Page 88 of Healed Heart

---

Then I hear it.A soft knocking.

My nerves go on red alert.It’s the middle of the night, and Jason…

Is he back?

I check the time.It hasn’t been that long since he left.

Surely he can’t already be back.

Or could he?

Tillie shifts beside me, ears pricked, her little body tense.The knocking comes again—soft, hesitant, but firm enough to put my senses on alert.

I push the covers back, my breath tight in my chest.He left after that phone call.

What if it’s not him?

My mind races through possibilities, each worse than the last.A stranger?A threat?

Or something more terrifying—Jason, standing on the other side of the door, lost in a way I don’t know how to fix.

I swallow hard, slip out of bed, pull a robe over my shoulders, and walk out of the bedroom.Tillie follows.I flick on a brighter lamp in the living room.

Another knock.This time, softer.Almost reluctant.

I look through the peephole.

Jason.

Relief sweeps through me.

Not a thief, murderer, or rapist.

Simply Jason.

He stands on my stoop, drenched in moonlight and something heavier—something raw, unspoken.

This isn’t the Jason who owned me hours ago, who pressed me onto the table with a command and a growl, who unraveled me with ruthless precision.

“Jason?”My voice barely carries over the silence.

Nothing.

Then—his voice, low, rough.

“Angie…please.Open the door.”

Something inside me clenches.I don’t know if I’m ready for whatever weight he’s about to drop onto me.

But I know one thing.

I’m going to open the door.

“Get back, girl,” I say to Tillie as I unlock the deadbolt and open the door.

Jason says nothing as he walks in, ignoring Tillie’s yaps.

I scoop up my dog, take her to the back door, and let her out.She does her business quickly, and when she scratches at the metal door, I let her back in.

---