Page 154 of Just One Little Bargain

“Can anyone hear us?” I pound the heel of my hand against the door. “Hello?”

My voice barely clears the wood before the storm swallows it.

“Someone will notice we’re gone eventually.”

“And how long does that take?” I try the door again, jerking the knob hard enough to rattle the latch. “An hour? Two? What if something happens upstairs while we’re trapped down here? What if someone needs help, or the candles start a fire, or—”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“You don’t know that!” I drive my foot into the door. Pain tears through my ankle and races up my calf. “Something always goes wrong.”

“Stop.” Milo catches me around the waist as I draw back to kick it again and pulls me against him. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“I’m fine.”

I pull free, grab the knob with both hands, and twist until the ridged brass bites into my palms. I welcome the pain because at least it’s concrete and real instead of the panic building behind my ribs.

I inhale and make it halfway before my lungs seem to stop cooperating. I try again, but each breath comes shorter than the last.

“Come on,” I gasp. “Open.”

“Evie.” Milo’s voice sounds distant. “You need to breathe.”

“I am breathing.”

“You’re hyperventilating.”

He’s right. My lungs are working double-time, pulling in air that doesn’t seem to reach where it needs to go.

“We’ll be fine, Evie. Just take a breath.”

“Don’t tell me it’s fine or to calm down.” I turn on him, one hand pressed hard beneath my ribs. “I’ve spent years keeping this place standing when it had every reason to fall apart. I fix what breaks. I find the money. I make sure everyone else is comfortable, even when I’m barely holding it together.” The last word tears out of me. “Now I’m trapped in my basement while my guests sit in the dark and I. Can’t. Do. Anything.”

“You’re not alone,” Milo says quietly. “I’m here.”

“For how long?”

“Evie—”

“You showed up and suddenly things got easier.” I look away, jaw clenched, and drag both palms over my face. “Letting you stay here was a mistake.”

His expression tightens. “Needing help isn’t a mistake.”

“Getting used to it is.” My hands fall to my sides. “I know exactly how empty this place will be without you in it.”

“You won’t be alone when I leave.”

A humorless laugh slips out. “Right.”

“You’ve got Daisy. Maddie. Half this town would come running if you called.”

“Because they’ve got nothing better to do than rescue me?”

“Because they care about you.”

“They’ve got their own lives, Milo.” My voice rises despite myself. “Their own jobs, families, and problems.”

“Asking someone to stand beside you doesn’t make you a burden.”