I hate how quiet my voice is, but I can’t help it with all the attention directed toward me.
“Are you okay?” Ava asks, her voice evening out.
“I’m fine. I’m sososorry,” I tell her, walking over to the kitchen to grab Evee from her.
“Good,” she turns to Jack and Anderson. “But that doesn’t explain why my front door is on the floor,” Ava says, her voice still calm but in no way polite. She turns back to me. “And stop apologizing.”
She passes a sleeping Evee to me, the movement making her open her eyes for a moment before she closes them again, resting her head on my shoulder as I hold her with both arms.
“Sorry, miss. We were here to do a routine fire inspection when we heard the alarm,” Anderson explains.
“And it’s ‘routine’ to kick in the door when you do these fire inspections?” she asks him.
“Well, no,” he answers. “But, we tried knocking and when?—”
“She wasn’t answering, and I heard her scream,” Jack interjects firmly, and all eyes go to him. “I needed to make sure she was okay.”
With a slight raise to her brow as she looks him up and down, Ava nods her head—his answer must be enough of an explanation for her even though it confuses the hell out of me.
He knocked down the door when he heard me scream?
He makes it sound so simple, as if it doesn’t make my insides feel warm.
“So it’s you who gets to fix it then,” Ava says, and it comes out as a statement rather than a question.
“Already promised to do so,” Jack replies.
Ava turns to head to her bedroom, leaning in to whisper something to me as she passes. “I’m sure he did.”
My cheeks heat as her bedroom door closes, leaving the three of us in the kitchen—four if you count Evee. Her hair smells like a mix of chlorine and her tangerine-scented shampoo, and her soft breath tickles the skin on my neck.
“I just need to make sure you have a fire extinguisher,” Jack quickly says, breaking the silence. “Then, we’ll be on our way.”
“Oh, it’s under the sink,” I offer, and he gives me a nod.
Anderson’s only a few steps away, so he leans down and checks, before standing to his full height and giving a thumbs up. “Then we’re good to go,” the fireman says. “Thanks for your time.” He starts heading toward the front, but Jack makes no effort to move.
Jack watches me carefully, his eyes going from mine to where Evee’s head rests on my shoulder, the weight of her bringing the collar of my crewneck down, revealing my collarbone.
After slowly blowing out an exaggerated breath, I hear Anderson say, “I’ll just wait in the car.” He stretches out the words, and, by his tone, I can tell he knowssomethingis going on—even though I couldn’t even begin to explain what thatsomethingis. He bends to grab a fire extinguisher I didn’t even realize they brought in before making his escape, stepping over the door on the ground and heading outside.
A few moments pass, and the intensity of Jack’s stare begins to weigh on me, making me feel too exposed, like a wide-open book, all the pages on display for anyone to see.
I feel my grip tighten around Evee, the same way it had yesterday morning when Jack was staring at me at Hey Honey’s. Something about it feels veryforward, like he is looking for parts of me I have hidden away.
“Where did you get that?” Jack finally asks, and I don’t know what he’s talking about at first.
I follow his gaze, looking down at my exposed skin, the raised reddish scar across the front of my shoulder to my collarbone. “It’s from the accident,” I answer. “The one I mentioned last night.”
The scar is a constant reminder of Trevor’s palm against the side of my face, my bruised knuckles squeezing the wheel, thecontractions making my vision go blurry, the impact of my car against the tree.
“I went into labor while I was driving. It was on this dark road in the middle of nowhere when a contraction hit. That’s how I crashed.”
I lift my eyes from the scar, the memories following the call to 911 still gone, aside from the one that came out of nowhere yesterday.
She needs to be okay.
I look up to find Jack has closed the distance between us, his presence warm and solid. He lifts his hand, as if to touch me again, but he lowers it after a second, his hand closing to a fist at his side.
