Page 134 of When the Smoke Clears

Jamie frowns before offering a slow nod.

“Jaymes,” I stare at the ceiling for a second, “Everleigh talked about her father a lot. Not like once or twice. She never tried to steer the conversation away from him. It’s like she wanted to talk about him. It wasn’t me asking her a million questions. I didn’t back her into a corner, forcing her to tell a white lie because she didn’t want to be the only one in the room without a father.”

“My heart is broken for her,” she says.

I don’t know what my heart is. Everything’s still spinning in my head. I’m replaying every conversation I’ve ever had with Everleigh about her father.

She’s. A. Psychiatrist.

“You should go see her. I would, but I’m not flying this far along in my pregnancy.”

The back door opens, and Fitz grins, kicking off his boots before depositing grocery bags on the counter. “Where the hell did you come from?”

I stand and force a smile while hugging him. “Finally made it out of the woods,” I say.

“I’m glad you did.” He releases me. “Are you back to stay?” He gestures to his own stubbly face, but I know he’s referencing my beard.

I stroke it while smirking, but my smile doesn’t last long. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“He’s going to Key West,” Jamie says as Fitz holds out his hand to help her from the chair, pulling her into his arms and kissing the top of her head.

“Never took you for a beach guy,” Fitz says.

“Everleigh got lost on her way to Baltimore, so Will is going to go get her back on track.” Jamie keeps her arms around Fitz like he’s a big teddy bear while eyeing me with a look that dares me to say otherwise.

“How does one end up in Key West on their way to Baltimore?” Fitz narrows his eyes.

“It’s a long story. I’ll explain later. We need to get Will booked on a flight.” Jamie pulls away from Fitz and grabs her phone.

He eyes me, waiting for something, anything from me. But I’ve got nothing.

“Women are messy,” I say.

Fitz knows better than to agree, but I don’t miss his tiny smirk.

“There’s a 6:20 flight in the morning,” Jamie says. “It’s not a quick trip to get there. Two connecting flights. Ugh, this sucks. But it has to be done.”

“Are you staying here, or did Lola sweet-talk you into staying at their house?” Fitz asks, ignoring Jamie.

“What about a rental car? Do you want one? Or are you grabbing an Uber?” Jamie is relentless. “Booked,” she says. “You can Venmo me the money. I don’t think you need a rental car. The sheets in the guest room are clean. There’s food in the fridge. Fitz will drop you off at the airport in the morning. She’s unwell, so tread lightly. Now, we have to get to our childbirth class. Then Fitz is taking me for a late dinner.” Jamie lifts onto her toes and kisses me on the cheek.

Fitz offers a tight grin. “Nice seeing ya for all of ten seconds.”

“I’ll be back,” I say.

“Or you’ll be house hunting and looking for a job in Baltimore,” Jamie calls from the entry, pulling on her boots. “One sec, babe, I left my purse in the bedroom.” She jogs up the stairs.

Fitz watches her like she’s his whole world, and then he looks at me, and his smile dies. “Just because Jamie thinks you should go, doesn’t mean you have to.”

I scratch my scruffy jaw. “Yeah, I know. But the problem with not going is that I fucking love her so much I feel lost and worthless without her. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she burned down her house just so I’d get my head out of my ass.”

Fitz slowly raises his eyebrows. “Damn. Now I feel bad for calling her the”—he lowers his voice—“c-word.”

I grin and shake my head. “Yeah, don’t do it again, or I’ll lay you flat on your ass.”

“Oh, she’s that girl, huh?”

“Yeah, she’s that girl.”