Page 228 of Show Me

“Not really.” Her eyes flash toward me. “You kept coming back.”

“I ended things with him.”

“You should’ve done it sooner.” She stops beside the island. “You think I didn’t notice the way he looked at you? The way he talked about you?”

My pulse pounds against my throat.

“He doesn't talk about women like they're important. Then suddenly it's Ruby likes this. Ruby wants that. Ruby's pigs. Ruby's kitchen.”

My chest tightens. All those little moments I noticed too late. Lindsey noticed them before either Xavier or I admitted what they meant.

“And then I came in here and found his clothes in your bedroom.”

My blood turns cold. “You were in my bedroom?”

She wrinkles her nose. “I was fixing a problem.”

A problem. Me.

“He was supposed to come back to me.” There's no heartbreak in her voice. No uncertainty. She believes it. “He told me the same things he told you. He doesn't do relationships. He doesn't commit.” Her grip tightens around the gun. “But now he's here every night.”

A faint buzzing comes from the counter. My phone. Lindsey glances toward it. So do I. It stops. Then starts again.

Jake. Dad. Emily. Xavier. Dad knows I’m here. If I can keep Lindsey talking long enough….

“Fixing your house,” she continues. “Sleeping here. Playing protector.”

I keep my face still. Think. Don't antagonize her. Get to the phone. Get out.

“You weren't supposed to matter,” she says.

My hands begin shaking beneath the table. This isn't jealousy. It's obsession.

Lindsey studies me again. Her gaze lingers. “You look awful.”

My hand almost moves toward my stomach before I stop it. The baby. She cannot find out about the baby.

“You sick or something?”

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-One

Xavier

The conversation with Jake keeps replaying as I drive across town. Mud on Brent’s shoes. Greg’s warm vehicles. The figure running through Ruby’s yard. Smaller than Greg. Thinner than Brent. Something about it feels wrong.

I stop at the light near the vet clinic and glance toward the parking lot. Ruby’s dad stands outside talking to Dr. Carter. He notices me and tips his cap. I return it before the light changes.

Ruby is safe at his place. I keep driving.

The office comes into view a few minutes later. I pull into my parking space…. And freeze.

The figure running through the yard. Another image slams into place beside it. Lindsey on the treadmill at the gym. Same posture. Same stride.

“No fucking way.”

But the pieces start falling together too fast to ignore. The flowers. The poems. The warnings for Ruby to stay away from me.

Leave her alone.