AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Clarify that last comment. Please.”
She fiddled with the coffee mug in front of her. “Roxie’s been different ever since...”
His stomach took a dive as her whiskey-brown eyes filled with concern. He waited, but she remained silent.
“Ever since?” he prompted.
“That night with Preston. When he took her captive.” Alex’s shoulders slumped, as if she were a balloon that had been pricked with a pin.
Joe scanned the kitchen and spied a portable crib at the end of the dining table. Carefully, he placed the baby down, thankful when she remained asleep. Once Annie was settled, he sat next to Alex and placed an arm around her slim shoulders, hugging her close.
“Remember that lecture you just gave me about guilt? Well, right back at you, doll. It wasn’t your fault Woodsworth hurt her.”
It was his.
Roxie had suffered a dislocated and fractured shoulder, a concussion, and god knew what other mental traumas. Yes, Woodsworth had inflicted the damage, but the fault lay at Joe’s feet.
He was the one who’d yelled at Roxie, who’d caused her to run away from their safe and secure location. And when Roxie had been alone—because ofhim, because he’d been a raging asshole—Woodsworth had taken her hostage in exchange for Alex.
Reading his thoughts, Alex placed her hand atop his and squeezed. “It wasn’t your fault, either.” She sighed. “But ever since that night, Roxie hasn’t been the same. She moved out of Quinn’s guest house, claiming she wanted to give me and Quinn privacy. She’s a horrible liar, so I know that was crap, but she wouldn’t tell me the real reason. She moved in with her folks, but that lasted less than a week. They sold the house and—”
His brows shot up. “What? The Jamesons sold their house?”
“Yup. The house was snapped up within a few days, and they hopped in their RV and hit the road.” Alex frowned. “Quinn and I both thought the timing was strange. Roxie had just gotten out of the hospital and her arm was still in a sling. She wasn’t incapable of doing stuff for herself because, well, she’s Roxie, but she still needed help, and her parents just took off, leaving her with no place to live. We offered her the guest house again, but she declined. That’s why your dad rented the house to her.”
Joe’s stomach soured. He’d read the full report on what had gone down with Woodsworth that night. He also knew it wasn’t public information that the fucker had hidden out in Roxie’s place. It was there where he’d ambushed her and taken her captive. Helpless rage coursed through him knowing that she’d been alone with that fucker for close to twenty minutes. So it made sense why she’d declined Alex and Quinn’s offer to move back into the guest house.
His eyes narrowed. “Wait, she’s been living at my place this whole time?” According to the report, Woodsworth had ended up dragging Roxie from her place to Joe’s. Surely, there were lingering memories for her at his place too.
Alex nodded. “Your dad asked her to move in as a favor to him.”
“A favor to him?” His brows rose in question.
“Doc knew she needed a place to live, and he claimed he didn’t have time to deal with the house repairs after all the damage Preston caused. He asked her to keep an eye on things. I think overseeing the renovation of your place was therapeutic for her. After what happened, I think seeing the whole kitchen gutted was good for her.” Alex shrugged. “I’m pretty sure that was a big reason why Doc offered up the place.”
Joe nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like Dad.”
Alex grinned. “Of course, Doc didn’t say that to her. Since he knows Roxie has a hard time accepting help—”
“Understatement of the year,” he scoffed.
“—your dad framed it as her helping him out.”
A matching grin grew on Joe’s face. “Dad’s pretty slick.”
“That’sthe understatement of the year,” she said, chuckling. “Roxie has no idea she’s been played. But I’m so thankful she’s next door.”
“Then why are you so worried about her? It sounds like the move was good for her.”
Alex fiddled with her coffee mug again, seeming to search for the right words. “Her excuse of moving to give us privacy is just one clue that there’s a problem. Obviously, you know she’s a workaholic. Well, take that workaholic you remember and amplify it tenfold. She’s also holding back. You know how she would always tell you how she was feeling whether you wanted to know or not? How she’d just talk your ear off if you gave her the chance?”
Good god, yes. Roxie could talk for hours. Hours. For as long as he could remember, she’d always wanted to have deep,meaningfultalks about emotions and feelings and crap like that.
“She doesn’t do that anymore, Joe.”
His jaw dropped, and his eyes grew wide. “Really?”
“I know, right? Sure, she’ll still talk, but it’s about inconsequential things. Catering orders or work or the stupid bits from the gossip mill. She barely talks about herself anymore and never ever about her feelings.”
