I let Lou off the lead and nod towards the bed. Without a second thought, she launches up and onto where Kinsley peacefully lays. I have to hold back a chuckle; in any other situation, it would be hilarious, but right now, knowing Jesse could be in danger and remembering the last time I was in this room, it’s anything but.

“Huh?” she mutters, shielding her face from the dog’s morning kisses. “Down, Lou. That’s enough,” Kinsley scolds.

Slowly, I step further into the room. “Pip?”

“Tanner?” She almost jumps out of her skin at the sound of my voice. “Where is Jesse? Why –”

Deciding we don’t have time to fluff around, I get straight to the point. “Jesse is in trouble, we need to go.” My voice comes out a little too hard for my liking and confusion is written all over her features. Softening my tone, I try again. “I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”

She narrows her brows together but nods slowly. From her drawers to my left I pull out a pair of jeans and a hoodie. Tossing them onto her bed.

“Throw these on and meet me downstairs. Come, Lou.”

Kinsley meets me downstairs in a matter of seconds and I jerk my chin towards the front door. She follows silently, not at all like the girl who last followed me out this door. I hate this distance between us, knowing that she feels uncomfortable in this situation and not being able to comfort her is a test I hadn’t prepared for.

As hard as the past few weeks have been, I was able to suppress the urges to come storming back into her life whether she wanted me to or not. Now she is within my reach, it’s not going to be long before I snap. Something tells me that our lives are changing today. What I can’t pin point is, if the changes are going to be for better or worse.

I need to prepare her for what she is about to see. My body tenses at the thought of causing her pain. Where do I even begin? Do I tell her about the last communication I had with Jesse, how he could barely string a sentence together? There is also the part about her dad … She is about to see him again for the first time in fourteen years, the man whom they had a funeral for, and whom she has grieved since she was a little girl.