“What happened?” she blurts out.
I pull my phone from my pocket and turn it on. Instantly, it starts dinging with all the missed text messages. They are all from Miller. I ignore themand open the social media app and scroll to the pictures and then hold my phone out to my sister.
She takes it and looks at it and then back at me. “What is this? Is he married?”
I shake my head. “No. He asked me to the fundraiser tonight, but I had that photoshoot in Jasper. And then I saw this on the feed.”
She waits for me to continue and then asks, “And what? He’s dancing with some woman. Did you want him to stand on the sidelines all night? They’re just dancing.” She looks again at the phone and then at me, holding the phone out. “And look. The woman is all about him obviously, but he’s not into it.”
I squint at my phone. “You can’t tell that.”
She moves to sit beside me. “Look. He’s not even touching her. His hand is held out.”
I look at where she’s pointing, and sure enough, she’s right. They’re dancing, and he’s not even touching her.
Did I mess up? I shake my head. Nope. I didn’t. Miller is way out of my league, and I have no business messing with him. “Look, last night was special. I mean, I thought it was butnot enough since he went on a date with another woman the very next night.”
She grabs my hand. “Lindsey, talk to him. You should at least let him explain.”
“Lindsey!” my nephew hollers, and I stand up instantly.
“I gotta go read to my favorite little boy. I’ll be back.”
I go read to Eli, but instead of reading, we talk about his practice. He yawns widely. “You promise you’ll come to all my games?”
I have no problem making that promise to him. “Yes, of course I will. I wouldn’t miss it.”
He leans his head against my shoulder. “I love you, Aunt Lindsey.”
I bite my lip to keep from crying. I’m already emotional, and it won’t take much for my emotions to wreak havoc on me. “I love you too, Eli.”
He burrows into my side, and it isn’t long before his breath steadies and he’s asleep.
I push the hair to the side and look at his innocent face. The day Eli was born was one of the best days of my life. He’s a great kid. The best.
I kiss his forehead and then walk back into the living room. My sister is asleep too, so I cover her with a throw on the back of the couch, turn off all the lights, make sure her alarm is set, and then lock the door on my way out.
CHAPTER 6
MILLER
It’s been almost twenty-four hours since Lindsey sent me the picture, and she hasn’t answered the phone since. I would have been here right after the dance last night, but after a family emergency, it had to wait.
So now here I am, no sleep, outside Lindsey’s apartment building, waiting for her to get home.
It’s been a few hours, but when I see her pull into the parking lot, waiting was worth it. She gets out of her truck, but she’s not alone. A woman and a little boy get out too, and they are grabbing bags from the back.
“Lindsey,” I call out.
She tenses before slowly turning around and looking at me. “Miller? What are you doing here?”
I hear the other woman mutter, “Is that him? Damn…”
Lindsey gently pushes the other woman while the little boy gasps. “Mom! You said a bad word.”
“Please,” I beg.
Lindsey just stares at me, but the little boy walks up and holds his hand out. “Hi. I’m Eli Davenport. Who are you?”
