Page 14 of All Our Secrets

“Haven’t they given you pain meds?”

“Yeah, but I’d rather stick to ibuprofen unless it’s unbearable.”

My eyes bulged as Silas moved closer. Wait, what was he doing? I squeezed my fingers together when he reached out. Silas took my trembling hand and arched a brow. “Seems to me like it’s pretty unbearable right now.”

“Yeah. You’re right,” I admitted, pulling away from him. My entire body shook from the pain. That probably wasn’t a good thing.

At that, Silas walked out of the room, then came back a minute later. “Nurse is going to bring you something.”

I nodded and glanced at the small crib beside me. “Want to hold him?”

Instead of answering, he lumbered over and looked down at my baby. “Just like his dad.”

I laughed, then grimaced. Ouch. I really regretted denying those pain killers earlier.

“I figured everyone would be here.” Silas tilted his head slightly, the creases around his dark eyes softening on my son.

“Rosie and Gerald should be back any minute now. And my mom should be here next week.” Maybe.

The woman was the very reason I refused pain medicine. I’d watched the most caring person in the world fall off the deep end because of pills. We barely spoke anymore, and if I was honest, I hoped she didn’t show. I didn’t have the time to keep her from stealing things from my home. Before it got to this point, I’d tried. So hard. To be enough, to support her, and to be there. Until I couldn’t stand to look at her any longer. My heart hurt seeing the woman I adored more than anyone become unrecognizable. As for my dad, he passed away when I was a kid. I hadn’t spoken to his family in years. This place was my home, and these were my people.

“I told everyone else to wait until I got home,” I admitted with a shrug.

Silas’s brows furrowed when he looked at me, then he averted his gaze before scratching his jaw and meeting my eyes again. “Have you…”

“Have I what?”

“Have you seen anything peculiar lately? Or odd around your house?”

I grasped the blanket. “No. Last night was the first time anything like that has happened. Why? Did you find him?”

“I’m going to stay there while you’re in the hospital.”

I frowned. “What aren’t you telling me? Did you find something bad? A dismembered body? A bottle of lube and paper towels? A hidden camera?”

“Jesus Christ, Peyton.” Silas pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“What? I need to know what kind of guy I’m dealing with. A pervert or a killer? Or both?”

“I didn’t find anything. That’s why I’m going to check it out again.”

“I don’t get it,” I murmured. “We’ve never had an issue before. I’ve never heard of anyone having a problem with break-ins around Fenkin.” It was such a small, peaceful town.

“Things can change.”

I scowled. “I’ll blow his brains out if it happens again. I’m not kidding. To protect myself and T.J., I had already steeled my nerves for it.”

One dark brow raised. A slight twitch in his mouth made it look like Silas almost wanted to smile, but the man didn’t do such human things. “You? Shoot someone?”

I narrowed my eyes further. “You didn’t see me, Silas. I had the gun in my hand. If I had seen someone, I would have given one warning, but I would have done anything to protect my baby.” Softening my features, I smiled over at the crib where my boy rested.

“Yeah, that I can believe,” he whispered, shaking his head as he gawked at the newborn. “I can’t believe you’re a mom.”

I found his words a little odd since I’d been pregnant for the last nine months. Something about that caused the hairs on my arms to rise as a weird tingle built in my stomach.

“So, T.J.?” Silas asked. “That’s what you’re going to use for a nickname?”

“And Junior,” I added.

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