“Mama said we ought to thank you for giving her this job.” Melody jutted out her chin. Her sharp tone contrasted the soft blond ringlets curling around her face. “So thank you.”
Thad offered Chloe his hand. She took it, and they shook. “I’m T-Thaddeus Byrne.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Thaddeus.” Chloe smiled. “Do you go by Thaddeus or Thad?”
He rolled his shoulders and buried his face against Neve’s pant leg.
The poor guy looked downright scared. Chloe reached around Neve. “Here, let me get some lights turned on in here.” They all blinked as she flipped the switches and banished the darkness. When she turned back to Thad with a smile, she gasped. What she had thought was a shadow was an angry black bruise across one side of the boy’s face.
“It’s rude to stare.” Melody stepped between Chloe and Thad.
“Melody…,” Neve warned. “Chloe is an adult. We don’t talk to adults that way.”
Her mutinous expression said exactly what Melody thought about those rules. “It’s still rude.”
Before Neve opened her mouth, Chloe made an effort to keep the peace. “You know what? You’re right. I was being rude, and I apologize. Thad, if I made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry.”
Shooting her a look full of gratefulness, Neve tousled the boy’s hair. “I know this isn’t what we had planned, but I had no one to watch them tonight. I did call before we caught the bus, but you didn’t answer. I figured I could order pizza and set the kids up with a movie while we talked business—if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all.” It surprised Chloe to realize that even though she had zero experience with kids, she kind of liked the idea of them puttering around. Her apartment hadn’t seen so much action since… well, ever. “As a matter of fact, I was craving pizza for dinner too.”
Melody stared at Chloe, her lips pursed as if keeping quiet was causing her physical pain. Chloe wondered what etiquette sin she had committed in the little girl’s eyes this time but wasn’t willing to risk another mother and daughter spat to find out. Thad peered up at her with longing in his dark eyes that only the words pizza and movie could inspire in a boy his age.
Thad fumbled through Neve’s purse and showed Chloe his prize. “Mama said it was my turn to pick. Melody says it’s a sad movie, but it has a puppy on the front, so I think I’ll be okay.”
“I’m sure you will be,” Chloe murmured.
“Let me give you something to cover our half.” Neve was already reaching for her wallet.
“No, you’re my guests. That means I pick up the tab.” As the words left her mouth, Chloe realized she was as bad about patronizing Neve as Nathaniel was with her. He drove her crazy by handling everything himself and not honoring her requests that she cover her own expenses. “That is to say, it’s your call. I’m happy either way.”
“Thanks, Chloe.” Neve passed her a couple of bills. “It means a lot that you offered, but I’d rather pay my own way.”
A sentiment Chloe could definitely respect.
“So.” Chloe swept her hand toward the stairs. “After you guys.” Melody raised one tiny brow. Chloe let her arm drop. “I meant to say, if you’ll follow me, please, I’ll be more than happy to escort you up to my humble abode.”
Thad tugged on Neve’s leg. “What’s an abode, Mama?”
“It means the place where you live,” Melody said, trying not to smile.
“Oh.” He studied the stairs for a minute. “You live over the store?”
“I sure do.” Chloe led the expedition up the stairs. “Let’s get you guys settled in with your movie and your mom and I’ll order that pizza.”
The sound of footsteps clomping behind her made Chloe’s throat close.
The noise reminded her of all the times her mom had yelled down the stairs that a herd of wild elephants made less noise than she did. The best times, though, were when Dad was with Chloe. He’d wink and pretend his arm was a trunk. Together, they’d trumpet and stomp their way upstairs into the living room. Mom would shake her head and laugh.
Dad could always make her laugh.
Clearing her throat, Chloe crossed the threshold into her apartment. “Here we are.” She headed straight for the couch and the kids followed. “Do you guys know what to do?”
Melody gave her a look that said duh as she picked up the remote and fed the DVD player.
“Miss Chloe and I will be in the kitchen if you need anything.” Neve bent down and kissed Thad’s bruised cheek. “Be good now.”
“I will.” He plopped onto the couch and drew Chloe’s afghan around his shoulders.
Melody sat next to him and hit Play, then put a pillow in her lap and patted the top. With a grin, his head hit the pillow. His sister gave him a half smile that melted into a scowl when she noticed Chloe watching them. At least she was familiar with this offense—caught staring again.
“Chloe?” Neve touched her shoulder.
Heart hurting for reasons she couldn’t explain, Chloe had to look away. “Let’s order that pizza.”
Forty-five minutes later, they had detailed plans for the literacy booth and dinner had arrived.
The kids were absorbed by their movie, so Chloe gave them a pass to eat in the living room. That earned her a tiny smile from Melody.
Once the kids were settled on the floor with plates and drinks set on the coffee table, Chloe and Neve retreated to the kitchen for some adult time. They fixed plates, poured drinks, and dropped into their chairs with matching sighs.
Neve stared into her cup of soda. “I appreciate you not pushing me for details.”
“I figure if you want me to know, you’ll tell me.” Chloe had enough secrets to know how painful it was to have someone dig around in them. When Neve got quiet, Chloe picked a piece of ham from her pizza and popped it into her mouth. “I’m starving. How about you?”
Not the subtlest change of topic, but she was still working on the whole conversation thing.
“Yeah.” Neve picked at her toppings, rearranging rather than removing. Soon her slice had a pair of pepperoni eyes, a squiggly bell pepper mouth, and a neat row of onions for a nose.
“Are you doing okay?” Chloe noticed the tremble in Neve’s hand. “Do you want to talk?”
“I’m not sure. I mean, I want to. I just…” She dropped her slice of pizza back onto her plate without taking a bite. “I’m a mess, Chloe.” She dragged a hand through her hair. “I’m afraid if I confide in someone, they’ll treat me like I’m some lost cause in need of repairs. You know what I mean?”
“It’s pretty safe to say yes,” Chloe said, smiling. “I understand exactly what you mean.”
Neve grimaced. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s no problem.” Chloe passed her a napkin. “I’m here if you need me.”
After wiping her fingers, Neve began twisting the napkin tighter and tighter as she spoke. “It’s been so long since I could talk to anyone about any of this. I don’t know if I can.”
Chloe reached across the table. “I know what it feels like to be scared all the time. To think no one understands and that you’re all alone in the world.” She took Neve’s hand. “That was my life.” She squeezed. “Having you around, knowing you accept me warts and all, has made the fear lessen.”
“I can’t take all the credit.” Neve’s smile was lopsided and her eyes moist. “Nathaniel does a bang-up job of distracting you. He’s so selfless. Always ready to shove his tongue down your throat at the first sign of fear.”
Chloe couldn’t help but laugh. “Nathaniel is… well, I don’t know what he is.” She stole Neve’s napkin and started picking it apart. “You are my friend and if we have to be scared, I think we should at least be scared together.”
Fat tears began to roll down Neve’s cheeks. She swiped them away and took a steadying breath.
“Last week,” she started, “when I said I had a reason to celebrate, I didn’t tell you why.”
; The abrupt change in topic threw Chloe for a minute. “I assumed you were happy because you were settling in.” Apparently that wasn’t the case. “I should have asked.”
Fresh napkin in hand, Neve twisted again. “No, I got a phone call from my lawyer.”
There were only so many reasons a person would need a lawyer and only two or three Chloe could think of for a person in Neve’s financial situation. “And he had good news?”
“Great news, actually.” Her nervous exhale ended with a smile. “My divorce was filed.”
Chloe cast about for the right response. “Congratulations are in order, I take it?”
She gave a quick jerk of her head. “It… wasn’t a good marriage. My husband, he… Things went bad fast, and the kids and I had to get away faster.” Her gaze drifted toward the living room. “I’m just glad it’s over.”
“Is that what happened to Thad?” Chloe hadn’t meant to ask. She couldn’t help but ask.
“It was my job to keep them safe and I didn’t protect them. Not well enough. Not soon enough.” Her voice wavered. “I should have realized, I should have known, but I didn’t. And now they’re paying the price for my mistakes.”
Way out of her league and struggling to tread conversational waters, Chloe took Neve’s hand. Sometimes touch got across the point when words, or experience, failed. “Their father did that?”
Blood rushed from Neve’s cheeks. “Scott has a problem with alcohol. He doesn’t drink often, but when he does…” Her chin trembled. “He came home one night, drunk. Thad was in our bed because he’d had a bad dream and couldn’t sleep. I knew better than to struggle. But I did it anyway and Thad ended up paying for it.”
“Neve, you don’t have to—” But she didn’t stop. Chloe didn’t think she could stop.
“He dragged me across the floor. Thad was screaming. Scott backhanded him to shut him up. That’s when Melody…” Neve swallowed. “She hit Scott in the back of the head with a vase from the hall. It didn’t break or anything; it just kind of bounced off his head. That’s when he let go of me and went after her. I heard her screaming at him to leave her alone. She’d locked herself in the bathroom.” Neve’s voice hardened. “That’s when I ran to the bedroom and got Scott’s gun out of the safe in the closet.”
Panic fluttered in Chloe’s chest, making it hard to breathe, to think, to know what to say.
“He saw the gun and he backed out the door, out of the house.” Her gaze locked with Chloe’s. “I think he knew.” Neve’s eyes were too wide, showing too much white around the rims. “I would have killed him, Chloe. If he had touched one hair on her head, after what he did to Thad, I would have killed him.”
“What’s your plan?” A better question. “How can I help?”
Neve squeezed her hand. “You being here helps.” Grasping at napkins, she released Chloe’s hand and dried her eyes, blew her nose. “The only plan I had was to escape.”
More flutters, more spurts of panic Chloe struggled to control. “Will he come after you?”
“I don’t know.” Regret etched Neve’s features. “With the lawyer, and the divorce papers being delivered, I just don’t know.”
“Mama.”
Both women turned toward the entrance to the kitchen. Melody stood there, glancing between them.
“Thad’s stomach hurts.” Her chin inched up a notch. “I think we should go home now.”
Neve opened her arms and Melody went stiffly into them. “This one’s my guardian angel.”
Pride shone in Neve’s face as she hugged her daughter close. After a minute, Melody relaxed against her and buried her face in her mother’s neck. The scene before her made Chloe’s chest ache for what they’d all been through to get here.
Somehow, she’d figure out a way to help them, to keep them safe.
Neve was her best friend, and Chloe wasn’t going to lose her. Not after what they had each risked for better, fuller lives. Nightmares and ex-husbands be damned, she and Neve were going to thrive.
“All right, girly girl.” Neve turned Melody loose. “Let me say good-bye to Miss Chloe, and we’ll get your brother.”
After checking the time, Chloe headed to the fridge and the list of numbers there. “It’s another hour before the bus runs again. You want to take a cab home?”
“I think it’s for the best.” She began packing their half of the meal. “It would have been hard to carry food on the bus anyway.”
As much as Chloe wanted to offer Neve the use of her van, the one she’d had delivered to replace the one she’d totaled in the accident, she doubted Neve would appreciate the gesture. So she called Piedmont’s only cab company and walked her guests downstairs to wait on his arrival.
Her gaze slanted toward the window she’d left open, but Nathaniel had already left.
Once Chloe was alone, she climbed back upstairs and right into bed. She settled in with a book and a quick prayer that the rest of her weekend wouldn’t be quite as eventful as tonight had been.
Chapter Nineteen
The whine of a saw blade drew Chloe toward the window. The first day of the new week had crept in quietly, a welcome reprieve from the weekend’s drama. More dreamless nights left her outlook brighter. Or perhaps she had Nathaniel’s visit to thank for that.
Nathaniel was outside taking measurements of the porch, pausing to wipe sweat from his eyes every now and then. He hadn’t come inside the store this morning. Instead he had set to work immediately after he parked his truck. Nathaniel had thrown himself into his work. Did that mean Bran was feeling better or worse? After their late-night chat, could he be avoiding her? Did he already regret making a commitment to her? Nope. Not going there. Not today.
“You’ve been staring out that window off and on for the past two hours.” Neve walked over to the window and peered out. “I can see why.” She whistled, taking in the scene of Nathaniel working shirtless in the hot sun. “Nice view.”
Chloe faked a squint. “I think it’s getting too bright outside to keep the blinds open.” A twist of her wrist fixed the problem and just so happened to block Neve’s view of him.
The man should be told shirts were meant for wearing, not being used as sweat rags.
Neve followed her to the front door. “Why don’t you try talking to him?” She stared down Chloe’s line of sight, straight to Nathaniel. Her appreciative smile returned.
Jealousy flared, white hot and razor sharp, but Chloe crushed the unwelcome emotion. She jerked the cord and shuttered the blinds covering the door too. “Blasted sun is blinding me.”
“It must be getting hot out front without any shade.” Neve covered her mouth with her hand, but her eyes still crinkled at the corners. “Someone should bring him a drink.”
She made a step toward the mini-fridge before Chloe stopped her.
“Okay, I get it.” She shoved Neve toward the register. “You want me to talk to Nathaniel.”
“Hey.” She spread her hands. “I just said the guy might be thirsty.” She grabbed her purse. “I think I’ll head out for groceries early today. If you guys happen to kiss and make up while I’m gone, that’s up to you.” She pushed through the side door. “Be back in a few.”
Before she could change her mind, Chloe snagged a bottle of water from her office, then headed for Nathaniel.
She held the door open while staring a hole in his sleekly muscled back. An odd, raised tattoo marked his shoulder blade. Its silver shine caught her attention where three metallic ellipses interlocked. The symbol’s name escaped her. Sensing her gaze, he turned and ambled over, wiping more sweat from his eyes.
“I thought you might be thirsty.” She offered him the water.
He stopped an arm’s length away, as if he expected her to meet him halfway.
“I thought we talked about this.” Exhaling through the initial surge of panic, she gripped the sleek metal rail comprising the temporary stairs and took a step down. The way he watched, as if he were measuring the parameters of her wo
rld, nudged her into a second step that made her knees quake.
“I’m not clear about the boundaries.” He came to her, rubbing his hands over her arms. “Why don’t you outline them for me?”
“Boundaries—okay.” Her voice trembled, so she cleared her throat. “The store is good… no, the store is great. The porch is… doable. These stairs… I’m not loving these stairs to be perfectly honest.” She uncapped his water and took a long drink. “That’s about it. Welcome to my square of the world.”
Eyeing their surroundings, Nathaniel made a dismissive sound. “It’s more of a rectangle really.”
Another draught of water fortified her. “I haven’t been outside for this long in months.” Plastic crinkled in her hand. “It’s nice.”
“Stay awhile. I could use the company.” He indicated the far side of the frame he’d built for the new porch, to a section with a sheet of plywood acting as a temporary floor.
Chloe coughed, spluttered, and flung her arms out on reflex to shove him away.
Tricky man that he was, Nathaniel stepped into her embrace, wound his arms around her, and lifted. Cold sweat blossomed across Chloe’s back. Her lungs tightened and heart punched at her ribs.
She was outside. Not standing safe on the porch. Not in touching distance of the store. Her feet dangled over the sidewalk. Close to the road. Close to cars. Close to people in their cars.
“Take me back.” Her hands turned into desperate claws as she climbed up him and wrapped her legs around his waist. “Take me back now.” When her pleas fell on deaf ears, she buried her face in his sweet-smelling neck. “Please, Nathaniel.”
“Shhh.” He cupped her bottom with one hand and crossed her feet at the ankles behind his back. “There. Is that better?”
She peeked through a crack in one eye. He was picking his way through debris to reach the store. Her hand shot out. She touched brick and that contact grounded her. “Much.” She trailed her fingers along the store’s side as Nathaniel walked. She thumped him on the head. “Next time, ask or I’ll start screaming. I might be the town crazy, but people will come running.”
“I think we should talk more about boundaries so I learn not to cross yours.” He turned around and sat down on the plywood ledge with his long legs swinging and her balanced on his lap.
Soul Weaver Page 16
