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I reach over and gently touch her shoulder. “You and your son are safe now. I’m taking you to a woman. Her name is Jane. She’ll get you both to a motel and help you figure out the next step. And hey…” I pause, waiting for her to look at me. “You have nothing to be sorry about. Okay?”

She nods. “I could handle it when it was just me, but…” She sniffles. “When he started to-to hurt my son.”

“You don’t need to explain yourself. Not to me or anyone else. All that matters is you got away. I know how hard that must’ve been. But I also know it was brave and strong.”

“Thank you,” she says with a small smile.

She takes the napkins from my hand and dabs them with a mother’s kind and gentle touch on my face.

Chapter 32

My palms grip the steering wheel when I see Cole’s truck parked at the pickup site. I haven’t laid eyes on him in days. Every morning, I had to stop myself from getting in my car and driving to his flat for my morning kiss. It’s aggravating how much I miss the absence of the trivial act and annoying.

The fear of him not being there or him rejecting me kept my ass in place and my head on straight.

I park my car and get out on wobbly legs.

This is ridiculous! How can a man I met only a few weeks ago affect me like this? Tyler chased me for months before I allowed myself to give in to my feelings for him. No one’s made me giddy or wobbly since…until now. Until Cole.

I move toward him. Is that blood on his face? His shirt? My legs lose their wobble. I rush to him. I lift my hand but stop myself from reaching for the gash.

“What happened?” I search his face and the rest of his body for other injuries.

“I’m okay,” he says between thinned lips.

“You’re bleeding! You need to go to the hospital.” My hand moves toward the cut.

“Harper.” He pushes my hand away. “This isn’t about me.”

“But—”

“Stop,” he says in a severe tone. “Your focus isn’t on me. It’s on them. That’s how this is done. Now, let’s go.”

He walks around the truck. I follow, inspecting his gait. He doesn’t appear to be hurting anywhere else. Or he’s really good at hiding it.

He opens the door. “Kendra, this is Jane. The woman I was telling you about. You and Joey will go with her from here.” He takes a step back.

“Joey?” I look at Cole. No one said anything about a Joey.

“Hi,” she says as she crawls out of the truck. “Joey’s my son. He’s in the back.”

“I’ll get your things,” Cole says, opening the back cab. “Come on, Joey, it’s time to go.”

“Okay.” I hear a young child’s voice respond.

Shit! This is a first for me. I hold my breath, watching Cole lift the kid and put him on his tiny feet on the ground.

“Hi!” Large blue eyes beam up at me as he waves his small hand.

“Hi.” I smile back, curbing my surprise and anger when I catch the bruise on his face. “I’m Jane.” I glance at Cole, understanding now how he got the cut. I would’ve done a number on the abuser as well.

“Here.” He hands me a few bags, keeping his expression flat.

“Thanks.” I put them over my shoulders.

“Joey.” Cole’s eyes move to the child. “You and your mom are going to go with my friend, Jane. Now, I want you to take good care of your mom. Okay?”

Joey lifts his chin and replies with a dramatic bob of his head. Then he throws his arms out and hugs Cole’s legs. Cole ruffles his hair, and the kid pulls away with a huge smile.

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