There was only one cab on the entire island, and the driver, Shorty, took more days off than he spent on. “You don’t have to do that. Really. I’ll be fine. Promise.”

Griffin kept his hand extended. “Keys.”

I sighed, pulling my keys from my purse. “How quickly we return to one-word sentences and grunts.”

Griffin plucked the keys from my hand. “Get in, smartass.”

“Ooooooh, three words. Maybe all isn’t lost.”

Griffin climbed into my SUV and pushed the driver’s seat way back. “I speak when I have something to say. I don’t waste words.”

I buckled my seat belt as we backed out of the parking space. “That’s actually pretty profound. You should think about writing poetry.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

“I’m shocked.”

I drummed my fingers against my knees as Griffin drove, as if the action could make Big Bertha go faster. Griffin reached out, resting a hand over my overactive fingers. “They’re fine.”

I licked my lips and nodded. “I know. I just need to lay eyes on them.”

“I get that. But dial back the panic, or they’ll be freaked.”

He was right. I closed my eyes for a brief moment, doing a yoga breathing exercise. As my eyes opened, Griffin squeezed my hand. “There you go.”

When his hand slipped away, I felt the loss instantly. I cleared my throat. “I’m still going to hug them extra tight.”

Griffin’s lips twitched. “That’s fair.”

As we pulled into the elementary school parking lot, I caught sight of my tiny terrors waiting with a teacher. Mia was dancing around, Ava had her nose in a book, but Will…he was on guard. There were no other words to describe it. His gaze worked in a constant pattern, surveying his surroundings. When he caught sight of the SUV, his already tense posture straightened even more.

Crap on a cracker. Will had been worried. I let a slew of colorful curses fill in my mind. The last thing I wanted to do was give the boy one more thing to worry about.

Griffin pulled to a stop in front of our crew, and we hopped out. As soon as Mia saw Griffin, she flew at him. “Griffin!”

He caught her as she launched herself at him. “Hey, Little Bit.”

“Miss Shepard, this is my giant, Griffin. He has magic.”

Miss Shepard’s eyes twinkled as she smiled at Mia. “You were lucky to find him then, weren’t you?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “The luckiest.”

I stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Ava. “I’m so sorry I’m late. There was an issue at the store, and I got held up.”

Will’s eyes narrowed at my words, but Miss Shepard waved me off. “Not a problem at all. You let me put off some paperwork for another few minutes.”

“Thank you for sitting with them.”