AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Tavish watched the door until he heard footsteps on the stairs and the door between the working space and Trace and Josephine’s living quarters open and close. He still kept watch, afraid that if he backed away from the door, something terrible would happen.
It was irrational, but adrenaline was a funny thing. It didn’t just calm down when the danger was over. It kept surging and flowing for a good while afterwards.
“Tavish?”
The sun slanted through the clinic’s front windows and landed on January in a golden beam that highlighted the auburn glow in her hair and painted glittering, starry flecks in her eyes. It took his body a minute to catch up with what his head already knew. He’d already decided the second he stepped outside, ready to defend the clinic against anything and anyone.
“You’re right,” he croaked. “Greenacre isn’t safe. You need to leave.”
Chapter 20
January
“I think I’ll make a cup of tea.” It seemed the safest thing to say after a near silent, tense drive from the clinic. Good thing Tavish only lived a few minutes away. “Do you want anything?”
“No. Thank you.” He was being way too quiet. There was something going on in his head that January didn’t necessarily want to know about, but she couldn’t just let him brood on it. She needed him to tell her what was going on. She didn’t want him to be hurting, if that’s what he was doing.
He was worried about her. He’d asked her a dozen times at the clinic alone if she was okay and a few more times in the car.
Tavish’s small kitchen wasn’t herkitchen, but it felt homey. She was comforted by the routine of getting the cast iron kettle, filling it, and putting it on the stove. She liked the way the gas hissed to life and little blue flames licked upwards, dancing and undulating.
“January…”
She turned and looked at Tavish. He didn’t seem like his usual self, standing over by the table. He was at an odd angle, as if he was still on the defensive, ready for threats. His eyes were narrowed, and the rest of his face pinched like he was in physical pain. He studied her so intently she was a little bit unnerved.
“You need to go to your sister’s.”
Her heart rate went from a fairly normal beat to elevated in a second. “Yes, I know. I have to tell her. The rest of my family too. I’ve been thinking about how to do that and—”
“No. I mean, you should go there. As soon as you can. Stay there while I find you a place in Seattle, a safe place in a good area. I’ll come and visit. You can raise the baby there, and I’ll come spend time with you both. Or Phoenix. If you want to be away from here. Away from me.”
“What?” She didn’t mean to yelp, but it came out shrill anyway.
“I never saw it before, but you were right.”
“No. No, oh god, Tavish, I was wrong.” He wanted her away from Greenacre because he now thought it was dangerous? How had they flipped opinions and sides on this? He was so ready to defend his home and the people in it yesterday. And then the incident with Clay happened and now he was worried that she wasn’t safe here and this wasn’t a good place to raise their baby.
Sure, it was scary as hell, but she’d seen the way that Kier, Trace and Tavish handled the conflict. There was nothing brutal or animalistic about it—they’d diffused what could have been a disastrous situation. And that’s when it dawned on her, she had been worried that the shifter side was dangerous. But maybe it was the human side that got the anger, and the shifter side that knew how to diffuse it? Because in the wild animals generally found ways to coexist. There may be the hunter and the pray, or territorial disputes, but it was in no one’s interest to fight for no reason at all. The shifter side was the peacemaker.
“Things happen. Here. In the city, anywhere.” Her pulse raced and she inhaled deeply, letting the air out slowly to calm herself. Shadows played over Tavish’s face as the sun came through the curtains at the kitchen window. He looked gorgeous. Sad and gorgeous and defeated. “I’ve been selfish, I was only thinking of myself before. I overreacted. I want to think of you. I’ve been pulling away from you right from the start, fighting myself.”
Tavish sighed. She didn’t want him to sigh. She didn’t want him to be in pain. She wanted to give him everything he deserved, and he deserved so many good things. Not this mouthful of ashy tasting fear that he’d been served up. “That’s not selfish. I came into your life and messed it all up.”
“No, you didn’t,” she insisted. “You didn’t mess up anything. You only made it better.”
“It’s not better if I’ve torn you away from your family, uprooted you, changed your whole life when you weren’t ready and maybe weren’t even willing.”
“I had a hand in that night, if I recall. I’m sorry if I implied otherwise.”
She’d definitely participated. She’d been thinking about that night, wishing and aching for another like it, ever since it happened. She’d been trying to shut off her body so that her mind could overrule something base like sexual desire, but she had to admit she’d been doing that because she was scared. It hadn’t been like that,ever, with her other relationships, and certainly not in her marriage. She didn’tyearnfor another person like sheachedfor Tavish. Her blood didn’t just go hot when she thought about him. It roared.
He didn’t look convinced.
“You haven’t uprooted me from anything. That night was a choice I made, and I don’t regret it.”
His eyes widened. Did he think she’d ever had second thoughts about that? Her throat stung with regret at how she’d come back here and some of the things she’d said.
“Coming back here was a choice. Staying would be a choice. I don’t want to be alone in making it, but you’re not tearing me away from anyone. Will I miss my brother and my parents? Absolutely. But we can visit and they can visit. They’d be coming up here for June as well. Having her near would be so wonderful. I’ve missed her so much. I love my nephews and I’d really enjoy seeing more of them. My life is here, though, with you and our baby. It’s a life I want to make together, even if we’re not romantically involved. Not that I don’t want that, but if it doesn’t work, I still want you in our child’s life. Glendy helped me realize that I can’t do this alone. I knew that but—”
