Page 102 of The Keeper and I

“Never do that again.”

“Y’know most siblings hug.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought you were dying.”

“Now you’re just being dramatic.”

Before she could retort, their mother arrived, out of breath and swiping her hair out of her face as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder. She rose to her full height and settled, looking at Ava.

“Good,” she said, still winded. “I haven’t missed you.”

Ava offered a half-smile. “No, not yet.”

Nina turned toward Jordan and patted his arm, a little awkwardly, but he didn’t mind. Her brow furrowed as she looked at him. “Why’s your forehead all red?”

“Ava thumped me.”

Ava bristled. “You little tattletale fuck—”

“I don’t want to know,” Nina said, cutting her daughter off. “Have you got everything you need for Australia?”

“Aye,” Ava assured her. “What I don’t have, I can get there.”

Jordan left them and found an empty corner so he could give Laci a call. It rang three times before she answered.

“Hello?”

He frowned. Normally, when she answered for him, he was greeted with a sunny, “hi, babe!” He must have really upset her, which made his stomach turn, but he knew he was going to make it up to her.

“Hey, angel,” he said. “I wanna do something special this weekend. I’ve got a match on Saturday, but I was thinking Sunday, we could—”

“Actually,” she cut across him. “I’m going up to the estate this weekend. I told Tessa I’d take her at the gala, remember?”

He swallowed, his throat tight. “Aye, I remember.”

“Well, it’s the perfect weekend. Jax and Tate are taking Dad shooting, and Mum’s visiting my grandmother in Nottingham. So, it’ll be just me and her.”

He stiffened. “I don’t think that’s safe.”

“Dane doesn’t know where the estate is. It’ll be fine.”

“How can you be sure?”

“He doesn’t even know where you live, so I reckon he only knows my house.”

“Wait. How do you knowthat?”

She hesitated. “I…uh…he hasn’t shown up there. If he knew where I was, he’d have turned up by now.”

He glanced around at the people milling about and turned his back to them. He faced the wall and lowered his voice. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“No!” she answered quickly. Too quickly in his opinion. “I …I think maybe we need some space.”

Space?

Panic shot through his body. That was the last thing he wanted. He really had fucked it up. She was pulling away. No, he’d pushed her. He’d let his fear get the best of him and he was paying for it. He’d asked her to reconsider, and she would, but without knowing how he felt. Would that change her mind again? He had to do something.

“What are you saying?” he forced himself to ask.

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