“I’m good. Just—” He caught my hand. “Thank you. For tonight. For everything.”
I squeezed his hand. “Try to get some sleep. Tomorrow’s a big day.”
I gave him one last kiss and headed toward the hallway, then turned back. He was watching me with an expression that made my heart ache. Like he loved me.
And oh my God, I think I loved him too. No, I told myself. Too soon. Slow down. Unfortunately, my heart seemed to be deaf.
“She’s going to love you,” I said. “It might take time, but she will. Because you’re impossible not to love.”
“Goodnight, Lila,” he said softly—his voice so tender it nearly had me turning back.
However, I was very aware that my fourteen-year-old daughter was just upstairs.
“Goodnight. Sleep well,” I said.
I went to my room but couldn’t sleep, my mind working through everything that had happened in the last few hours. I said a little prayer, asking for God to keep watch over all of us. Just as I was drifting toward sleep, my phone buzzed on the nightstand.
I reached for it. An unknown number. With a link? My stomach clenched. I clicked before I could stop myself. It was another gossip post. This one with a photo of Vance’s car in my driveway—taken tonight. The headline: Designer’s Mystery Man Spending the Night?
I couldn't breathe right. Each inhale felt shallow, insufficient. My throat was tight. My hands trembled. I deleted the text, but a moment later another one came through. Another photo, closer this time. Taken through my front window. Vance and me on the couch. Just now. Someone had been outside watching, photographing us, and I’d been inside with absolutely no clue what was going on outside my own home.
Heart pounding, I texted Vance, even though he was just downstairs. I couldn’t imagine walking down the stairs right now without falling.
Lila
Someone’s watching the house. Taking photos. Pull down all the shades. Don’t go outside.
Vance
I see it. This has gone too far.We’ll call the police first thing in the morning. Promise me you’ll stay upstairs until daylight.
I stared at the screen, the glow lighting the dark room. My chest had gone tight, each breath shallow and insufficient. The photos on my phone—of my house, my porch, the window to Mia's bedroom—seemed to pulse with each heartbeat. He wasright. It had gone too far. But I already knew what the police would say. No threats. No crime. Just photos. Just someone watching. Waiting.
My hands trembled as I set the phone down on the bedside table, suddenly desperate to put distance between myself and those images. The room felt smaller now. Exposed. Every window a potential eye. The familiar walls of my cottage, my safe space suddenly felt permeable. Invaded.
I pulled my knees to my chest, making myself smaller, aware suddenly of every window in the cottage. Were they out there now? Watching? Taking more photos while I sat here, illuminated by my phone, an easy target? I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to stop the shaking. This feeling of violation reminded me of the day I'd found Carter in bed with his intern. That same cold dread spreading through my chest. That same realization that someone I'd trusted had betrayed me in the worst way possible. He’d brought her into my bed. My safe haven.
But this was worse. Because at least then, I'd known who the threat was.
8
VANCE
First thing the next morning, Lila and I called the police. They agreed to come over to talk to us, but weren’t much help.
“Without a direct threat or witnessed trespassing, there’s not much we can do. These were taken from the street—public property.”
“So we just wait until something worse happens?” Lila had asked.
The female officer had handed her a card. “Document everything. If it escalates, call immediately.”
An hour later, I left to pick up Margot. I didn’t want to leave Lila and Mia but they assured me they were fine, sending me out the door with hugs. On my way out of town, I stopped first to pick up my mother. She was ready and waiting, dressed in soft linen pants and a cardigan, her silver hair styled, her demeanor calm and reassuring.
“You okay?” she asked as we merged onto the highway.
“No.”
“That’s honest.” She patted my knee. “But you will be. Once you see her.”
