Page 107 of Somebody's Watching Me
“I don’t know how old you were, but you were old enough to walk.” The light turned green, and he faced forward. “Your mom had you upstairs at Haven, and she decided to take a shower while you napped on our bed. I was on my way back from Texas and less than a few minutes out.”
“Why does this sound like the opening of a true crime podcast?”
The car turned again, meaning they were merging onto the beachfront highway leading into the Firewater development. “While she was in the shower, you woke up and, for whatever reason, decided to go rummaging through the paints she kept stored in the closet.”
“Let me guess, I ate them.”
“No, you stripped naked and painted yourself blue.”
“What?”
Her father grinned, and she could see the rare appearance of his dimples in the mirror. “You painted yourself blue, and then Frankenstein walked your ass into the bathroom to scare the shit out of Laura Jean.”
She smiled. Not over the story, but how easily he could get lost in the past. He was happy there. Everyone was happier there.
“I arrived just as your mom started screaming, and everyone ran upstairs to see what was happening,” he went on. “We found you two naked and wet on the bathroom floor.”
Laughing along with him, she figured the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes were worth the smudge. “I love you.”
His laughter softened, and his eyes met hers in the mirror. “Love you too, princess.”
The car slowed to a stop, pulling over on the side of the road, and he rolled down the window. “Come look at her.”
Evie waddled up to the car and stuck her head through the window. “That’s sexy.”
“Functionality wasn’t something I thought of.”
Her sister nodded at the red mark on her neck. “Liam?”
“Of course.”
“Nice.” She snapped a photo with her phone. “For Micah. He was screaming for a pic when I told him what you were wearing.”
Evie’s friend and former assistant had risen to the financial project lead at Fairweather’s hotel division and rarely made it home for a visit anymore. He and his husband, who also worked for Fairweather, rotated between the Lauderdale and North Carolina offices, where they were spearheading the new Georgia build for the company. Eventually, once the project expanded enough to have Fairweather offices on site, Micah and Tommy would move to Darian and live happily as Evie’s neighbors.
Holding one girl on each hip, Samuel stuck his big head through the front passenger window. “You look like an idiot.”
Theo placed a hand over her father’s mouth. “Hush. She purty.”
“I would have to agree.” Harper nodded in haughty approval. “You look very nice.”
“I wook nice.” Attempting to crawl her way through the window to get to her grandfather, Theo screeched when Samuel held her back. “I goes with Papa! I gots my tutu on!”
Samuel hauled the girls away, and Jamison leaned carefully up on one elbow to try to see the person standing just out of sight behind Evie. “Who’s that?”
“Holden.” Evie shifted nonchalantly so Holden wouldn’t notice they were scoping him out. “Can you see him?”
All she could see was the top of the man’s head. “No.”
“Well, you will at the doctor’s appointment tomorrow.” Evie filled the window again. “Ben, are you coming? The appointment is at eight.”
“I have a meeting,” he said, texting someone. “But send the ultrasound video back with Jamison so Simone and I can see.”
“I need you to text me the address of the doctor’s office.” Jamison frowned. “But I don’t know to which phone.”
“I’ll send it to Liam, but then again, I don’t know which phone to send the information from,” Evie said and scrunched her nose. “This is all so confusing.”
“Klausen is nabbing these people at an unbelievably fast rate. It’s the first time he’s ever been able to throw charges at Zanmi and make them stick.” Her father finished up his text and set the phone down. “So, it won’t be for forever, kid.”
