Sunshades hid his eyes, but his lips curved in an easy smile as he pushed, with apparently inexhaustible patience, the little girl on the swing.
“He looks military,” Eve observed. “And like if anybody tried to mess with Bella, he’d chew them up, then spit out their gnawed bones.”
“Mavis took the body found here to heart. He’s as much bodyguard for Bella as nanny. More, I’d say.”
“Good then. That’s good.”
As she spoke, Bella spotted them.
“Das! Ork! Das! Ork!”
She tried to scramble out of the safety seat, then lifted her arms to August as she babbled with glee.
He hefted her, then with a nod to them, set her down so she could run.
When she reached them, Bella wrapped around Eve’s legs, then tried climbing up them.
“Okay. Okay.” Eve hauled her up, received wet, enthusiastic kisses in return.
“Wing! Wing with Aug.”
“Yeah, I got that.”
“Lieutenant, I’m August Fuller. Roarke, good to see you again.”
“Aug,” Bella said, beaming. “Wing Das, Aug. Wing Das!”
“Yeah, well, thanks, but we’ve got to work.”
“Aw!” She gave Roarke a side-eye with a flirtatious smile. “Wing, Ork.” Then patted his cheek.
“You’re hard to resist, darling, but I have to go with Dallas.”
“Aw.”
“Why don’t you show them how you can slide?”
“Whee!” She scrambled down. “See, see, see!” And ran to the little slide.
Eve thought of the dream she’d had where the child she’d been discovered the thrill of a slide.
Bella wouldn’t dream such dreams, she thought. Because she lived them.
She watched Bella climb the steps to the smallest slide, settle her butt, lift her hands high, and squeal all the way down. Laughing her crazy laugh, she raced around to do it all again.
“She’s a pistol, that girl. I won’t let anything happen to her, believe me. The kid stole my heart inside five minutes.”
“Are you from New York, Mr. Fuller?”
“Me, no. I’m from nowhere, really. But my son lives here, and I’m trying to make up for some lost time. You can’t get it back, but you can try to make up for it. Landed a bonus with Bella. She sure brings the sun to a cloudy day.
“Come say goodbye, Bella. Dallas and Roarke have to go to work. Good luck,” he added. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I know it’s something. So good luck.”
When they finally got away, Eve nodded. “He’s solid. Good choice. I figured if they ever went for somebody to help out there, it’d be some fresh-faced girl the kid would run all over and back again.”
“If they’d gone with fresh-faced, I believe she’d have had martial arts training and a security background.”
“You’re right. They’re careful. Now they’ll have two cops living on premises, a security system you designed, and this August guy in addition to the security team when Mavis has a gig.”
“Still you worry a bit.”
“Only because she does shit like she’s doing now.”
When they approached the gates, she paused, looked through them. “They’ve got actual grass now, and some of those flowery things Peabody’s been dying to put in. A couple trees.”
“Considerable work done on the backyard as well, and the interior. Still a work in progress, but progress is moving right along. Even a bit ahead of schedule, though that may change.”
He pressed the intercom, entered a code. “We’re at the gate. We walked.”
“Two seconds!” Mavis’s voice came through clear.
The gates opened, and once again taking Eve’s hand, Roarke walked through.
“They’ll want you to see some of that progress, before or after. Pressed for time, I know, but take a moment or two. Their hearts are in this place, and it shows already.”
“I don’t know how this is going to go, so I can’t promise. But I can say it all looks great, amazing, mag, whatever.”
“There’s a start.”
Mavis came out, stood on the porch as they walked up the drive. “You’re a little early, but they’re on their way. I promise. You can take a look around some, right? The kitchens are basically done. They’re both abso-mag.”
“Relax,” Eve ordered. “I gave my word.”
“I know, I know. I still got jitteries.”
She pulled Eve inside. “Looking good, right?”