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“I wanted you to feel comfortable bringing the twins here…and maybe one day, when you’re ready, of course, you can drop them off for me to look after. Perhaps for a date night?” she suggests with a wink. This family is too much, but in all the best ways. “It’s beautiful, Martha. Truly, thank you!”
“It was great having you here tonight. Don’t be a stranger honey,” Martha says as she hugs me goodbye when the night’s over.
“I won’t.” I promise. John also gives me a quick hug. I exchange contact info with Andrea and Autumn, promising to keep in touch.
“See? I told you it would be fine,” Ezra gloats as we drive out of Martha and John’s expansive compound.
“It was because of my charming countenance,” I throw back, grinning at him. He chuckles, raising our joined hands to his lips, and my heart melts into a puddle.
“Why are you doing this to me?” The question slips out before I can stop it.
He frowns at me briefly, then turns back to face the road. “What do you mean? What am I doing to you?”
“You know, trying to sway me. Sway my heart.”
“Is it working?” he asks. I glance down at our clamped hands. Yes, Ezra, it’s fucking working, damn it.
“I don’t know. You live here and I live in the city. For our relationship to work, one of us would have to move.” I carefully avoid using the M word.
“And would that be so bad? Moving out here?” he asks. I glance out the window silently. No, it wouldn’t be so bad. I would miss my sister fiercely, yes, but I can see myself living here.
Ella and I have divided our work at Square Construction into different departments. She oversees the on-site work, purchasing the materials and such, while I do the background work of approving projects, doing background checks and hiringcontractors and staff. Boring office stuff that can be done from home…or here.
“I don’t know.” I say again, reluctant to make any commitments.
“Then I’ll move,” Ezra asserts, surprising me. I shift in my chair to glance at him. “We’re building a branch of Beaufort Construction in the city anyway. I’ll move.”
“I don’t know,” I repeat, heart pounding madly; for the first time since I realized that I was pregnant, I am considering a relationship with Ezra. Really considering it.
When we get to his place, he takes me to the guest bedroom I’ve been using since I got here on Friday. A wave of disappointment hits me that we’re sleeping in separate rooms again. It’s not rational, but if we’re under the same roof anyway, I wish we could share a bed.
“You need to get your shit together, Charlotte,” I murmur to myself as I lay down in the soft bed.
The next morning as promised, he gets me to the city before it’s time for work. I leave Brattleboro confused, my head and heart in conflict. It feels like I had left a huge part of me back in Brattleboro. It can’t work between us, can it?
CHAPTER 25
EZRA
Charlie only spent three nights, and we didn’t even sleep in the same fucking room. So why does the house feel so empty without her? I sigh as I sink into one of the nursing chairs in the baby room. My phone chimes with an incoming message. I frown when I see it’s from Massimo.
HUDSON–MOOR CORPORATION:
How goes the process for the permit?
Meaning, check your fucking burner phone. I sigh, realizing he’s probably pissed at me. I’ve been avoiding him since he had called me at Charlie’s on Thursday. I make my way to the garage and climb into my truck to see four messages on the burner phone.
The first is dated to Thursday evening, probably while I was having dinner with Charlie’s family. It’s an assignment to do a stake-out on Carlos: a recently migrated Mexican who’s been making a lot of fucking noise. Massimo suspects he’s a member of the cartel.
Then on Friday morning, he texted a reminder. He must’ve called me when I didn’t reply. Saturday morning he sent amessage that he already has someone else on it, and I should forget about it.
The last message was sent about an hour ago.
M:
Come to the club as soon as you get this message.
It’s not a request and theor elseis implied. Damn it, I really need to find a way out from under his thumb as soon as possible. I go back into the house to change my clothes, then make the drive out to Providence.
