Page 84 of Bound By Words

Talia: Em wants to have dinner with you once you return to town. Are you coming home when they get back next week? Is she coming with you?

The last message made me pause, wondering what would happen once my brother and Chase returned. I’d agreed to return to Boston with Nathan, but when and for how long?

He rested his chin on my shoulder as I typed back a few responses, my finger hovering over the last message from the unknown number.

“Who the fuck is that?” Nathan growled as he read the message, his hold on me tightening.

???: You can run to your brother’s house but can’t hide. I’ll wait for you to return to Chicago to give you what you deserve.

NATHAN

Connecticut

Thankfully, the snow didn’t stick around long, the temperature climbing into the fifties the following few days, causing it to melt off fairly quickly. The power came back in the evening after the storm, and Kelly had been able to get back to work once the Wi-Fi was reset.

Once the snow and ice melted completely, we emerged from the house, making a quick run into town to replace all the food that sat spoiled in the fridge. Elizabeth smiled brightly at us as we shopped, Kelly holding tightly onto my hand the entire time.

After we returned, I pumped the water off the foundation, giving it a day to dry before my lumber order arrived. My motivation to get the house framed and get Kelly back to Boston with me multiplied each day.

That text message worried me. We didn’t know for sure that it was Trent, although he was the prime suspect. The number wasn’t showing up in online searches. There weren’t any other messages from that number since then, but the damage had been done.

Kelly had been visibly shaken, spending most of the day we were snowed in clinging to me and seeking affection. I was happy to provide her with as many snuggles as she wanted, but my desire to protect her needed Kelly to be somewhere he didn’t know about sooner rather than later. She’d gradually relaxed as the days passed, but she’d been keeping her phone off for long periods. Ignoring the problem unfortunately didn’t make it disappear.

“How’s it going, stud?” She asked as she joined me in the side yard, surveying my progress in the last few days.

“Might need your help with a few things later on,” I sighed as I put my power drill down, taking a break momentarily. “How’s work going?”

“Meh, it’s okay,” she responded with a shrug. “Still anxious to check in on my clients—if they’re still my clients—but Deacon keeps sending me busy work.”

“Any word on…?” I trailed off, not knowing how to ask her if things had changed in her case.

“No, but Deacon hasn’t fired me, so I’m taking that as a positive. He even emailed me thanking me for helping with one of his clients.”

I hated that she had to endure this uncertainty about her place in her company. If a partner was having her help him with his work, she was a necessary employee.

“Any word from Tom?” She’d also been worried about her friend, but I knew she was trying not to push things since he was technically her supervisor and the boss’s son-in-law.

“Actually.” She smiled widely as she reached into her back pocket, pulling out her phone. “I got a video this morning.”

The video began with a loud baby’s wail and a woman’s amused voice narrating. “Say Hi to Auntie Kelly, little man,” she laughed.

A not-so-little man with light brown hair was leaning over the angry child, frantically trying to wipe something disgusting off the infant’s leg while gagging.

“As you can see, Tom is totally killing this parenthood thing.” The woman laughed again before the video screen flipped around. An exhausted-looking blonde was sitting in a hospital bed, an IV pole in the background.

“Sorry we haven’t called you. Last week, I was admitted with high blood pressure and some liver enzyme issues. They gave me all kinds of shots and finally induced me, but Porter’s heart rate kept dropping, so they performed an emergency C.”

Kelly’s smile was wistful as she watched her friend talk.

The man joined the woman on the bed, a little blue bundle tucked in his arms. Carefully transferring the now calmer baby to his mother, Tom took hold of the phone, jostling the camera slightly.

“I wish you were here, Kell,” he said. The woman shouted, “Me too.” in the background. “I haven’t been in, but Deacon said things are a mess at the office. I know why you left town, but let us know when you return to the city. We want you to meet Porter.”

The man stood, the camera bouncing slightly as he sat on a couch across the room. “He’s also out on sabbatical, but Deacon confiscated his computers and work phone. He won’t tell me what’s happening, but I don’t think Trent will be around when you get back.”

The baby started crying again in the background, and Tom groaned. “Again? He literally just crapped all over the place. How did he have anything left in there?” Kelly giggled at the look of disgust on her friend’s face. “Back to the glamorous duties of poop patrol. Aren’t you jealous?”

I looked down at Kelly, squeezing her a little tighter at the bittersweet smile on her face.

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