Page 18 of Delicate Escape

“Okay,” I echoed. “Gonna get a shovel from my truck.”

I moved before she could stop me, crossing to my vehicle and grabbing the shovel from the bed. When I turned, it was to find Thea watching me like a hawk. I just let her. Whatever she needed to feel safe.

My gut churned, that sick feeling spreading as I wondered what the hell had happened to her. It battled with the anger taking root. Fury at whoever had put that fear in her.

I tried to shove the rage down. The last thing Thea needed was to see that. So, I focused on the task at hand, telling her everything I planned to do and waiting for approval at every step.

“Gonna dig a hole where I think the pipe connects with the house to see if I can find any evidence of a leak.”

Thea licked her lips again, pink tongue darting across them in a nervous gesture. But she nodded.

It didn’t take me long to find it, but I saw water pooling before I even got there. Not a ton of it, but enough. It didn’t take much moisture to damage a home.

I glanced up at Thea as I knelt by the hole. Her entire body was strung tight, her typically olive skin an unnatural shade of white. “Where’s the bathroom?”

“Right there. On the other side of this wall.”

I sighed, turning my head to survey the corroded pipe. “I can’t know for sure without getting inside, but it looks like this has been slowly leaking for a long time. I don’t see the leak here, so I’m not sure where it originated from.”

Thea’s knuckles bleached white as she gripped her fingers tighter.

God, she was the last person I wanted to deliver bad news to. It was like kicking a puppy. “You gotta be careful with leaks. They can lead to rot, mold. Both. It doesn’t have to be me, but you need to get someone who knows what they’re doing inside to look at it.”

Maybe something about me specifically triggered Thea. While the thought stung, it would be better than knowing she wouldn’t let anyone help.

Her eyes shone brighter as she struggled to get words out. “I can’t.”

That struggle, the way Thea battled back tears, sliced deep. “You’re killing me, Thorn. Let me help.”

Her whole body shuddered. “I-I’m sorry. I just…I can’t.”

7

THEA

My eyes burnedas I blinked at the kitchen counter in the early morning light. It was as if my eyelids were made of sandpaper and acid. Not a winning combination.

Moose batted my leg with his paw, letting out a warbled meow.

“You already had breakfast,” I mumbled as I mixed the kittens’ gruel. “This is for the babies.”

Moose hissed in response.

“Such a drama king.”

He was also probably pissed about all the tossing and turning I’d done last night. Between struggling to get to sleep and nightmares where Brendan stood over my bed screaming at me about all my failings, I’d barely cobbled together three hours of shut-eye.

It wouldn’t be the first time. When I first left LA, I’d struggled to sleep at all. I’d braced for Brendan to break down the door of any motel I was at, and once I landed in Sparrow Falls, I’d been sure he’d find me eventually.

Between that and worrying that any person who looked at mefor longer than a beat had seen me naked on the internet, I’d been a basket case. The first night I managed a full night’s rest, I’d cried the next morning in sheer relief. And struggling with sleep again sent me catapulting right back to that place.

It didn’t help that I was struggling with a healthy dose of guilt on top of it. I’d seen the hurt in Shep’s eyes when I wouldn’t let him into my house. And his understanding and empathy only made things worse.

Shoving down the image, I carried the two plates to the kitten pen. The four babies were an adorable distraction. They were currently sleeping in a pile, but the moment the scent of food hit their noses, the squeaky meows began.

I lifted them out of the little house two at a time. I put the two tabbies at one plate and set the black with white paws and the gray with a white chest at the other. The little gray girl was smaller, definitely the runt. I stood and watched them for a few minutes, making sure the gray got her share so she’d put on some weight.

Moose put his front paws on the top of the pen to stare down at them, then looked up at me with complete disdain.

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