Psy & Changelings 09 - Play of Passion

she tugged a little at his hair, making him look up. “You don’t fit the hierarchy, Andrew.”

CHAPTER 19
    Almost no one called him Andrew. He felt like a little boy again. “That’s not my fault.”
    “Oh?” An arch sound. “You knew exactly what you were doing from the instant you learned to walk. What that pup just tried? The Great Escape? Well, you succeeded nine times out of ten, and you did it by being so completely sweet and well behaved that no one thought to keep an eye on you.” Another tug, a little harder. “Do you know how many times I had to go chasing after you?”
    “Sorry?” Making a contrite face, he finally got to his feet, Tarah’s hand sliding away to curl around his upper arm.
    “No, you’re not.” A small laugh, but her eyes had turned solemn. “I like you, Andrew,” she said, “and I like the way you sound when you speak about my girl.”
    Andrew touched the hand she had on his arm. “I’d do anything for her.”
    Tarah looked at him for long moments. “Your mama used to call you her ‘loving baby.’”
    “Yeah?” Andrew’s throat grew thick. “What was Riley?”
    “Her stubborn baby.” Tarah smiled. “Brenna was her sunny baby.”
    “She had us pegged.” Andrew couldn’t hold Tarah’s gaze anymore, his own misting over. Turning his head, he stared unseeing at the children.
    Tarah didn’t speak for long moments, but when she did, it wasn’t about his mother. “Do you know my Evangeline?”
    Glad for the change of subject, he said, “Sure.” He had an impression of long black hair, deep gray eyes, and the slender body of a ballerina. “She used to play with Bren when they were young.” The two girls had drifted apart as their interests diverged, but they still went to the occasional movie together when Evie was in the den. “She’s away at college at the moment, isn’t she?”
    “Yes, but she’ll be visiting in a couple of weeks.” Squeezing his arm, she looked up. “Evie was a fragile child—spent weeks at a time in the hospital. She didn’t really come into her own until she was about thirteen.”
    Knowing Indy as he did, Andrew immediately saw what Tarah was trying to tell him. Indigo, with her strength and her will, would’ve tried to take as much of the burden off her parents’ shoulders as she could—but Tarah’s expression said it was more than that. “Was Evie ever in danger of dying?”
    “More than once.” Solemn words. “And my Indigo, she loves her sister. It tore her apart each time Evangeline was taken to the hospital.”
    Out of that fire had been forged the steel of Indigo’s nature. She loved her sister, her family, but she wouldn’t easily allow anyone else close enough to create that depth of vulnerability in her heart. “Thank you, Tarah.” Because he and Indy, it wasn’t only about sex. They’d been locked together by the bonds of friendship long before he’d dared reach for her heart. And maybe, just maybe, she was running scared because somewhere deep within, she understood that he’d never be a lover who’d allow her to keep a safe emotional distance.
    Tarah brushed a leaf that had fallen onto his arm with the absentminded touch of a mother. “I think you need to meet another member of our family, too.”
    He caught something hidden in that statement. “Who?”
    “No,” Tarah said after a thoughtful pause, releasing his arm. “Pass the first hurdle, then we’ll talk about the second.”
    He wanted to pursue the oblique hint, but Tarah’s tone made it clear she wouldn’t be pushed. However, reaching up, she cupped his cheeks and, when he bent his head, brushed his hair off his face with a maternal hand. “You’ll do, Andrew.” A finger tapping on his nose. “Just don’t drive my girl too crazy.”
    Andrew grinned, suddenly lighthearted. Indigo was very close to her mother; Tarah could’ve put a serious spanner in the works. Instead, she was looking at him with exasperated affection. “You know me too well, Tarah.”
    “Scamp.” Shaking her head, she commandeered him to play with the pups.
    Delighted with the whole world at that moment, with hope a blinding brilliance inside of him, he obeyed without protest.
     
     
    Indigo couldn’t believe she was considering Drew’s invitation. Staring at the piece of paper she’d retrieved minutes after she’d crushed it and that had been taunting her since, she shoved it into her pants pocket for the umpteenth time. “Again,” she said to the