“Noah, don’t do this. It’smyfault. I shouldn’t have gotten close to you. It’s the middle of the night.”
He lifted the bag and moved toward the front door. In the hall, he pulled out a spare key from a drawer and set it on the table. “Lock up in the morning when you leave. I’ll wait until there’s someone outside so you won’t be unprotected.”
Then he stepped out of the house, guilt so heavy on his shoulders, his knees almost caved from the weight of it.
He’d done it again. She hadn’t even touched him this time, yet he’d almost hurt her. And there was nothing about that fact that felt forgivable.
CHAPTER 11
Addie glanced down at her phone. He hadn’t messaged all morning. Granted, it was only nine, but she’d woken at three a.m. to Noah’s nightmare and hadn’t gone back to sleep, so it felt later.
She was tired. And frustrated. And it felt like there was this band around her chest, tightening with each breath.
Yes, she’d felt a flicker of fear when Noah had grabbed her. But hehadn’thurt her.
Mrs. Gerald set a mug on her table. “Here you are, dear.”
“Thank you.” She wrapped her fingers around the hot mug, letting the warmth slip into the cool crevices inside her.
Before the older woman walked away, she frowned. “Are you okay?”
“It hasn’t been a great morning.” Understatement of the century.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“You’ve already done it by making me this steaming-hot cup of cocoa. Thank you. And thank you for checking in.”
“Let me know if you need pie too.”
Despite everything, her lips twitched. “I just might.” Heck, she might need two pieces of pie.
When the other woman walked away, Addie lifted her mug, but even the sweetness of the drink didn’t help.
“Oh my, it must be bad if the hot chocolate isn’t making you smile.”
Addie looked up to see Jules slide into the booth opposite her, a piece of pie in her hand.
“Jules, hey.”
“You should be smiling. It’s Monday, the park’s closed, we all have the day off, and the sun’s shining.”
“After the twenty-four hours I’ve had, smiling is not high on my to-do list today.”
Jules’s brows flickered. “Is this about Noah?”
“Noah?”
“Addie, I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. Has something happened?”
Cass had said something similar. Was it that obvious to everyone? “It’s complicated.”
Jules seemed to consider that for a moment. “Well, if there’s anything I’ve learned in my fifty-five years on this earth, it’s that there’s no problem that cannot be solved with pie.” She pushed her slice across the table.
“Oh, no, it’s yours.”
“You look like you need it more than me.” Julie tilted her head. “Want to talk about it?”
Ha. If she told this woman about everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, heck in the lastmonth, her eyes would probably fall out of their sockets. “Trust me, you do not want me to spill all my problems on you.”
