Page 87 of Hero's Heart

Both the chaos here at the accident scene and the chaos he’d caused at his house by his words.

The paperwork for all of this would have to wait a few hours. He had more pressing matters to attend to.

With a nod to his deputies, Callum strode toward his cruiser, his mind already racing ahead to the conversation he needed to have with Sloane. He had reacted poorly to the news of her pregnancy, his shock and fear overriding the response and support she deserved.

As he navigated the slick, winding roads back to town, Callum searched for the right words to say how fucking sorry he was about his abysmal handling of the situation.

He wanted to talk to her. Make sure she was okay. She had to be as thrown off by this unexpected development as he was. She’d just had a little more time to process it.

He pulled up at his house, but when he stepped inside, all he heard was silence. No warm light spilled from the bedroom, no soft footfalls echoed on the hardwood floors.

“Sloane?” he called out, a sinking feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.

He searched the house room by room, his unease growing with each empty space. Her clothes weren’t here, her toiletries missing from the bathroom counter.

Sloane was gone.

Chapter 30

Callum’s words echoed in Sloane’s mind as she fumbled to fold a shirt with shaking hands.

“How do I even know if it’s mine?”

The question repeated on a maddening loop, drowning out everything else he had said before rushing off to help with some car accident.

Her stomach lurched, and she dropped the shirt, abandoning her halfhearted attempt at neatly packing. Neat didn’t matter. She had to get out of here. Not just Callum’s house, but Oak Creek entirely. Coming here had been a mistake from the start.

Sloane grabbed her duffel bag, shoving in the rest of her meager possessions. The walls of the bedroom seemed to close in around her, Callum’s doubting words reverberating off them. She yanked the zipper closed and fled the suffocating room.

Keys. Where were the keys to Annie’s car? Sloane found them on the kitchen counter and snatched them up with a trembling hand. She had to make it to Joy’s house. Her friend could drive her to the bus station in Reddington City. Then Sloane could get far away from here and…

And what? Where would she even go? The unanswerable question made her throat constrict as she hurried out to the borrowed car.

“How do I even know if it’s mine?”

The words beat against her skull in time with her pounding heart as she started the engine. Tears blurred the road as Sloane drove through the center of Oak Creek, hands white-knuckled on the wheel.

When she pulled up in front of Joy’s tidy clapboard house, Sloane roughly swiped at her wet cheeks. She grabbed her duffel from the passenger seat and approached the front door on leaden legs.

Sucking in an uneven breath, Sloane knocked, praying her friend was home. She didn’t know what she would do if Joy wasn’t there. Sloane had nowhere else to turn.

The seconds stretched into a painful eternity before footsteps sounded from inside. The door swung open to reveal Joy’s surprised face.

“Sloane? What’s wrong?” Joy’s warm brown eyes widened as she took in Sloane’s distressed state. Without hesitation, she ushered her friend inside.

“I…I need you to drive me to the bus station in Reddington City,” Sloane managed, her voice barely above a whisper. “And return Dr. Annie’s car.”

“What? Why?” Joy guided Sloane to the cozy living room, concern etched across her features. “Did something happen?”

Sloane sank onto the overstuffed couch, her duffel falling forgotten at her feet. She shook her head, unable to form the words.

Joy disappeared into the kitchen, returning moments later with a steaming mug of chamomile tea. She pressed it into Sloane’s hands before settling beside her.

“Talk to me, honey. What’s going on?”

Sloane stared into the swirling depths of the tea, her vision blurring once more. She couldn’t bring herself to meet Joy’s gaze.

The silence stretched between them, broken only by the ticking of the antique clock on the mantel. Finally, Sloane drew a shuddering breath.

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