Chapter 8: The Bill

I sat on the edge of Poppy's bed and took the phone out of her hands.

"Why did you call him, baby?"

"Because you locked the doors," she said. "And he said if you ever locked me out, to call."

"I didn't lock you out."

"He said you would."

I put my arm around her, and she was shaking.

"Daddy was shouting," she said.

"He was. That wasn't your fault."

"Is Mr. Reddick hurt?"

"A little. I'm going to fix it."

I stayed until she slept again.

Then I went downstairs and found Torsten in my kitchen.

He was sitting on a hard chair with a dish towel pressed to his mouth.

I had not invited him in. He had come in anyway and had the grace to look sorry about it.

"Sit," I said, and he was already sitting.

I got the first aid kit from the pantry, the real one, and pulled a chair up in front of him.

"Move the towel."

He moved it.

His lip was split at the corner, and a bruise had started along the jaw.

I cleaned it with a swab. He didn't flinch once.

"You're good at this," he said.

"It's my job."

"I know."

"That makes this a call-out," I said. "I'll add it to my bill."

"Your bill?"

"We had terms. No favors. No rescuing. You took a punch for me, and I'm not paying you for that."

His mouth twitched, and I pressed the swab down harder.

"I wasn't rescuing you," he said. "I was getting a drunk man off my street."

"You stood between us."

"Yes."

Keep reading free with an account. Start A Happy Family Without Me from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.