Page 108 of That One Heartbreak

But when she checked his room he was fast asleep. As was Addy when Kate cracked open the door to her bedroom. Maybe it had been a bird landing on the roof or something.

But then she heard it again. Downstairs. Running into her bedroom, she grabbed a robe and pulled it around her, before padding down the steps to make sure everything was okay.

The whole floor was dark and silent. She took a look down the hallway, in the living room and the kitchen, before heading back to the stairs.

But then there was that noise again. Coming from outside. She frowned and walked to the window, pulling the curtain aside so she could look out.

Marley’s truck was parked on the road. But there was no sign of him. At least not until half a minute later when he emerged from the side of her house, carrying a blackened grill in his strong, thick arms, putting it onto the open flatbed of his truck.

Wait, what? He was taking her grill without her permission?

Seriously?

Oh boy, now she was awake. And annoyed. She hurried down the hall to the front door and pulled it open.

“What are you doing?” she hissed into the dark night.

Marley looked up. She could just about make out his expression in the moonlight. He looked surprised. A little guilty.

Caught red-handed.

“Just cleaning up some mess.” His jaw was set tight.

She swallowed hard. “That’s my grill. Put it back.” It was stupid how much she cared about that grill. But it was hers. The black charred mess.

“It’s unusable, Kate.” He was looking at her like she was crazy.

“I know that. But it’s still mine. You’re stealing it.”

He let out a sigh. “I’m doing you a fucking favor. Taking it away so you don’t have to. You think Ethan wants to see it every time he looks out the window?” Because that’s where the firemen had left it, in the backyard right outside the garage, under Ethan’s window.

“Maybe he should,” she whispered furiously. “It’s a reminder not to do it again.” And yeah, she just made that up, but seriously? He was actually taking their grill? After she’d told him not to!

Hell no. She was the one in control of her own home. She had to be.

Pulling her robe tighter around herself, she stepped outside, the concrete rough against her bare feet. “Put it back,” she told him.

“What?”

“Put my grill back.” Her eyes were wide with annoyance. “I’m serious, Marley. You think I don’t know what you’re doing here? You didn’t get your way so you’re trying to sneak around while everybody’s asleep to do it? Should I call the cops? Will that help?” Not that she was serious. They’d think she was as unreasonable as Marley obviously did.

“Calm down. I’m just trying to take care of things for you.” His eyes were narrow. “It’s the only thing I can do right now. I can’t sleep thinking about this fucking grill. I can’t sleep knowing Ethan is hurt. It needs to be gone. Now.”

“But it’s mine.”

“Why do you care about a burned out grill?” he asked her. “You said you’d buy a new one. Even if I think that’s a bad idea.”

She had no answer to that. He was right, she knew it. And yet she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“The grill was Paul’s,” she told him. “It was his, and you’re taking it away.”

Marley’s face contorted like she’d stabbed him.

Had she really said that?

“I didn’t mean it like that.” She told him, reaching for his hand. But he stepped back, away from her touch. “I honestly didn’t.”

“Mom?” Ethan was standing at the front door in his pajama bottoms. “What’s going on?”

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