Page 17 of Loving You

April: If your offer still stands, I’d like to take you up on it.

Me: Absolutely. I’ll be home in ten minutes. Come over any time.

Dread and anticipation rushed through me as I typed out the response, then shoved the phone in my pocket and grabbed my plate. Urgency chased through my veins, driving me to forgo any attempt at making excuses.

Everyone’s attention turned to me as I rose and marched to the kitchen, rinsed my plate, and stuck it in the dishwasher. Without acknowledging the gaping faces aimed at me, I took a small casserole dish from the cabinet and loaded it with food, then covered it with foil. If she hadn’t eaten, there was no reason she shouldn’t eat some of Mom’s delicious food.

“Eric?” Mom asked.

“I’m sorry, everyone. I’ve got to go. I’ll see you next week.” And without responding to the murmurs behind me, I left.

I couldn’t explain why I was leaving, or I’d break April’s confidence. She hadn’t explicitly told me not to say anything, but the fact that she hadn’t told me why she was late the other day or even opened up about what had kept her from sleeping well said enough to tell me I shouldn’t go around sharing the news.

Plus, if she was texting me now, she was desperate. I didn’t know what’d driven her to that point, but she made it very clear she wasn’t interested in the idea last week. I couldn’t fault her, and yet the fact that she’d reached out…

Panic flared to life in my chest as I hustled out the door.

Was she hurt? Or simply unable to rest? Would she tell me what the hell was going on? Should I ask, or just act like this was all the plan?

If someone hurt her, so help me—

“Eric, hold up.” Sammy’s voice made me turn just before I reached my Jeep.

“Sorry, Sam, but I really need to get going. Is it quick?”

His eyes narrowed on me a little. “Are you by any chance going to meet April?”

Surprise kept me from covering my reaction. I didn’t know whether April had told my sisters-in-law about possibly staying with me, but I figured that was her prerogative. “Why do you ask?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned slightly before speaking. “Do you, uh, know anything about what’s been going on with her?”

Interest and worry spiked in tandem. “What doyouknow?”

“Is this about April?” Rachel asked, jogging up next to Sammy.

I studied them, both cagey but oddly hopeful. If they were asking, then they knew something, and I would take whatever information they could give me so I could help her as quickly as possible.

For some reason, my heart hadn’t stopped pounding since I’d seen her text, and I felt borderline nauseated as I said, “It is. She doesn’t feel safe at her place, so I told her she could stay with me.”

Neither one of them seemed shocked by this news, and Sammy nodded with approval. “That’s good. She’s… I promised her I wouldn’t say anything to anyone, but it’s good you offered.”

My teeth ground together at his confirmation that this wasn’t simply a case of insomnia or a noisy neighbor. I’d known it, but Sammy’s words sent a fresh wave of alarm washing through me.

“But you should probably know, she hasn’t been staying at her place. She’s been living in this crappy storage room in the attic of the bed-and-breakfast.” Rachel’s eyes bore into mine like she hoped this would communicate everything I needed to know.

It did.

Frankly, I didn’t need anything more than her text to tell me to get my ass home and be there for her like I’d told her I would be. But Sammy and Rachel’s shared concern, the knowledge thatsomethinghad happened and they’d been worried for her… that cinched it.

The fact that she’d moved out of her apartment and into the bed-and-breakfast only sent my pulse racing faster. “Thank you for telling me. I’m going to go meet her.”

“Okay. Good. And, Eric?”

I paused before I shut the driver’s side door and looked at Sammy so he’d know I was listening.

“Be gentle with her, okay?”

Six minutes later, I pulled into my driveway.

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