Page 62 of Saving Shepperd

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” I said and stood up abruptly. The room betrayed me instantly with a spin and tilt combo that nearly knocked me right back down.

Law steadied me with strong hands on my hips and ducked down to be at eye level.

“You okay?”

“Yep.” I nodded and tried to pull away. As I turned, he sighed loud enough for me to hear his frustration.

Be nice, Shepperd.

I faced him and put my hand on his cheek. He leaned into my palm for a brief moment while I sincerely said, “Thank you.” I gave him a gentle smile, and he smiled back, took my hand from his face, and gave it a quick peck.

“Let’s go home,” he said but stopped before we made it even halfway to the front door. “I want to tell my sister I’m leaving. Be right back.” He handed me the keys, but I decided to wait in the foyer while he said goodbye to his family.

He was back in no time and supported me around the waist as we made our way to his car. The distance we parked away from the party house seemed three times longer now that I was so exhausted.

Sleep claimed me before we even left the neighborhood.

I didn’t wake up until the following morning. Law was nowhere to be found as I wandered through the quiet house, ending up in the kitchen with designs on something to fill my aching stomach.

After foraging through the refrigerator, I decided on scrambled eggs and toast. I was just transferring the steaming, fluffy protein to a plate when I heard the keys rattling in the front door.

Where the hell had he gone so early in the morning? But when I glanced at the time on the stove, it was after ten. Not so early after all.

Law came into the kitchen and tossed his keys on the counter. He looked stressed and tired, and of course, I instantly felt guilty about it. Just assuming yesterday had taken a toll on him, the first thing I wanted to do was apologize.

“Hey, gorgeous,” he said, rerouting my thoughts to a more content space. He took me in his arms, and I wanted to spend the rest of the day like that. He always smelled so good and felt so safe. I was getting spoiled and maybe too comfortable because good things like this never lasted for me.

I pulled back a bit to get a good look at his face. “Hello yourself.” I smiled. “Where have you been already?” I asked and cringed with worry that I was coming across as too controlling or clingy. “I mean, if you want to tell me.”

“Just went for coffee,” he said nonchalantly, but something about his tone sounded forced. Was he being evasive? Was I just being paranoid?

“Oh, are we out? I’ll put that on my shopping list.”

“No, I think we have some here. Just wanted to get out. Clear my head a bit.”

Okay, fair enough. Yesterday was a lot to deal with, no matter who you were or what part in the whole fiasco you played. Guilt piled on guilt, though, because it was my natural inclination to blame myself for all things that went wrong.

“I’m so sorry,” I began, and he instantly bristled. I put my hand on his arm to stop him from telling me not to apologize. “Really,” I said. “It was a lot to deal with.”

He listened and then just nodded.

After a weird silence stretched between us, he said, “I’m going to take a shower. Unless you were planning on getting in…”

I just stared at him for a few seconds. He was definitely holding something back, but I wouldn’t badger him. I had to trust that he would talk to me when he was ready.

Fear sparked through my bloodstream. Maybe the events of yesterday were too much for Law to handle. Maybe he got a little too much exposure to my brand of turmoil. It was something I worried about since the day I moved in. Something would inevitably happen to make him run for the hills. Had we already reached that junction?

“No, go ahead,” I said, and before the words were completely out of my mouth, he turned and headed down the hallway toward the master bedroom.

I watched him until he disappeared through the door and wondered if that was a preview of when he would walk away from me and not come back.

ChapterEighteen

Law

After I carried her in from the car last night and tucked her into the bed we now shared, Shepperd slept better than I’d seen her do—ever. The paramedics told us to expect her to be tired, but the twelve plus hours of sleep she logged gave me a lot of thinking time. I went over and over every detail I could remember about the party and felt like more questions arose than were answered.

So I did something I could end up regretting, but only time would tell. My heart was in the right place, I knew that for certain. I cared about Shepperd more every day. And what I witnessed at the birthday party rocked me to the bone.

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