He walked across the room to turn her lamp on. This room had a ceiling fan, but no overhead light. He could probably add a light kit to it for Dox as one small way to help earn their keep.
She rolled over and mumbled something, finally bringing a genuine smile to his face. Like him, JJ wasn’t a morning person. “Hey, sweetheart. Rise and shine.”
She squinted at him. “Daddy, why’s my room weird?”
He sat on the edge of her bed. “We’re staying at Uncle Dox’s now. The sinkhole last night.”
Her eyes widened and she gasped. “The ground ate your truck!”
The snort escaped, and it felt good to have that moment of levity. “Yeah, it kinda did, didn’t it?”
“Can we live here for good?”
He knew Dox wouldn’t let him talk about moving right now, but realistically, he knew they couldn’t impose on him indefinitely. “We’re going to live here for a while,” he opted for. “I’m not sure how long. I’m going to have to get another truck, and our budget took a huge hit with this.”
“I want to live here with Uncle Dox. Why do we have to move anywhere else?”
He reached out and combed his fingers through her blonde tresses as he looked into her blue eyes. His little girlie-girl. She loved pink and dresses and princesses and unicorns, but she also liked getting her hands dirty.
“Youdon’t,” Dox said from the doorway. When Hank looked, he saw Dox had pulled on a bathrobe. He stood there, an unreadable expression in his eyes, his arms crossed as he leaned against the doorframe. “You’re living here withme,permanently, and that’sit,” he quietly said.
Ancient feelings washed through Hank, partly memories, of other times Dox basically laid down the law to him, although he was never an asshole about it, and Hank just…happily went along with it.
JJ jumped out of bed and ran over to him, throwing her arms around his legs in a hug. “I love you, Uncle Dox!”
He picked her up and hugged her, but his gaze was still focused over her shoulder and on Hank as he hugged her. “Love you, too, sweetie. Not going to let anything happen to either of you. You need to get ready for school. I’m going to take Daddy to work, and then I’ll take you to school.”
She gasped. “Are you going to pick me up from Miss Eliza today?” She smiled. “You can see me in class!”
He firmly nodded. “Yep. Until Daddy can get another vehicle, I am officially your chauffeur, princess.”
“What does that mean?”
He laughed and set her down. “I’m driving you.”
He turned and walked into his own bedroom, closing the door behind him while Hank located and set out clothes for her. He heard the master bathroom shower start and wondered if Dox had even poured his own coffee yet.
“Get dressed, sweetie, and then I’ll make you breakfast.” He headed to the kitchen and found not one, but two coffee mugs sitting there, ready and waiting, along with a spoon and the coffee fixings.
He knew Dox liked his coffee light and sweet, so he poured his first, prepared it, and carried it down the hall and through the bedroom, where he knocked on the master bathroom door. “Coffee.”
“Just bring it in, thanks.”
Hank opened the door, steam already swirling through the room. Couldn’t see anything through the opaque shower curtain anyway, though, so he set the coffee mug on the counter next to the sink. “Here you go.”
Dox’s head appeared around the end of the shower curtain. He smiled. “Thank you. See? I’ve never had a morning coffee server before. You want to pay me back? You can do that for me every morning.”
Hank laughed. Leave it to Dox to try to lighten the mood. “Sure. Suppose you want breakfast, too?” But Hank smiled, even though he felt exhausted.
“Oooh, now you’re talking, buddy.” He waggled his eyebrows at him. “See? I’m easy to keep happy. This is perfect. I won’t even make you be a cabana boy around the pool. Just morning coffee and breakfast.”
Hank laughed again, a little louder this time. This felt easy and…right. If Dox was joking around with him, thingshadto be copacetic, didn’t they?
“Sure, I can do that for you.” He turned to go check on JJ’s progress.
* * * *
Maddox watched through the small gap between the shower curtain and the wall as Hank turned and left the bathroom.
