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Shit. Jack. He’ll be heading here soon. I need Mads gone. Need her away from here. If she’s going to find out about Jack, that needs to be at home. Just us and him. It broke her as much as it did me thinking he was dead. She sees him alive; she’ll fly off the fucking handle.
Like now.
I reach in my pocket, pulling out my phone. I check the time of my missed call from her, noticing it was when we were stood with him. She didn’t go for coffee.No. She wouldn’t have. She couldn’t already know. Could she?
“Where were you today?”
Her faces tightens, but she one hundred percent turns the anger in her veins down to a simmer as soon as I ask. “What?” she asks, and I see it. I see the moment she realises she’s given herself up.
“You followed me?” My blood starts to boil.
She takes a step back. “No.”
Oh, she’snotstepping back now. There’s no backing away from this, not until I know what the hell went on. She keepsmoving her feet back, but I keep my front to hers, not allowing her the breathing space she’s searching for.
“Why are you lying?”
“Why are you?” she counters quickly.
“I’m not, and I asked you first.”
She frowns, squaring her shoulders.
“Mads? Did you follow me today?”
“No.” She looks anywhere but my eyes. “Not exactly.” She’s backing down.
“Not exactly? Then whatexactlydid you do?”
The backs of her legs hit the corner of the bed. There’s no way out now. “Dean,” she says, her voice now devoid of any hostility or anger.
“Sit.” I put my hands on her shoulders, guiding her arse to the bed. She lets out an over-the-top huff, but she’s all out of challenge. I stand for a moment, waiting for her eyes to look up to me.
When they do, I kneel, my knees sinking into the carpet before her, her eyes staying on me the whole time. “Tell me what’s going on,” I say. I rest my hands on her legs, my insides still very much rife with fear that Mads may have seen Jack. And more to the point, she followed me thinking what? That I was doing something I shouldn’t?What if I was?A harsh lump swells in my throat.
Mads sniffs, and I tighten my fingers on her legs. She’s desperately trying to keep herself together, to show me how strong she is. I know just how strong this woman before me is. It’s the reason I love her. The first night she stood up to me, it started the fire in my soul. It’s what starts my heart beating so fast, I get high just by simply looking at her.
Placing my hands on her bump, I feel the baby wriggle. I look down, needing to make sure she focuses on this. Not me. Not her need to know everything. This. Our child. “Why did you followme, Mads?”
Wiping her eye, Mads looks directly at me. She pales slightly, making my stomach drop.
“Why were you there?” I ask again.
She sighs, and the tears fall. My strong woman cries. Because she saw. I know it. Saw the fucking ghost I didn’t even consider her finding out about until we were through the storm.
I wipe her cheeks then lean closer to her, kissing away her sadness one tear at a time. “Babe.” I speak softly, hoping she talks. “Tell me.”
She shrinks, her body sagging. “I overheard you. In the shop. You said you were going to a farm at eleven.”
“How did you know which farm?” I ask calmly.
Her eyes shift to mine. “Mollie.”
“Mollie?” I question.
Mads nods.
Of course Mollie knew about the farm. But how did she know? “You called her?”
