Page 94 of Echoes of You

Don’t try to trick me into cursing. Then I’ll really be mad at you.

I couldn’t help laughing at that.

Me

I can meet for a drink tonight.

Grae

Several drinks.

I stared at my phone, but before I could type out a reply, Wren voiced my question.

Wren

Everything okay, G?

There was no response for several seconds, and then one popped up.

Grae

Fine. Just need to let off some steam with my girls.

That didn’t exactly soundfine, but maybe we’d learn more tonight.

Wren

We’ll be there. Just tell us what time.

The sound of a key in the lock had me looking up. I’d been so distracted by Grae’s texts that I hadn’t even heard a car pull up. Nash opened the door and stepped inside.

Clyde let out a low woof and jogged over to Nash. Apparently, his apprehension around Nash had melted away. Nash gave the dog a good stroke, then strode toward me. He slid his hand beneath my hair and tipped my head back. His mouth stopped just shy of mine. “Good day?”

I fought the urge to stretch onto my tiptoes and close the distance between us. “It was great.”

“No Adam sightings?”

I shook my head, still waiting for the contact I’d desperately missed all day.

“And no other trouble?” Nash pressed.

I pulled back a fraction, taking in his face. To everyone else, he would’ve looked perfectly relaxed, but I saw the tiny lines of strain around his eyes. “What happened?”

Nash sighed, his hand dropping from my neck. “Let’s sit down.”

No good conversations started that way. My stomach twisted as Nash guided me toward the couch. He pulled me down so I was right next to him, not giving me an inch of personal space.

“Just get it over with,” I whispered. Better to rip off the Band-Aid in one pull.

Nash’s hand found the back of my neck again, kneading the muscles there. “I saw your dad today. He’s out. Law called the prison, and he was granted an earlier release than they originally planned.”

A lead weight settled in my stomach. Jimmy was out. I didn’t like to call him Dad, not even in my mind. He hadn’t earned the title. I swallowed the bile trying to creep up my throat. “Okay.”

“He was served the order of protection before he left prison, so he knows he has to keep one hundred yards’ distance.”

“That’s good.” And it was. But I couldn’t feel the good. I’d gone numb, that pins-and-needles feeling sweeping across my body and into my bones.

“Mads.”

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