“Len,” Dane said gently, a different kind of exhaustion leaking into his voice. “You have to stop. This… thisobsessionisn’t good for you.”
Isobel looked up at the sudden, quiet shuffling of footsteps down the hall on the floor above them.
“You have a chance to be different,” Dane went on. “Don’t go down this path again.”
The stairs creaked at the press of a small foot. “Daddy?” a musical voice called from the top of the stairs.
Isobel peeked around the corner, catching sight of Esther rubbing her eyes, her unicorn stuffy tucked under her arm.
The little girl yawned. “What’s happening?”
“Nothing, baby. Come here.” Dane held out a hand, and Esther hurried down the stairs to his embrace.
It made Isobel ache. This was the kind of family she wanted to build. The kind she’d had growing up. Steady. Warm. Sure. But Isobel couldn’t belong to these two like that. She wasn’t ready. Shewasn’t sure she ever would be. And besides, they deserved someone more reliable than her.
Someone without secrets.
She thought of June again, and her chest went tight. That’s who should have been here.
“We’re going to find him,” Lenny said. “With or without you.”
Dane stiffened, but he didn’t let his smile budge with his daughter there. His voice stayed calm. “We?”
“Avi will come with me. I know he will.” Lenny pulled the front door wide, letting in a gust of wind that made Esther gasp. He ruffled his niece’s hair, eyes going soft for a moment.
Isobel held her breath and waited for Dane to stop him. Instead, he simply watched Lenny flip up the hood of his jacket.Don’t let him go,she silently begged. This was obviously going to come back to bite Dane in the ass. Why, after so many years of being burned by his brother, could Dane not just say no?
“Please, Len.” Dane’s voice was rough. “Don’t be stupid.”
When Lenny’s eyes moved past his brother toward the shadows in the hall, Isobel yanked herself out of his line of view, heart pounding.
The front door clicked shut.
Isobel let out a breath and pressed her palms to her eyes.
“Daddy,” Esther said after a moment, “I’m thirsty.”
Isobel peeked around the corner again as Dane stood, his daughter wrapping her limbs koala-style around him. “Let’s get you some water.”
“Popsicle,” she said into his shirt, the sound muffled.
“Popsicles are for daytime, kiddo.”
Isobel waited until they passed the office where she hid before slinking back down the hallway, her shoes clutched in her hand.She knew that after Dane tucked his daughter back into bed, he would come looking for her, but Isobel couldn’t wait when her sister was out there unaware of Lenny’s pursuit.
She retraced her steps to the door where she’d snuck in earlier, slipping one of Dane’s jackets off its hook. It was chilly after dark. As she quietly exited the house, she slid her arms into the sleeves.
Rows of Walker pear trees striped the field behind the farmhouse. Isobel squinted, her focus zipping to where someone moved, almost catlike, beneath the light beaming over the barn doors. The silhouette of a man cut a path swiftly down the street.
Isobel’s eyes narrowed.
Not this time, you bastard.
She set off in quiet pursuit, turning only once, when the flicker of a porch light behind her revealed Dane Walker framed in his doorway, peering out into the night.
Chapter 17
Arthur,
