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“Yeah, no fucking kidding.” Harlan held out his hand and helped me off the mat. “Now I’m not asking you to spill your secrets, Lucas. And I’m not telling you to give me information that you can’t. I’m asking as your friend if you need help.”
I looked at him. He was breathing hard like I was, but his gaze was clear. I wasn’t sure why I was surprised. The seven of us had been through enough, both separately and together, that we could take each other at our word. But when faced with things like this... it was hard to remember that we had each other’s backs.
I sighed. “I’ll know more tomorrow, I think. But I’ll let you know.”
“Okay.” He held up his hands in surrender. “All I needed to know.”
My cell phone rang from my clothes. “Thanks, Harlan.”
He nodded and headed off.
I grabbed my phone from the pocket of my jeans. It wasn’t a number I recognized. “Hello?”
“Lucas?” It was her voice, and it took the breath out of me just hearing it.
“Evelyn. Are you all right?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m fine. I was wondering if you could take me to get my car?”
I frowned. When she’d asked, I’d told her that I’d take care of it. What had changed? “I’ll be right over.”
It only took a few minutes to get my truck over to her house, and as soon as I saw her on the porch I knew that something was wrong. Evelyn looked cold. Not in temperature, but in temperament. She looked steeled. “You don’t have to worry about it,” I said. “I’ll get someone to drive it back.”
Her spine was straight as she looked at me. “No, I’d like to go get it now, please.”
The shape on the porch behind her distracted me. A suitcase. Her suitcase. She was going to run again. “Evelyn—”
“I need to do this, Lucas.”
“Do you?” I pushed down my fear for her and took a breath. “I will take you right now to get the car. If you’re sure.” She opened her mouth to say something so I kept going. “I don’t know what you’ve gone through, Ev. But I do know what it’s like to be constantly looking over your shoulder, never able to breathe. And I want to help you.”
She stared down at me from the porch, and the look on her face was far from convinced.
“I want to make sure that you feel safe. That you are safe. And you’ll never feel that if you keep running from every reminder of what happened.”
“Why?” The word was small.
“Why what?”
Evelyn huffed out a breath. “Why do you want to help me? I’m nothing to you. No one.”
“Because you’re someone.” The words came out more forcefully than I’d intended. Taking a step forward, I made sure that she was looking right at me before I spoke again. “Because no one should have to live like that.”
She said nothing, but she couldn’t keep looking at me. Her fingers drifted to the railing, picking at the wood. One little sign that her resolve was breaking.
“Please,” I said. “Give me some time. Let me see if there’s anything I can do. Give me a name. Let me help. Let me—” I cut myself off before I said too much.
There was something buried in my gut that was drawing me to her. I didn’t understand it, but I couldn’t ignore it. Evelyn needed me, and despite Daniel warning me, I was already in way too fucking deep.
But I couldn’t force her. If she wanted to leave, then I had to let her go. No matter if it broke me open and brought back every nightmare I’d ever had. No matter if I’d always wonder if she was safe for the rest of my life.
Long minutes passed until, finally, Evelyn looked up at me.
“All right. I’ll stay.”
Chapter 10
Evelyn
