After turning on the house alarm, I walked through the house, checking the front and back doors. Even though I knew Jeremy was gone and the danger was supposed to be over, the years I had spent living in fear had carved those habits deeply into my bones.
Caution had become second nature.
When I’d escaped from him years ago after he’d murdered his wife, I had believed I’d finally left that nightmare behind.
But the past had a way of resurfacing.
Jeremy had returned recently, kidnapping his nieces and nearly killing Caleb and me.
Even now, there were nights when I woke from dreams where he was still alive. Still searching. Still coming for me. Still coming for Lucas. Those fears might never fully disappear. But surviving everything had also made me stronger. More determined. More protective.
I carefully lifted Lucas from the couch and carried him upstairs. After tucking him into bed, I quietly entered my bedroom.
My phone lay on the nightstand, and I checked my emails and messages again.
Nothing.
Still no new information about my mother.
Now that I was pregnant, finding her felt more important than ever.
Then I opened my contacts list and stared at Elle’s name on the screen for several long seconds before finally pressing the call button.
She answered on the second ring.
“Jiji?” Her voice carried the same comfort and strength that had comforted me so many times before. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I said softly. “Just checking in.”
There was a brief pause, the kind that told me she wanted to ask more but was holding herself back.
“I think about you often,” she said gently. “About you and Lucas.”
I felt an emotional knot, preventing me from speaking. “We’re doing well,” I replied. “I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“You can call me anytime,” Elle said. “No matter what.”
“I know,” I whispered.
We spoke for a few more minutes about simple things—the weather, Lucas, the village—careful, ordinary conversation thatrevealed nothing important. When the call ended, I sat quietly, holding the phone in my hand.
I missed Elle terribly. I missed Donna too, but I had made the difficult decision to stay in contact only with Elle. The fewer people I interacted with from my past, the easier it would be for me to move forward with my life.
Eventually, I lay down, exhaustion settling over me. Just before sleep claimed me, I reached beneath my pillow and pulled out the photo frame I kept hidden there.
It was a picture of Caleb and me at the New Year’s dance.
Memories of that night filled my mind—the feel of his hand in mine, the quiet promises we had believed would last forever.
I traced Caleb’s face in the photograph with my thumb.
My chest tightened as I studied the familiar lines of his face.
I stared at the photograph for a long time and then stroked my belly.
Emma—a name chosen by her father, the only gift he would ever give her without knowing it.
Some promises were meant to last forever… but ours had shattered long before we ever had the chance to keep them. And whether fate intended it or not, a small part of my heart would always belong to him.
