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I couldn’t stop thinking about Zane—how terrified he’d looked storming down the hall, how defeated he’d sounded underneath his cruel taunts when we’d sat outside.
He was hurting. And something told me that underneath all those layers of ice, Zane was lost and afraid and he didn’t know how to handle that.
Nix had Harleigh, Kye had Chloe. But Zane… Zane only had his grandma.
Deciding to throw caution to the wind, I left a note for my parents telling them I’d be back later, grabbed my keys, and got in my car. It was a risk. Going to The Row to see them. But I liked Miriam and I wanted to make sure she was okay.
That they were both okay.
I could take some flowers, maybe some dinner so it was one less thing they had to think about. A smile tugged at my lips. It was perfect. I was just a girl who cared about a woman and her grandson and wanted to check in on them.
There was nothing wrong with that.
It didn’t stop the butterflies wreaking havoc in my chest though as I drove to the store and bought a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers—because Miriam seemed like the kind of woman who appreciated the beauty in chaos—and a freshly baked baguette and a lasagna. Because who didn’t love lasagna. And an apple pie for dessert.
Maybe it was a tad over the top, but I’d committed now.
But as I crossed the boundary lines into Darling Row, a frisson of trepidation went through me. I couldn’t just pull up outside his trailer. It would cause ripples. Someone might see. Someone like Harleigh and Nix. Or Chloe and Kye.
Ugh.
What was I doing? Turning up uninvited like some weird stalker.
No, I was doing this. I was determined to prove to him that I wasn’t the girl he thought.
Realizing I couldn’t drive into The Row, I parked at the gas station on the stretch of road leading to the trailer park and called a cab. I didn’t know Zane’s exact address, but I knew where his trailer was, so I directed the driver there.
God, I felt nauseous. My stomach churning as I climbed out and walked the short distance up to his door. It was dusk out. The sun long disappeared behind the tree line in the distance.
I took a deep breath and knocked. A light came on followed by muffled voices and then the door swung open, and Zane stood there, glaring at me.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I came to see if you’re both okay. I brought flowers.” I thrust the bouquet toward him, and he gawked at me like I’d lost my mind.
Maybe I had.
“They’re for Miriam, not you. Obviously.” The words tumbled out, my nerves getting the better of me. “I also brought some dinner because I thought you—”
“Let me get this straight. You brought us flowers and dinner?”
“Well, like I said already, the flowers are for your grandma, but yes.”
“You’re so fucking weird.” He shook his head.
“Who is it?” Miriam called, and Zane murmured something under his breath.
“No one, Grams.”
“Oh.” Disappointment welled inside of me. “I thought—”
“You thought you’d turn up here like Suzy Homemaker and I’d what? Let you in and we’d all hang out? Yeah, never going to happen, Einstein. She’ll appreciate the flowers and food, but you should probably get out of here before anyone sees you.”
“No.”
“No?” He glowered at me, his expression as cold as ice. “What the fuck do you mean,no?”
“I came to check on Miriam and I’m not leaving until—”
