Page 43 of Keeping Her Safe

Evie didn’t offer Zephyr a hug, but she didn’t expect one. Evie had yet to warm to her, and they were still strangers. But then again, Zephyr didn’t expect to be friends with any of them.

The drive home was quieter than the ride out. It had been hours since the sun had set, and the SUV was dark. Even the DVD player for the kids was turned off. Instead of Zachary next to her in the back seat, it was Della.

Zephyr could hear the men chatting up front, but the back seat was silent. Uncomfortably silent. She expected the older woman to accuse her of something at any moment.

“So, you guys always hug?” Zephyr tried to break the awkward silence.

“We try to.” Della sounded distracted.

“Why?” Zephyr just wanted to hear more about them. Dive deeper into what made her sisters the way they were.

“Evie started it when Zoey came home from the Army. At the time, Zoey was distant, withdrawn, and depressed. She’s back to herself now, but that wasn’t the Zoey who came home. Evie decided that she needed hugs and that even though she and I weren’t depressed, we weren’t very happy with our lives. The hugs have made us closer. We’d never been real close growing up,” Della explained.

“But didn’t you all live in the same house? How come you were not close?” Zephyr felt sad for them because she had always assumed they had each other when she had been alone.

“I guess we were never on the same page at the same time. I graduated and moved out at fifteen. I never came back. When I left, Evie was thirteen. We were only two years apart in age, but we didn’t do anything together. By the time Evie was older, I was busy with college. Zoey was always younger, four years younger than Evie even. By the time she got to high school, Evie had Ben and was out of the house.”

Della continued, “Both Evie and I were too busy with our lives to see that Zoey was going off the rails. We knew but didn’t know … if that makes sense. And sadly, we didn’t do anything about it. When she enlisted, we just let her go. The contact we had over the next years was laughable—a call, a letter, but nothing significant. I didn’t even meet her plane when she came home. I just told her to come and get my car.”

“Wasn’t your dad there for you, at least?”

“No, he raised us, but he didn’t put forth too much effort. He had no patience for Zoey or me, but Evie could do no wrong. It has made us who we are,” she said as the SUV pulled up to the B&B.

Max suddenly slammed on the breaks, and they all jerk forward as the dome light turned on, and Zachary barked out, “Stay in the car.”

The door shut behind him, and the light dimed so Zephyr could see outside the vehicle. Through the window, she watched as Zachary cautiously ran towards the house, then noticed he had his gun out as he slipped into the already open door.

Zephyr jumped when Della said behind her, “Gabe, its Della. Get in here. Someone has broken into the B&B.”

Through the phone, she could hear mumbling.

“Zachary went in, and he had a gun. I think he’s a cop.” Della looked at Zephyr as she said it. She lowered the phone from her ear and asked, “Is he a cop?”

Zephyr quickly nodded and turned back to the house. Was Zachary safe? Is the guy still in there? Who could possibly follow them here?

Sirens blared in the distance and were getting closer as Zachary walked out of the house, sliding his gun back into the back of his jeans. Zephyr finally let out a breath. He was safe. She bolted out of her seat past the sleeping children.

Once out in the cold air, she ran to Zachary, and his arms went around her. Pulling her tight against him, he held her until the red and blue flashing lights lit up the night. He was safe.

CHAPTER 17

With her in his arms, the adrenalin dissipated from Zachary’s body. When had she started to calm him? Maybe she always had.

His mind drifted back to what their bedroom looked like. Everything they’d brought had been thrown around the room. The furniture had been moved, and the bedding had been ripped off the bed. It had taken him time to try to find the computer he knew was going to be gone.

Zachary knew he was going to break her heart when she learned the computer was gone, which pissed him off. Somebody thought it was okay to steal her work. Who thought so little of her to steal the only thing she had?

Hugging her tighter, he whispered, “It’s gone, Zephyr.”

“What’s gone?”

“Your computer. They stole your computer.” He pulled her away from him so he could see her blue eyes.

“That’s fine. It’s just a computer, Zachary. Are you okay?” she asked. How was she more concerned about him than her work?

Zachary held her at arm’s length and looked her in the eye. “What do you mean, ‘that’s fine’? You have two books on that computer. How many hours of work? Three days ago, you held on to that computer for almost twelve hours straight. And it’s okay that it’s gone?” He knew he was overreacting. They were her books, after all. If she didn’t see the harm in them being gone, then why should he?

“The books aren’t on the computer. They never are. They are always on the USB drive,” she informed him.

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