I brace Dewdrop instinctively as Remy slams on the brakes. His arm shoots out to do the same for Raindrop.
He pulls over and turns to face me. Dewdrop cowers against my chest. Raindrop starts nervously licking at Remy’s chin.
Remy absently scratches the dog’s ears. “Repeat that,” he says quietly. “With context.”
I do. Quickly. What I saw. What I heard. Why I thought a dog might help.
His forehead drops to the steering wheel. “No wonder she shut down when we questioned her.”
“I ran a background check after the hotel,” I say. “She received a settlement from the professor’s family. Ten million.”
I hesitate.
“She barely touched it. Paid rent. Bought a base-model Camry. Rarely went out.”
I exhale. “With interest, it’s grown to over fifteen million.”
“Erik,” Remy says, hesitant. “In this case, I don’t think running a background check is going to help us.”
“It does,” I say. “We know why she was hurt. We don’t need her to explain it.”
I pause. “The baby I only learned about this morning. That feels private.”
I don’t tell him about the song.
Chapter forty-eight
Remy
Inhaling deeply, I put the truck back in drive.
“Why don’t you google a dog washing station?” I say quietly.
I rub at my chest, but the ache doesn’t fade. Everything I think and do with Christianna feels wrong.
Me. The guy who always knows how to handle things. And Erik, whose emotional IQ usually ranks somewhere near pudding, is suddenly ahead of me.
Fuck. Now I’m running down my best friend.
I pull into a parking spot, grab the back of my neck, and turn to my friend
“I don’t want to lose her, and I feel like everything I do pushes her farther away.” I shake my head. “The girl who was going to marry me, who loved singing, she’s changed. She’s grown up. Life hit her over and over. How am I supposed to relate to that?”
Erik studies me for a long moment.
“You’re treating this like a singular problem,” he says. “It isn’t. It’s both of us.” His voice is matter-of-fact. “We have different strengths. Both will matter to her.”
He continues calmly. “I can give voice to her pain so it can be released. You can hold her while she cries.” He pauses. “I can hear and feel emotion, but I don’t… relate to it well.”
I glance back at the dogs, curled together. “You relate better than you think. You just have to care about the person.”
He meets my gaze. “I care about you. And I care about Christianna.” His expression doesn’t waver. “I think the Dark Angel has been playing me her music all this time. She resonates with me.” A brief pause. “The same way she does with you. Just in a different key.”
“Erik,” I say carefully. “I want a relationship with her. I want to know her. Be there for her.”
He doesn’t blink. “Yes. As do I.”
“I don’t think you understand,” I say. “I want to court her. If she’ll have me.”
