Page 68 of All Our Secrets

Theodore laughed. “I’m not letting you inside this house.”

“Do you realize how crazy this is? You’re a ghost.” My knuckles turned white as my grip tightened on the doorframe.

The door swung forward, right through Theodore’s ghostly body. I had half a second to pull one hand out of harm’s way, but the fingers of my left hand were trapped when it slammed in my face. I howled, twisted the knob, and jerked it open to pull my digits free. Pain radiated up my hand. I clutched my fingers gently.

“The—”

My scowl faded when a startled Peyton swung the door open the rest of the way, took one look at me, and touched my wrist. “What happened? Let me see.”

“It’s fine. Caught my fingers in the door is all,” I lied.

“Can you wiggle them?” she asked.

I chuckled. “Ask me in another minute.”

“Do we need to cancel?”

“Yes.” Thankfully Theodore’s answer was inaudible to anyone but me.

Peyton’s chocolate eyes were focused on my hands, her bottom lip pressed down by her teeth. I liked having her attention. I liked it a fucking lot. God, I needed to get her out of this house.

“Fuck that,” I muttered. “Grab what you need and set it on the porch. I’ll load it up.” I rubbed my fingers until the pain became more of a throb, then wiggled them. Sore, but not broken. Thank God. If I hadn’t moved my other hand out of the way in time, Theodore might have gotten his wish.

Theodore glowered as Peyton moved through him to grab her suitcase. She slid it out the door, and I loaded it up quickly so that I could help her with the car seat. She didn’t let me, saying it had to be installed in a special way. I watched her anyway.

As we got in the Suburban, I let out a long, relieved breath.

When I started the engine, Peyton murmured, “Let me see your hand.”

She stretched out her arm toward me, and with her left hand in my face, I noticed her wedding ring was missing.

I gripped the steering wheel instead of letting her check it. “It’s fine.” I held back a wince when I tightened my hold to prove my point, then glimpsed her way again. “You’re not wearing your wedding ring.”

“Oh yeah.” She covered her fingers quickly. “Do you want me to drive?”

I let her pull the subject away from the ring, because I was fucking glad it wasn’t on her finger anymore.

“No. You’re exactly where I want you.” I let my gaze flicker over her in my passenger seat. The lights from the radio gave her skin a green glow. Something about having her sitting there, with the sun not quite up, made her all the more enticing. And I knew it was because she was right next to me. “Right there, where I can see you.”

She placed her hands between her thighs, swallowed, and looked ahead quickly. “We might have to stop so I can give T.J. his bottle.”

“Just say when.”

She smiled. “T.J. will decide that.”

∞∞∞

T.J. did decide. We stopped at a gas station just over the Tennessee border so she could feed him. Back on the road, Peyton had taken over the radio, and I stuck a finger in my ear as she butchered the lyrics of the pop song she was singing.

“Oh, come on, I’m not that bad.” Her laugher was music to my ears.

Little did she know how much I used to live for the nights she sang, screamed, and burped in my ear. I aggravated her back then about her loudness, and it seemed this day would be no different. Only instead of online, speaking through headsets, we were side by side.

“I’m glad,” I said suddenly.

She turned the volume down. “What for?”

“You’re smiling, looking me in the eye, and just being you again.”

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