Page 114 of No Place Like Home

“Don’t fucking look at her that way,” I told him, taking a protective step in front of her instinctually.

“You were getting your life back together. What was she going to do? Bring it all down with her baggage? So I took care of it before she could do that.”

He said this like he was proud.

“Get the fuck out of my house,” I seethed.

“You’re making a big mis—”

“Out. Now.”

He glared at me and then turned around, and I assumed to pack his shit. He was the only person I was allowing to stay at my house.

Grabbing my phone, I looked for the Sunny Pines Police Department, but it wasn’t there. As I scrolled, I realized no one from this town was on it. What the fuck? Had he actually tried to keep me from this whole town? He had to have known about my kid all along.

It took one quick search, and I called the department as I turned around. Jess was running her fingers through Simba’s mane. My boy loved the attention—he’d fallen in love with her way before I did.

“This is Quincy Hardwell. I need an officer to help me escort someone out of my house,” I told them.

It was just a precaution.

“Look at me,” I said once I put my phone away.

I knew she heard me because her body stiffened, and she kept looking down at Simba as if he held the key to ending world hunger.

Slowly I brought my hand up. I prided myself on my steady hands, but damn, if my coordination didn’t feel like shit. It burned when my hand made contact with her skin.

Her eyes met mine, and I swear her gaze changed every time I looked at her. From teenagers to now, the more she saw the world, she shifted how she saw everything and everyone around it.

“How long ago was that?”

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE

Quincy was mad.

Scratch that. He was furious.I couldn’t remember If I had ever seen him look like this. It was hard to look at him without wanting to shrink.

Liar.

Argh. Okay, yes, he looked hot and something tingled inside me, and because I didn’t want to think of the why, I would blame allergies.

Last night, I’d slept a little bit easier. I knew people were mad at me, but at least they knew I was alive and not dead in some swamp in the middle of nowhere.

This morning, I was snuggled to Quinny, her curls all over my face, and the sweet scent of lavender calmed me. That was until I heard a noise outside our room door. Now I knew the place wasn’t haunted. Ghosts would have been there since day one, right?

I got up and opened the door just a bit to see if I could hear what was going on outside.

The soft boom was one I didn’t realize I’d missed until I heard it.

“She loves pancakes, and make extra sausages, Pete. She loved those. You should have gotten more. This ain’t enough, honey.”

I closed the door and banged my head against it.

Cynthia and Pete were at the house. I shouldn’t have been surprised, because that was like them, but shit, they were here so early.

Even if no one had my new phone number, I had all of theirs. I pulled it out and began to dial. It took a few seconds, but Juliet answered.

“Hello?”

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