with Walker gave her that reason.

More than that. It was feeling safe in a beautiful home set on lots of land without a neighbor in sight. Plenty of trees, tons of sunshine. Room inside to move around. No sense of claustrophobia, no sounds and smells from neighbors on five sides of her apartment.

This was exactly the sort of home she’d always wanted. It was like living in a happy dream. Waking up, caring for her son, loving him openly.

And Brax. He was great too.

Not that she loved him. Not even close. But being around him was wonderful. There was somebody to look forward to seeing at the end of the day. To say good-night to before heading to bed. Somebody to share Walker’s latest superhuman achievement with.

Because they’d agreed early on that Walker was the smartest and most talented child who had ever existed in the history of the world.

The thought made her smile as she fixed herself breakfast. Brax had left earlier than usual—she liked to at least have coffee with him in the morning to go over Walker’s schedule. When she should expect him home, whether he should pick up anything at the store along the way.

The simplest, most mundane conversations. Yet they meant the world to her.

“I was lonely for a long time, buddy.” She glanced over at Walker, who was in the process of trying to eat his fist. “I didn’t know how lonely until now, since I’m not lonely anymore. Now I can see.”

She could also see why it had been so easy for Robert to get her into bed. He’d probably spotted a big old target in the middle of her forehead when they’d met. No challenge whatsoever.

It had been that way since the accident. Losing one parent would have been rough enough, she guessed, but both at once? At the age of twenty? She’d been thrust into a new life overnight.

No more comfortable house. No more family dinners. No more security. No more love.

Walker banged his fists on his tray, happy with himself. The noise shook her from dark thoughts. “You’re into making noise lately, aren’t you?”

He banged on the tray again like he was answering her. “You know, your timing is uncanny sometimes.”

The phone rang after lunch. Brax’s landline, so old-fashioned in a way, but helpful since she’d broken her phone. He checked in at least once a day to see if everything was okay.

She realized on answering that she had even come to look forward to these little calls.

“Hi.” There was no wiping away her goofy smile. Good thing he couldn’t see her.

“Hey.” His deep, rich voice held a touch of laughter in it. He was almost always in a good mood. Charming, funny. Pretty much the polar opposite of Robert. “How’s it going there?”

“The usual. Plenty of peace and quiet now that Super Walker is down for a nap. He’ll be an excellent drummer someday, I think. Great rhythm when he’s banging things together.”

“Remind me to never pick up a drum set.”

She giggled. “Pots and pans. Wooden spoons. You do the math.”

“I was never much good at math.” They shared a laugh. “Hey, I meant to tell you. I took your phone over to a guy who runs a shop a few blocks from here. He said it should be fine in a couple of days.”

“He’ll fix it for me?”

“Well, for me,” he chuckled. “We’ve done a little security work for him in the past. He said he sees phones like that all the time and can almost always fix them up.”

“Wow. It was so sweet of you to go to the trouble.”

“No trouble at all. Just think, you’ll be able to take some time away from the house now since you’ll have a phone you can use to get in touch if you need anything.”

Right. Because that was her excuse to stick close to Walker. Not having a car was one thing—Brax had already offered to lend her his car if she wanted it.

Not having a phone was another. There weren’t pay phones on every block like there’d been in the old days.

Brax, being the protective man he was, hated the idea of her going out without a way to call if the car broke down or some catastrophe occurred.

Being the absolute sweetheart he was, he thought about her comfort and happiness all the time. As if they truly mattered. And he was dead set on her taking time for herself, not knowing she had nowhere to go and no one to see.

“Thanks,” she said, though her heart wasn’t quite in it. The fact that she was afraid to be out of Walker’s presence for even a little while didn’t lessen the kind gesture, so she injected a little sunshine into her voice. “I’ll owe you a special dinner tonight to make up for it.”

He groaned. “You’re speaking my language, though I don’t see how you have the energy after taking care of the baby and the house.”

She was used to being on her feet all day, waiting tables and cleaning houses and doing anything else she could to make ends meet. Walker was still at the stage where he slept a lot, giving her time to check off her daily tasks without a problem.

“So, what’s for dinner?” he asked.

“It’s a surprise,” she teased. “So don’t be late.”

“I love surprises. See you at six fifteen on the dot,” he promised before hanging up.

She clutched the handset to her chest with a grin as she remembered how surprised Brax had been that first night she’d scrounged around the kitchen looking for dinner ingredients, hoping for inspiration. He’d gotten used to a lot of frozen meals and takeout, evidenced by the number of packages in the freezer and containers in the fridge. The aroma of a home-cooked dinner had practically sent him drooling.

It was a pleasure for her to watch him as he enjoyed her cooking. She knew she was a good cook thanks to the time in the kitchen bonding with her mother once she was tall enough to reach the stove. It felt good knowing she could provide a little something for him after he’d given her so much.

He would never know how much he’d given her. He couldn’t know.

The knowledge that this wasn’t real always sat at the back of her mind. He could find out about her at any time. It was why her heart leapt every time the phone mounted on the kitchen wall rang.

He could be calling to say hello, or he could be calling to say goodbye, to tell her to get her things together and get out.

As it was, he’d been suspicious when she’d suggested he pay her in cash every week. “I don’t like paying the check and direct deposit fees at the bank.” She’d shrugged. “Every penny counts.”

He’d let it go without questions, though it had been clear from his frown that he thought it was strange. How many more strange things could she say or do without him demanding answers? Soon he would want to know why he hadn’t heard anything from the agency about paperwork.

Which was why she’d keep her head down and save every cent she could. Eventually, she’d have enough money to hire somebody who could clear her name—ironically, San Antonio Security was exactly the sort of business to do something like that.

It was impossible. She couldn’t even hint at needing their help. They would take Walker away. She couldn’t lose him again.

But she couldn’t fool Brax forever. The sooner she had enough money saved, the better. What if Robert decided to come back all of a sudden? That would be the end of everything.

And it could happen at any time. The sense of an anvil hanging over her head followed her wherever she went. It could drop whenever, wherever.

Walker’s soft cries from his crib filtered through the monitor. It was like he felt her thoughts sometimes. He had a way of breaking in before she went really dark and depressed herself.

After changing him, she picked up a blanket and walked him downstairs. “Let’s go outside and get some fresh air and sunshine.” That was what she needed, a way of recharging her spirits.

It was their late afternoon ritual. He’d wake up from his nap, and they’d lie out on the blanket for a while basking in the sunshine. It was the only sort of life she wanted to live. Lazy afternoons with her son enjoying the last of the sun’s rays before getting dinner started.

And saying hello to the man of the house when he got home.

Tessa flinched when the hair along the back of her neck stood straight up. She raised a hand to the area, rubbing like that would help ward off the sudden chill.

Walker continued gazing up at the clouds and babbling while she sat up, her head on a swivel. There was nobody out there. No neighbors near enough to make out their houses in the distance. No passing or parked cars.

Why did it feel like there was somebody watching her?

She hadn’t felt this way since Eagle Pass. Her instincts had been dead-on then, and those same instincts were screaming at her now. But Eagle Pass was more than two weeks behind her. There hadn’t been any trouble since the night she’d spent at the office when those two men had come looking for her.

“I’m letting my imagination run away with me,” she murmured to Walker, still scanning the horizon in all directions. “Come on. Let’s go back into the house.”

Even if it was nothing more than her overactive imagination—and it had to be—she rushed Walker inside and locked the door behind them.