No Quick Fix (Torus Intercession 1)

The four of us took a seat in the living room, the girls on the couch, Emery and I sitting on the coffee table in front of them.

“All right,” Emery began, taking a breath. “Let me begin by saying—”

“You kissed Brann,” Olivia told him.

He nodded. “Yes. Yes, I did.”

“Does that mean you’re going to only kiss him now and not Lydia?”

“Uhm, well, yes,” he answered, squinting at his youngest. “That’s exactly what that means.”

“So are you still going to marry Lydia?”

“No, I’m not.”

“And do we get to live here?” Olivia asked, hands in her lap, waiting.

“Yes, but—”

“Will Brann live here too?”

“Well, honey, Brann lives here now.”

“That’s not what she asked,” April clarified, almost sharply, eyes boring into her father. “She asked you if Brann would live here, and what she meant by that was, would he live here with us, instead of going back to Chicago?”

He turned to me. “Is that what you got from that?”

I smiled at him before I leaned forward to give Olivia my undivided attention. “I would very much like to live here with you and your sister and your father and Winston forever, if that would be okay with you.”

Her grin was instant before she scrambled up off the couch, stood, and then launched herself at me like a missile.

I caught her easily, stood up and hugged her tight, and the feeling that came over me, that she belonged to me, that now she was my daughter too, made it hard to breathe.

“So will you get married?” April asked Emery.

“Yes.”

“And Brann will sleep in bed with you like Mommy used to?”

“Yes, he will.”

She was quiet a moment. “And we can just keep calling him Brann?”

“You can call him whatever you want as long as it’s not dude or jerk or—you get my meaning,” he informed her, being as serious as she was.

“Will he adopt us?”

“Why would you ask that?”

“Because I listened when you talked to the lawyer, and you made sure that Lydia couldn’t adopt us. Will you let Brann?”

He coughed softly. “I would very much like Brann to adopt you and be your legal guardian just like I am.”

She nodded. “I would like that too.”

“Me too,” Olivia said, her hands on my face as she stared at me. “Do you want to be my legal guardian?”

I nodded quickly, voice gone.

“Brann wants to do that too,” she said authoritatively, speaking for me.

“Can we still have a wedding?” April asked her father.

“I would like that.”

“But only in the backyard maybe, and just us… and Mom.”

Emery gasped. “Mom?”

April nodded. “I think Brann was right when he said that a part of her was still here in me and Ollie and you, and I think she would like it if you got married ’cause I think she would like Brann.”

My eyes overflowed, and Olivia wiped away my tears and told me not to cry and then hugged me again.

Emery bent and April stood at the same time, and he wrapped her up in his arms so tight she made a noise like he squeezed out all her air before she started laughing.

After long moments, I passed him Olivia and sank down in front of April.

“You didn’t like me at first.”

“Only at the very first,” she corrected me, sliding her hand up on my shoulder. “But it went away superfast.”

“It did. You’re right.”

She was studying my face, checking for something.

“April, honey, I—”

“I love you, Brann,” she said, stepping into me, arms around my neck. “I was going to be really sad when you left, so this is way better. And Daddy has really warm blankets on his bed, better than the ones in your room, so you’re gonna like sleeping with Daddy.”

Of that I had no doubt.

“And I think I should go to Chicago with you when you go and get your stuff so you don’t get lost on your way home.”

“I think that’s a great idea.” I sighed, squeezing her tight.

“Brann, I can’t breathe.”

I let her go just a little.

“Liam heard his Daddy talking to somebody on the phone, and they said that Brann was going to be the new sheriff. Is that true?”

All of us were staring at April.

“Well? Is it true?”

Hedging, I said, “Possibly.”

“I hope so. That would be awesome,” April said excitedly.

“It would be so badass!” Olivia squealed.

“Pardon me?” Emery said to his daughter. “What did you just say?”

“Ohmygod, Dad, I’m taking karate, and the sheriff is one of my parents!” She cackled evilly, and I, for one, had no idea she could make a noise like that—it was a little scary.

I exchanged a quick glance with Emery, who cleared his throat. “You guys wouldn’t be worried that Brann might get hurt? I mean, what if somebody shot at him?”

Olivia squinted at her father. “In Ursa?”

Even a six-year-old knew there was nothing to be worried about. And yes, famous last words and everything else, and we’d all heard about people coming back from some of the scariest places in the world only to be killed five blocks from home. But this wasn’t the same. A sleepy mountain town in Montana was a place to be careful in but not paranoid.