Since the day DCS had invaded her home, Connor had made their meals. Always serving her a hot breakfast. He even made it fun by arranging the eggs and bacon to look like different faces.
That was the hardest part. Not only was he pretending to be her fiancé, but he was also pretending to be her Daddy. She’d also found herself in the corner more than once for refusing the veggies he made for dinner. Every meal became a hard-fought rebellion against his rules of healthy eating. Yucky food eating, if you asked her. Which explained the corner time.
He kept telling her things like, “You have to keep up your strength, little girl. Being a mom is hard work.”
He read bedtime stories to her and the babies, complete with funny voices and everything. When it had snowed two days before, he’d taken her outside while the girls napped, and they’d made a snowman in the front yard. She’d laughed, and played, and for a brief moment, life felt like the normal she longed for.
“Why are you doing this, Connor?” she’d asked, needing his honesty.
“I’ve already told you, Trouble,” he’d answered. “This is who I want to be and where I want to be. I’m sorry I reacted so badly and hurt you when you told me about Nori. I don’t handlesurprises well. But that’s no excuse. I want to be a part of your and the girls' lives in any way you’ll let me.”
She’d stared at him, trying to figure out how someone’s words could hurt her so badly one day and heal her the next. But it had made zero sense. She was supposed to believe he’d done a complete turnabout? In a day? Her chest fluttered and ached all at once. Logic had no place when Connor Davis was involved.
Someone put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle shake. “Hey. Earth to Bliss. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
With a shake of her head, Bliss returned her focus to Rory. “You didn’t freak me out. Actually, it explains a lot. I should thank you.” Only she didn’t feel like thanking anyone.
She wanted to punch Connor in the nose and then eat a gallon of peppermint rocky road ice cream all by herself. Instead, she just stood there, jaw tight, cheeks warm, and heart beating faster than it had any right to. Trying to smile.
“You know he’s into you, right?”
“I wouldn’t say that. He did me a gigantic favor by getting me away from those Russians.” He’d done so much more than that. He’d given her Nori, but she wasn’t about to tell Rory that. “But he did that more for Winnie and Reid than for me.”
Rory cackled. Not laughed. Cackled. “Sister, you have got that all wrong. Didn’t anyone tell you how he’d been keeping an eye on you ever since you moved to Darling the first time?”
Um, no. She didn’t know that. Why hadn’t Winnie told her? “What do you mean?”
Rory’s face lit up. She evidently liked to be the first to share secrets with people. “I mean, he kept tabs on you when you were here before. He and Law have all these informants in that Society group you were in. Didn’t you find it odd that, even though his job keeps him out of town a lot, he was usually in town when you were? And that made a point to see you?”
Bliss blinked, her brain doing cartwheels. So many things suddenly clicked into place. It made her stomach swoop. She couldn’t keep the shock from her face.
He hadn’t been there every time, but he found her more often than not. She’d thought he was just a coincidence… him going about his daily life. “He did that?”
“Of course he did. And he kept track of how you were being treated when you went back out west, though I think that was harder. Still, he tried.”
He’d tried to keep an eye on her?
If her brain didn’t stop spinning, she was going to have to sit down. Too much information. It was time she got back to finding an outfit. She filed her conversation with Rory away to pull out and think about tonight. It wasn’t like she was sleeping a lot anyway. Yeah, she could tell herself that, but her pulse kept thudding in her chest.
He saw her? He cared? For some reckless part of her, that was thrilling and terrifying all at once. It might even be enough to redeem a part of the nightmare she was living in right now.
Even with Connor there, the past four days had been horrible. Ms. Talon had come by unannounced every day, at a different time each day. Yesterday, she’d come at eleven o’clock at night. That should be against the rules.
Bliss had already been asleep, but when Connor woke her, she had to trudge to the front door and let that beast of a woman in to look around and check the children.
Of course, she’d scared the twins when she tried to check for bruises. She and Connor had been up for over an hour trying to soothe them back to sleep after the woman left.
After that, every bump and knock that sounded had been like a thunderclap, startling her awake again. It was just one more reminder that peace was fleeting, and her nerves frayed with every second.
Still, there were good things, too. Like Connor holding Nori against his chest, rocking her and humming softly, even after she’d drifted off to sleep. That was something she never thought she’d see.
She’d memorized it so she could tell Nori about it when she was older. It shouldn’t be hard to remember, since each gentle sway of his arm, each soft hum, seared itself into her memory.
Still, now she was on a mission. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Rory. I’d love to stay and chat, but I have to find something suitable for court that doesn’t cost a fortune.”
“Um, hello,” Rory said, pointing to the huge sign on her shop, Second Hand Glams. “I’ll bet I can find you something. Come on in.” It was a good thing she had no intention of protesting because Rory took the stroller and pushed it into the shop.
Amazingly, forty-five minutes later, Bliss left the shop with the perfect outfit, not only for herself, but for Sadie, Sophie, and Nori as well. She felt like she’d just won the lottery, a small victory in a week that had been relentless.
