Nolan leaned forward, concern etching deeper lines around his eyes. “And where’s my niece?”
I groaned. I couldn’t explain everything that had happened, and I didn’t want to. How could I possibly explain that the nanny I’d hired on a whim was a woman I had pulled out of a burning building the night my wife died?
“I sent them somewhere safer after the fire at Hearthstone,” I finally admitted, staring into my nearly empty glass. “They’re with my parents.”
A heavy silence fell over our table. I felt them staring at me, processing what this meant—that I believed the threat level was high enough to send my daughter away.
When I eventually faced them, Shawn’s dark hair was sticking up at an odd angle, like he’d just run his hands through it.
“I’m sorry, man,” he muttered.
Nolan studied me quietly, those green eyes—so like Jessica’s—seeing too much. “I can’t tell if you’re in such a mood because you miss your daughter that much or because of that blonde nanny of yours.”
I had never wanted to disappear right through the floor more than at that moment.
“Nolan, stop,” I warned, the misery clear in the low tones of my voice.
Nolan blinked, surprise flashing across his face.
My grip on the beer glass tightened. It was bad enough having these feelings crawling around inside me; I didn’t need them dissected over lukewarm beer by the brother of the woman I had left to die alone.
“Honestly,” Nolan continued, his voice softening, “it was about time for you to find someone again.” He paused. “My sister wouldn’t want you to spend the rest of your life alone.”
That hit me straight in the heart. A direct blow that made it suddenly hard to breathe.
I stood abruptly. I couldn’t do this. Not tonight. Not with the weight of an empty house waiting for me and the knowledge that Palmer was miles away, probably tucking Hailey in right now, reading her one more story because my daughter always managed to negotiate for “just one more.”
“I gotta go.”
I tossed enough cash on the table to cover my tab and headed for the door.
“Roman, wait,” Shawn called after me, but I kept moving.
I heard them scrambling to pay their tabs, cursing under their breath as they hurried to follow me. The cool night air hit me as I pushed through the door, clearing some of the alcohol fog from my head.
“Hold up, boss.” Shawn grabbed my shoulder. “You’re not driving, right?”
I glared at him, insulted by the implication.
“I was going to get an Uber,” I muttered, pulling out my phone. The lock screen was a picture of Hailey and Palmer grinning from ear to ear. Hailey had taken the photo herself and set it as my lock screen, and I hadn’t wanted to change it.
I quickly pressed the home button, banishing their faces.
“Let me.” Nolan took the phone from my unresisting fingers.
I watched as he ordered a ride, too tired to protest.
Shawn stood beside me, a solid presence outside of the bar. “They’ll be back before you know it,” he said softly.
I didn’t respond. We both knew it wasn’t that simple. Nothing was simple anymore—not with the truth that Palmer had confessed, the arson cases piling up, and Anderson at large.
“Car will be here in two minutes,” Nolan announced, handing my phone back. His expression had softened from teasing to genuine concern. “You know you can call me anytime, right? Not just about the investigation.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
The couple of minutes we waited for the Uber seemed like forever, and the trip home even longer. When we arrived and I climbed out and closed the door, Nolan’s words about Jessica not wanting me to be alone rang in my ears, unwelcome but impossible to ignore.
I stood on the sidewalk, watching the taillights of the car grow smaller as it disappeared down the street, leaving me alone with thoughts I didn’t want to face.
