Page 33 of Healing Hope
Hope’s laughter peeled, and she looked at Jess, head cocked. “Pigpen?”
“Yes,” she affirmed. “You are caked with dirt and rubber dust. You need a bath so bad I think your clothes will stand up in the corner when you take them off.”
She giggled until she dropped to the floor. “You’re crazy, Ms. Jess.”
Laughing, Jess crossed to one of the lower cupboards and grabbed a quart bag from a box, which she filled with ice. Then she returned to the table and handed it to Paul. “Your hand seems a little swollen. Have you iced it at all today?”
His grimace told her he hadn’t. “I was busy.”
“You need your hand. You shouldn’t be too busy to take care of your hand. Your only hand…” she emphasized. “Hold this until I come back.”
He took the bag, sighing. Probably because he knew she was right. Stubborn men.
She escorted Hope to her bathroom, but Hope hesitated. “Do you think I can take a bath in your tub?”
Jess looked down at the little girl’s dark head. “Absolutely. Get your nightclothes.”
Hope ran and retrieved a nightgown and panties. Jess went into her bathroom and started the bath, adding some lavender to the hot water.
“Oh, that smells good,” Hope said, leaning over the tub.
“Don’t fall in,” Jess cautioned. “I’ll be waiting outside.”
Hope turned around. “Um, do you mind staying in here with me?”
Jess tried to keep the surprise off her face. The poor kid was probably having flashbacks from the night before. Wow, had it only been one day? “I can do that.”
So, while Hope played in the water and scrubbed the black grime from her body, Jess sat guard on the toilet. Surreptitiously, she observed the girl, but didn’t see any reason why she hadn’t wanted them in before.
“Hope, I want to thank you for trusting me with your safety in here.”
Hope swirled her hand through the water. “I didn’t like Viktor. He tried to get in the bathroom with me once, and Mom smacked him. She told me never to let any boy in the bathroom with me.”
Jess gave a single nod. “Sound advice.”
Kneeling on the floor beside the tub, Jess helped Hope wash her dark hair, then rinse it. Holding the towel open, she waited as Hope stepped out, then wrapped her up like a burrito. They were giggling as they entered Jess’s bedroom.
“Can I sleep in the living room tonight?”
Jess paused from holding out the nightshirt. “Let’s ask your dad, okay?”
Nodding, Hope lifted her arms into the nightgown. Her skin was still a little damp, so the fabric stuck a little, but they got it.
Paul was still in the kitchen, hand wrapped around the ice bag. He smiled when they entered. “Well, you certainly smell better,” he told Hope, sniffing the air.
Giggling, Hope ran at him and flung her arms around his neck. Paul winced, but he didn’t let her see. “Are you ready for bed, sprite?”
Hope burrowed into his shoulder. “I don’t know if I want to stay in my room tonight. Can we sleep in the living room? Sophie and I?”
Paul pushed her back a little with the prosthetic. “If you feel you need to, but I don’t think you do. We have more police officers in the area tonight, and your window is wedged shut and locked. I have a guy coming tomorrow to install a new camera on your window. I believe you’ll be safe.”
“But they haven’t found him,” she whispered.
Jess wasn’t going to step in, but if Hope wanted to sleep with her she wouldn’t argue. She wasn’t sure she wanted to sleep with the dog, though…
“Hope,” Paul said, voice low. “Do you have any idea why Viktor would be looking for you, if it was him?”
Hope cocked her head to the side. “He probably wanted to know where Mom put the money. I don’t think he really wanted me.”