“Can’t wait!” Tara was eager to meet Mia and see her best friend.
Once they were off the phone, Robbie asked, “Can we go play?”
She raised an eyebrow at her charge. “I thought you were sick.”
“Not anymore.” He clasped his hands together and grinned at her. “Please?”
He did seem almost normal this morning. His energy was back and he wasn’t sniffling anymore.
“Okay, but you have to take it easy. You might feel better, but if you do too much too fast,you’ll get sick again. And you need to be healthy when your mom and Mia come home.”
“And Grandma and Adele!” He grinned and ran in a circle.
Tara laughed. “That’s right. Them too.”
He bounced on his toes. “Let’s go.”
God, she was crazy about this kid. And maybe it would be good for him to burn off some of that energy before everyone else arrived. “You have to get dressed first.”
He noddedand raced into his bedroom. A few minutes later, he appeared in an inside-out T-shirt, jeans, and velcro-strap sneakers. “I’m ready!”
Close enough. “Grab a sweater. It’s still cool out. And a hat.”
He pouted.
“Or, we can stay inside and clean your room.”
Without a word, he ran to his bedroom again. Maybe she didn’t totally suck at this parenting thing.
She found the sunscreen and pulledher sweater over a clean T-shirt she’d borrowed from Jenna. Once they were protected from the UV rays and the chill, they made their way carefully down three flights of stairs to the sidewalk. The sun shone brightly, surprisingly warm in the humid air.
“Do you like my new shoes?” Robbie asked. “They make me fast like Dash,” he said, referring to the superboy in The Incredibles. “Watch!” He tookoff running, swinging his arms in an exaggerated arc as he sped across the grass.
Tara laughed and shook her head. He was so freaking adorable.
Within minutes she was pushing her favorite kid on the swings. Some day, she’d have a child of her own to cuddle and spoil, and discipline and tease. To love unconditionally, the way everyone deserved to be loved. The way Jeff loved Evan.
Ugh. Sheneeded to stop thinking about Jeff. This morning had been a nice break. She’d been so focused on Robbie that she was totally in the moment. But now, her mind wandered.
The playground was empty, but when he tired of the swings, Robbie entertained himself sitting on what looked like a mini excavator with a big square bucket on the front. He scooped up a pile of sand, swiveled to one side and droppedit onto a growing mound, happy as could be.
If only her own joy were that simple. The last four years had proven that she didn’t need a man in her life to be happy. Not just any old warm body, anyway. But life without Jeff…
He’d blasted through all of her carefully laid plans for emotional independence. She couldn’t regret their time together, but it made her even more acutely aware of whatlife could be. How amazing love could be.
She wouldn’t die without him, but living without him was going to hurt. And despite her promise to be open for a new chance at love, she didn’t want to rebound into the arms of the first guy who was nice to her either.
Why was this so hard?
Desperate for a distraction from her thoughts, Tara pulled up the news on her phone. Late-season snow was expectedacross the Northeast, including several inches in DC. Not being home for that definitely deserved her gratitude. She was so over winter. Cherry blossoms were the only white she wanted to see on the ground this far into the year.
She scrolled absently, keeping an eye on Robbie, while skimming headlines about all the political shit going on, another workplace shooting, and a developing story aboutthe murder of former Olympic gymnast andPostreporter Annette Collier.
Tara bolted upright. What the hell? The woman had been found when the neighbor in the basement unit accidentally set his kitchen on fire early this morning. He’d kicked in her door to make sure she got out safely and found her already dead.
Oh, shit. This couldn’t have anything to do with Tara, could it? She’d spoken toother journalists before her appointment with Annette. As many as would listen.
But could this really be a coincidence? Like the attempted break-in. She couldn’t remember her college statistics class, but putting two unrelated events together and assuming they formed a statistically significant pattern sounded like folly.
Except the events weren’t completely unrelated. Tara’s gut twisted.She was the common denominator.
She tapped on the photos and scrolled through images of the thirty-something Black woman that made her heart heavy. Annette Collier had the sad distinction of being the first reporter killed in the US in more than two years. She’d parlayed her household name into a successful career exposing corrupt politicians and government officials.
She’d probably made plentyof enemies.
Tara played the video that accompanied the article. The medical examiner estimated that she’d been dead since Friday morning.
Tara gasped and her entire body turned cold.
The same day she’d run into the blonde just outside Annette Collier’s house.
