Page 13 of The Wish List
“The hell...” the same voice muttered. “Are you okay?”
Glancing up at the shadow of a man looming over, she scrambled back, the grass damp under her palms. The cold seeped into her bones, and she mentally commanded herself to get a grip. Her gaze remained focused on the man who’d spoken, his identity becoming clear as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. Asher Davis, Magnolia’s police chief.
He was her mother’s neighbor, she remembered. An innocent coincidence, not a threat. Not her ex-boyfriend. Dave had no idea where she was and no way to track her. Trinity had been careful since leaving Montana months ago. She’d drained her meager savings in Colorado and only used cash on the drive to North Carolina.
Dave had no idea about her mother’s stroke and no reason to believe she’d ever return to her hometown. Her sisters and mom hadn’t even known about the pregnancy before Trinity showed up here. In truth, she wouldn’t have thought to use her childhood home as a refuge if Beth hadn’t tracked her down.
“I’m fine,” she told Asher now. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people.”
“I was standing in the yard.” He pointed to the house behind him. “I figured you saw me when you came out.”
She ignored his offered hand and rose on her own, then hissed out a breath when pain radiated up her leg as she tried to put weight on her right foot.
Asher placed a gentle hand on her arm, but even that was too much for Trinity’s frayed nerves. She flinched away then felt heat rise to her cheeks. Now that her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, she could read the way Asher’s features softened in understanding.
He was in law enforcement and had probably seen plenty of women who couldn’t tell the difference between a man who used his hands for violence and those who didn’t. She was just one more pathetic example of an idiot who’d let a boyfriend turn her into someone she’d never imagined becoming—small and scared.
She placed a hand on her belly, needing the reminder of what was at stake for her future. Of why she had to be stronger. Of why she’d left.
“Let me help you,” Asher said quietly, and Trinity wasn’t sure whether he was referring to her injured ankle or the more significant circumstances of her life.
She went with the straightforward response. “I just twisted it.” She rotated her ankle in a circle, gritting her teeth against the sting as she lowered herself onto one of the wrought-iron chairs at the edge of the patio. “I’m fine.”
That was clearly a lie, but Asher didn’t call her on it.
“Sorry I scared you. I didn’t mean to.”
“I know. It’s fine.” Fine, fine, fine.
She’d lost count of how many times she’d used the wordfineto describe herself or her circumstances. Who was she fooling?
Not Ash by the look he leveled at her.
Trinity wondered why it seemed so easy for other women to pick stand-up guys but not her. It was as if she was a homing device for every deadbeat and loser within a hundred-mile radius of wherever she was at the moment.
None of her previous boyfriends had been as bad as Dave. She’d outdone herself with her most recent relationship. But that was over. She wasn’t going back, and she wasn’t going to let him threaten or control her in any way. Not with her baby’s future on the line.
Maybe Trinity hadn’t found a way to be strong for herself, but she would for her child. She shifted away from Ash when the impulsive desire to draw closer enveloped her.
Trinity kept her distance from the cops. Law enforcement was good at protecting upstanding citizens like her sister Beth. People who didn’t have dangerous problems believed in the authorities.
Others, like her, knew there was nothing that could truly protect them.
She’d done a poor job of taking care of herself up until now, but the baby she was carrying changed things. Even though it was unexpected, pregnancy had changed her. Unexpected wasn’t the same as unknown, and Trinity knew she would love and protect her unborn daughter with every fiber of her being.
She assumed her odd behavior would encourage Ash to walk back to his mother-in-law’s house, but he didn’t move. “How is your mom doing? I’m sure she’s glad to be home for Thanksgiving.”
Trinity nodded and glanced over her shoulder at the house. It had been an odd day with all of them together, but also kind of wonderful. She knew better than to trust wonderful. “Beth left a few minutes ago to drive her back to the rehab center. May was happy and emotional and strangely kind for someone struggling to regain her speech. I’m not sure any of us knows how to handle this new version of our mother.”
“She’s always been kind to my daughter,” Ash said with a frown. “I assumed that was her go-to.”
Trinity swallowed back a laugh. “Hardly. My mother’s go-to has always been her own brand of narcissism. She has a larger-than-life personality, but she also wants to be the center of attention. That didn’t mix too well with motherhood, especially being a single parent.”
Ash ran a hand through his thick hair. “That is very true. I don’t think I have time to be selfish. I’m too busy trying to keep up with life.”
“I’m sorry about Stacy,” Trinity told him. “We hadn’t talked in years, but we were friends as kids.”
Trinity had casually asked Beth about her childhood friend moving back with her parents. Beth explained that Stacy had been killed in a car accident two years earlier, and her widowed husband had moved from Raleigh to Magnolia so their daughter could be close to her grandparents. Shortly after arriving, Stacy’s father had passed away, so Ash and Michaela had continued to live with Helena.
