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But he broke your heart, Juniper. Don’t ever forget that.
I take a deep breath and walk calmly through the great room to the massive pine double doors. I open the left one to find Callum with his back to me, looking out over the front yard.
He turns around and I swear he looks a little disappointed to see me standing there but that does nothing to stop a thrill from rushing through me, spurred by how handsome he is, despite the frown on his face.
“Preston and Joshua aren’t here,” I say since he’s clearly not here to visit me.
“Wasn’t looking for them. Actually, I was kind of hoping no one was home.”
I frown at that cryptic statement. “Then what are you doing here?”
“Snooping,” he says, so matter-of-factly that I almost don’t believe I heard him correctly. But he adds before I can ask, “I want to look at the back patio and see where my mom fell. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
“And you rang the doorbell to see if anyone was home so you wouldn’t get caught,” I guess.
“Don’t give a fuck if I get caught,” Callum says, his expression sour. “I have as much right to be here as anyone. Just didn’t want to spook someone and get shot.”
I can’t help but smile. “I wouldn’t have shot you.” Stepping back from the door, I sweep my arm in a silent gesture of welcome. “Go ahead and take a look.”
Callum steps over the threshold, moving with confidence through the great room where he’ll take the extra wide but gently curving spiral staircase down to the basement level. The Willard home sits on elevated ground with the back patio extending from the bottom floor out into the yard.
As I follow him down, he asks, “Were you here when it happened?”
“I was at work, but Preston called me after the ambulance left. I went straight to the hospital.”
“Was Joshua here?” Callum asks as he steps off the staircase.
“He was,” I answer without hesitation. I’ve got nothing to hide and if Callum has suspicions about his mother’s injury, he’s probably not wrong. Joshua learned his abusive behavior from his dad.
Back when Callum and I were together, he would always pour out his worries to me about what went on behind closed doors in this house. I knew that Lila sported the same types of bruises I’m currently covering and it broke my heart to see how helpless Callum felt because his mother would never admit anything.
I know what he was seeing, though. Once I married Joshua and moved into this house, I heard the same rancid arguments behind closed doors between Preston and Lila. I saw the bruising and the luxury gifts of apology, and most disturbingly, how she’d glow after getting those gifts along with a doting husband for a few weeks.
Never thought the same thing would happen to me.
Well, not exactly the same thing. I don’t accept Joshua’s gifts and there is no afterglow following his apologies. Hell, these days… he doesn’t even apologize. Merely gloats.
Callum unlocks, then opens the French door that leads onto black slate stones that make up the patio. The deck from the main floor is overhead and shades the area. He traverses two small steps and then he’s staring at the area where Lila fell. I mean, he can’t know it’s the exact spot—even I don’t know that—but Preston said it appeared she fell from the steps. All the patio furniture is set farther away and she didn’t hit that.
I stand at the doorway and watch as he looks around. Head tipping back, his gaze focuses on one of the many security cameras installed on the property. Preston is almost paranoid when it comes to protecting what’s his and there are cameras not only outside but in the main living areas as well.
“Seems to me,” Callum murmurs, his eyes locked onto the camera, “that I can finally find out what happened.” He then turns his attention to me. “Do you know how to access the feed?”
Swallowing hard, I nod. I don’t think to lie because it’s not in my nature, but I don’t want to get involved. Joshua is already going to be livid when he finds out I let Callum into the house, but if I were to lead him to potentially incriminating evidence…
A full-body shudder overtakes me and Callum notices. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I mutter. “I’m not sure Preston would want me—”
Callum moves fast, his hand going to my arm. “Juniper… you live in this house so I know you know that there’s a good chance my mom was seriously hurt at Preston’s hands. How can you not help me?”
My stomach rolls over on itself because he’s right… how can I not? While I might not proactively search out the truth, knowing deep down that Lila would never do anything about it anyway, her son is a different matter. Callum will take things into his own hands and mete out justice, and for some reason, that doesn’t bother me.
I turn and head back up the staircase. I hear Callum close and lock the door, then he’s following me.
Next to Preston’s office is a small room that houses all the IT automation equipment that runs the home. There’s a small desk with a server and a computer that controls the security system.
“Do you have the login credentials?” Callum asks, following me inside after I turn on the overhead fluorescent light.
