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I rubbed my palm across the back of my neck, feeling embarrassed. “Honestly, I think I just got lucky. Daisy’s a really good kid and I have a lot of help from people that love us. There are still a lot of days when I feel like I’m doing everything wrong.”
“Trust me when I say that there are men out there who wouldn’t have done half of what you have. Just because you can be a parent doesn’t mean you automatically are one.” Her mouth formed into a frown and I could tell she spoke from experience. Lily didn’t have any children of her own, which meant she was more than likely talking about her own father.
She’d been hurt in the past and I wanted to know who the bastard was. I wanted to defend her, fight for her, protect her. But we were just getting to know one another and I doubted she was ready to give me a list of names of people who had wronged her.
“So, the mysterious Lily Reynolds. I know you make the most delicious cupcakes I’ve ever eaten but what other secrets do you have hidden?” My goal was to lighten the mood, maybe make her laugh. I certainly didn’t expect the look of panic that lit her eyes before she hid it.
My brow furrowed and I reached out for her, wanting to know what she was afraid of. But she backed away from me so quickly she tripped over a basket of Daisy’s toys, and before I could grab her, she was sprawled on the floor.
“Jesus, Lily, are you okay? I’m sorry.” I helped her to her feet and began to look her over for injuries.
“No, it was all me, totally not your fault. I-I should’ve looked where I was going.” She patted the ground around her and I snagged her glasses off the floor and slid them onto her squinting face.
“Thanks, I wouldn’t be able to see to get home without these bad boys,” her strained laughter sounded off, nothing like the melodic sounds of earlier. Maybe she had really hurt herself when she fell. The thought made my stomach turn and I reached for her again only to grasp air as she backed away.
“Anyway, I, um, should go.” She scrambled for her purse and slid on her sandals that she had left by the front door when she first got here.
“Lily, wait,” I started, my mind spinning, trying to come up with a way to keep her from running.
“Thank you so much for dinner, Grayson. It was delicious. I’ll see you around.” She was out the door and sprinting down the hall before I could stop her. I watched from the window as she jumped into her car and barreled out of the parking lot.
What the hell just happened?It’d been a while since I tried to flirt with a woman, I suppose it was possible that Lily wasn’t interested in me in a romantic way or I came on too strong.
But this seemed like something more, she had seemed absolutely terrified.Of me?No, she was relaxed all throughout dinner. Even when the subject of her mom came up, there was only sadness. There had to be something else. Something that Lily didn’t want me to know. She’d been at ease until I mentioned her having secrets.
Trudging back to the kitchen, I cleaned up the dishes, wondering what kind of secrets Lily could have. I poured myself a glass of whiskey and paced my living room floor as I thought hard about what I was about to do. It was wrong, I knew that. Lily deserved to have her privacy and she wasn’t obligated to share her history with me, no matter how much I wanted to help ease her burdens.
This indecision wasn’t like me, my resolve and quick thinking was something I prided myself on, it’s how I lived both my personal and business life. I dropped my empty glass to the coffee table and pulled out my phone. It was late, but I knew he’d be awake. Monroe Ross was a night owl who did some of his best work while the rest of us were asleep.
“What can I do for you this fine evening, my liege?” I rolled my eyes at his greeting. Roe was the most absurd person I’d ever met. Fortunately for him he was also the best at what he did, which kept him on my payroll.
“I need a background check.” Guilt crept up my spine but I forced it away, convinced this was the only way I could help her.
“Right-e-o. Who am I looking for and how deep are we talking?” The sounds of typing drifted through the phone and I could picture him in his dungeon of an office surrounded by monitors as his fingers flew over the keyboard.
“Lily Reynolds.” The typing stopped and I knew the name surprised him.
“Winnie’s friend? The baker? Didn’t I already do that when she applied for the lease?”
He had. Roe took care of all the background checks I needed when it came to rental space in the building. Her credit had come back slightly on the lower side but it was clean. She paid her rent for her small apartment on time and had never missed a utility bill or credit card payment. I didn’t have him look into her further because she was a close friend of my sister’s and I trusted Winnie’s judgment. There was no indication that Lily would be a bad tenant so I’d left it at that.
At the time, you weren’t trying to dig into her past for selfish reasons, you prick.The shame threatened to smother me but I had to know. This was a woman who was setting up a business in my property but she also had a close relationship with my family. She knew my daughter.
“Deep dive, Roe, I want everything.”
“Okay then, I’ll get right on it.”
I hung up the phone and went to pour myself another drink. It was done. I needed to know and I doubted Lily was going to come back here and tell me herself. Maybe I was wrong and there was nothing in her past out of the ordinary. If that was the case, I could forget about the whole thing. If I was right…I didn’t know what I’d do.
5
LILY
My car shook as I took the turn into my apartment’s parking lot faster than intended. My almost twenty-year-old sedan was a steal that I’d acquired right before I made the move to Little Falls but was protesting the way I was currently driving it. I should’ve slowed down, no one was actually chasing me, but I knew that I wouldn’t feel safe until I was inside with the door locked behind me.
As soon as the car was in park, I grabbed my purse and bolted for the stairwell. Halfway up, the toe of my sandals got caught and I fell to my knees on the concrete steps. Wincing, I pulled myself up and continued on without looking at the damage. My hands trembled as I reached my door and tried to steady the key enough to get the door unlocked.Come on, keep it together.
Finally turning the key, I shoved open the door and flung myself inside, flicking the locks one at a time. My back pressed against the door, I took a deep breath as I slid down, dropping to the floor. I gasped as my shaking fingers landed on the raw skin of my knees, trickles of blood ran down my legs but I couldn’t muster the physical strength to take care of it.Stupid, that was so stupid.
