Page 42

"You going to be okay here?" he asks finally. "Alone?"

"Yeah. I've got work. That logo's due today and I've barely touched it."

He sets his mug down on the counter and pulls me to him. I go easily, pressing my face against his chest, breathing in the smell of him—coffee and woodsmoke and something else that's just him.

"He's not showing up," Kieran says into my hair. "Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. I'm making sure of that."

I nod against his chest but don't say anything. Don't tell him that I'll probably check the locks every twenty minutes anyway. That I'll jump at every sound. That part of me is still waiting for Trevor to materialize out of thin air because he always does.

Kieran pulls back and tips my chin up so I have to look at him. "I mean it. You're safe."

"I know."

"Do you?"

"I'm trying to."

He kisses me then, soft and lingering, and when we break apart I can feel the promise in it. Like he's sealing something between us.

"I have to go," he says, but he doesn't move.

"I know."

"But I don't want to."

That makes me smile despite everything. "Go. Do your sheriff thing. Make sure Trevor stays locked up."

"Yes ma'am."

I walk him to the door and watch through the window as he climbs into his truck. He sits there for a moment before starting the engine, looking back at the cottage like he's memorizing it. Then he's gone, disappeared down the driveway in a cloud of dust that catches the morning sun.

And I'm alone.

The silence rushes in immediately. I stand in the middle of the living room and try to figure out what to do with myself. Work. I should work. The logo is due by end of day and it's still not right.

I settle at the kitchen table with my laptop and pull up the files. For twenty minutes I stare at the screen, moving elements around without any real purpose. The design is fine. Functional. But it's missing something. There's no life in it.

Maybe because there's no life in me.

I give up and call Emma instead. She answers on the second ring, her voice sharp with concern.

"Finally. I've been trying not to panic, but you're terrible at checking in."

"I know. Sorry. Things have been crazy."

"How crazy are we talking?"

So I tell her. About Trevor showing up at the cottage yesterday. About Kieran arresting him. About how he's at the courthouse right now for the arraignment and I'm waiting to hear what happens.

"Jesus Christ, Lyla." Emma's quiet for a moment. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know. Maybe? He's in jail. That's good. But I keep thinking he's going to show up anyway."

"Because he always has."

"Yeah."

"But this time is different. This time someone's actually stopping him."