by Nash, Willa
I slowed my steps, matching Everly’s strides because I wanted some time to hear about this part of her life. “How’d it start?”
“Letters. We actually didn’t know Lucy was receiving death threats for a long time but when it came out, we learned how crazy the situation really was. The texts came after that. Emails too. It was this onslaught and there was never a break. We’d go out to eat and come home to a picture of the two of us laughing over sushi. She watched us. All the time.”
A shudder rolled down Everly’s spine and she hugged my arm tighter.
“I still feel it sometimes. I know it’s not real, but I still find myself looking over my shoulder, wondering if I’m being watched.”
We passed the front window to the White Oak and the people seated at the booths along the window turned to stare. “Well . . . you are.”
“Touché.” Everly giggled. “They’re just curious.”
About her. About me. About us.
“Does it bother you that I drag you out in public?” she asked. “I guess I didn’t think of it as that uncomfortable. But—”
“It’s okay. It’s for a purpose. And these people are a known enemy. Can’t imagine what it was like for you and Lucy.”
“Terrifying,” she whispered. “After Lucy left, the stalker decided to switch targets. It was all an effort to drag Lucy from wherever she’d been hiding, but that didn’t make it any less scary. I don’t think I really understood what Lucy was going through until one of the photos arrived in my inbox and it was me in focus this time. They came daily. No matter where I went, she followed. It got so bad that I just stayed home. And then . . .”
Another shudder and her eyes stared unblinking down the street. The color she’d had earlier drained away.
“Then what?” I prompted.
“Then she shot at me. She fired twelve rounds through my balcony door from the building across the street.”
My feet stopped. “What the fuck?”
Everly looked up at me and nodded. “I ran to the kitchen and hid behind the island, screaming and crying with every bullet. My phone had been on the couch when the first shot had broken through the glass. I left it behind when I ran to hide. After the shots stopped, I was too scared to go and find it so I sat there alone, waiting until finally the cops showed up. A neighbor had called.”
“Christ.”
“After the shooting, the detective on the case thought it would be better if I was in protective custody. I went because I didn’t have a lot of other choices. It was awful. And I was stupid.”
“What do you mean?”
She looked up at me and tears welled in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? For what?”
“What Savannah went through at the farmhouse was my fault. Reese, please know that I never would have come here if I’d known what would happen.”
It was the first time she’d called me by my first name.
A knife to the heart.
How long had she carried around this guilt?
“It’s not your fault.”
“Yes, it is.” She sniffled, blinking rapidly to stop the threat of tears. “I led the stalker here. I thought if I left Nashville, it would all go away. I was going stir-crazy in the safe house. I was selfish and dumb. They had me in this basement in Tennessee suburbia with nothing to do. After a while, I just said fuck it. I wasn’t going to live in fear in a cave. Turns out, I should have stayed right where I was.”
“It’s not your fault,” I repeated but she wasn’t listening.
“I didn’t think. I got on a plane and came here. I didn’t want to drag my parents into the mess. They wouldn’t have understood anyway. And I didn’t think he—I thought it was a man—would follow me all the way to Montana. But she’d shot at me. She’d tried to kill me. I should have known. That’s on me.”
For the first time, all pretenses were gone, the fake smile wiped clean. And the guilt eating her alive streamed through those beautiful caramel eyes. Guilt for bringing this to Calamity. For Lucy. And for Savannah.
Everly had said she had her reasons for marrying me. This was one. This was her way of atoning to Savannah.
Fuck, it all made sense. All of it.
“This was why you married me.”
“Huh?” Her gaze snapped to mine.
“You felt guilty about the farmhouse. For Savannah being there. So you married me to help her out.”
“Maybe.”
“You—”
“Shouldn’t have?” she finished. “Too late.”
And with that, my wife started down the sidewalk toward the truck.
Conversation over.
Chapter Thirteen
Everly
“Ready for this?” Hux asked, his voice low.
Was he asking me? Or himself?
“Yes,” I lied.
His knee bounced under the table. It had been since the moment we’d taken our seats. I reached under the table, laying my palm on his thigh. The bouncing stopped but his anxiety was still palpable.
It had been almost a week since Hux and I had taken our downtown stroll. That had been the last time Hux had been relaxed and at ease. The morning after, Aiden had called and told us to be ready for a court appearance on Monday afternoon.
It was Monday afternoon.
And I was not ready.
We hadn’t had enough time to show the town that Reese Huxley was a good man. We hadn’t had enough time to be seen as those cute newlyweds. We hadn’t had enough time to prepare in case this went the wrong way.
But ready or not . . .
The courtroom was larger than I’d expected for a town the size of Calamity. There were probably ten rows of chairs behind us, all empty except for a woman with a white bob wearing a gray pantsuit who’d slipped in a few minutes after we’d arrived. The floors were covered in an industrial gray carpet. The walls had wainscotting of honey-stained oak that matched the judge’s bench and the table in front of us. Besides the wood, the room was devoid of almost all color save for an American flag and a Montana state flag, each on golden posts.
The chair in the witness stand had probably held a lot of interesting characters. Criminals. Lawyers. Desperate parents?
Was I going to have to sit in that seat? Was I going to have to say something? Aiden hadn’t given us any instructions. Hux had done this before, but he hadn’t told me anything. Had they assumed I’d just know what to do? Because I had no freaking clue.
My stomach did another somersault. The acrobatics had been constant since we’d arrived.
Hux blew out a shaky breath. “If this doesn’t happen, we can get this annulled.”
“No.” I looked up at his profile. “If this doesn’t happen today, then we try again. And again.”
I’d promised Hux the chance to get his daughter. If the decision today didn’t go in our favor, then maybe the next one would. Or the next. But I wasn’t going to give up or let Hux give up.
He was fighting, even after the process had beaten him down time and time again. If he needed my backbone to keep going, then it was his.
Hux closed his eyes, letting out an exhale. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
His hand covered mine, trapping it on his thigh and squeezing tight.
The door behind us opened. The temptation to look over my shoulder was too much to resist.
April strutted inside, wearing a demure skirt, pale blue cardigan and—pearls, really? She looked like she belonged in the PTA. Meanwhile I was in black slacks and a plain white blouse. Maybe I should have dug out some pearls. April kept her chin high and gaze forward as she marched, followed by a stocky man with dark hair.
Hux didn’t spare them a glance as they took their seats opposite ours, but his already tense jaw turned to granite.
“Is that—”
“Julian,” he whispered.
From what Lucy had told me, the rumor was Julian liked to get rough with April, and April got off on it. Th
eir business, not mine, unless it harmed Savannah. But she wasn’t talking about anything, including the time Julian had slapped her.
The day of the farmhouse, I’d seen the faint red mark on her cheek before everything had fallen apart. Maybe it was the one and only time Julian had touched her. Maybe not.
It didn’t matter.
Slap or not, we were here for Savannah.
The door behind us opened again, and Aiden strode into the room. He was a tall man, about Hux’s height at over six feet. He was good looking with dark, disheveled hair and bright hazel eyes. There was no urgency in his steps as he walked down the aisle, just confidence and charisma. One hand was tucked into the pocket of his slacks while the other carried a briefcase. He wore a tweed suit coat, a colorful tie and an easy smile.
At least one person on the home team wasn’t nervous.
He acknowledged April and Julian with a nod, then clapped Hux on the shoulder and gave me a wink before taking his seat.
“Hi. I’m Aiden,” he said, keeping his voice low. It probably wouldn’t be good for the Toshes to know that I was just now meeting Hux’s lawyer.
“Hi,” I whispered back.
“How are you guys doing today?”
Hux’s hand gripped mine tighter. “Ready.”
Aiden gave him a sympathetic smile that told me he wasn’t buying Hux’s lie either. “Should be fairly straightforward. We’ve got Judge Labb today. He’ll review the information. Ask some questions. Be honest and you’ll do great.”
Honesty? Uh, no. This entire thing was built on a fake marriage. Honesty was much too risky. I gulped. “Will he ask me anything?”
“Maybe,” Aiden said. “Though I doubt it.”
“Okay.” I let go of the breath I’d been holding, then did a quick glance at my blouse to make sure it hadn’t dipped to show cleavage. There were no pearls, but I looked somewhat capable of rearing a sixteen-year-old child, didn’t I?
Hux was wearing the same slacks and shirt he’d worn to this very courthouse the day we’d gotten married.
Please, let this work.
If it didn’t, Hux would be heartbroken. Hux’s shoulders were as stiff as steel plates. His mouth was set in a firm line. Those beautiful blue eyes brimmed with dread. He was already preparing himself for disappointment.
I squeezed his hand tighter.
“Will this work?” he asked.
Aiden jerked his head to the woman behind us. “That’s the family services agent assigned to this case. She spoke to Savannah. I don’t know exactly how it went but she’s sitting on our side of the room. I always take that as a good sign.”
“What?” Hux’s forehead furrowed. “When did she talk to Savannah?”
“Yesterday at school. She arranged for it not to be at Julian and April’s place.”
Hux scowled. “She didn’t tell me.”
After Aiden had called last week with our courthouse schedule, Hux had finally told Savannah about the petition. I’d shamelessly eavesdropped on their phone call. He’d told her no less than ten times not to get her hopes up.
Since then, she hadn’t spoken to him much other than to reply to his texts.
Maybe the reason Savannah hadn’t told him about the family services agent was because she was already preparing for disappointment too.
Please. Please, let this work.
I wanted so badly to get Savannah under our roof. Legally. To give her the chance to let her guard down. To open her heart. To heal.
Hux knew part of the reason I’d married him was because of guilt. Maybe it would ease some of those feelings if Savannah grew into a happy, flourishing young woman. But today, that guilt didn’t matter. Today, I wanted Savannah for Hux.
He loved her so fiercely, it broke my heart to see his pain.
Hux deserved the chance to be her father. And fuck April for screwing him out of that from the start. If this didn’t go her way—when, stay positive—I was going to love this front-row seat to see the look on her face.
The door behind the judge’s bench opened, and a man with white hair and a bushy, dark gray beard emerged wearing a black robe.
My mouth fell open.
I knew that white hair. I knew that bushy beard.
Nelson.
My friend from the café who I’d missed seeing these past few weeks.
Nelson was Judge Labb.
He took his seat and adjusted the placard in front of his chair, the one that had his name etched in block letters on a gold plate. Then Nelson looked right at me, holding my gaze, as the corner of his mouth turned up. Was that a good sign? Because he didn’t exactly look happy to see me. It was hard to tell with the beard. He almost looked . . . smug.
Nelson. The man I’d lectured relentlessly to give up fried cheese as a lunch staple. The man who knew I’d spent months hiding in my downtown apartment.
The man I’d offered to marry because I didn’t have a boyfriend and my prospects were looking slim.
Nelson.
Oh, fuck.
The minute that Nelson had stepped out of his chambers, my stomach had dropped, and it had been hovering around my ankles ever since.
Two weeks a month.
That’s all Nelson had given Hux. He’d changed the parenting plan from no visitation to two weeks a month. Hux was also granted every other major holiday.
I thought he’d be overjoyed. I thought he’d crack that elusive smile. But since we’d left the courthouse, my husband had been eerily silent.
“Hux, I’m . . .” The words dried on my tongue as his jaw ticked.
His hands were so tight on the wheel I was worried the skin on his knuckles would crack. I’d tried to speak twice since leaving the courthouse, but I had no words.
Two weeks a month. That was better than nothing, right? But it wasn’t what Hux had wanted and my husband was pissed. Probably because Savannah would still spend half her time with April and Julian.
Who knew what would happen during those weeks? Would April retaliate against her daughter? Would she make Savannah’s life a living hell?
The look on April’s face as she’d stormed out of the courtroom had been nothing less than murderous. According to past actions, her habit would be to lash out at Hux. But today, she’d lost some of the hold she’d had on him for sixteen years. Would Savannah become her next target?
We’d soon find out.
Nelson—Judge Labb—had put the new plan into effect immediately.
Nelson.
Talk about a surprise. I should have asked more questions about his profession during our late lunches at the White Oak.
The only look he’d sent me was the one right after he’d taken his seat. From then on out, he’d been a different Nelson. He’d assumed command of the room and I was merely a spectator. Nelson had put on a pair of wire-framed reading glasses and reviewed the paperwork. Then he’d called on the family services agent to deliver a report from her meeting with Savannah.
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Savannah had requested to live with Hux. But from the way April had gasped and started crying, you would think Savannah had just stabbed her mother in the back.
None of those theatrics had stopped the agent from delivering the cold, hard truth. Savannah was a troubled teenage girl. Her relationship with her mother was turbulent at best. She didn’t have much of a relationship with Julian. And she hated going home.
The agent had speculated some, stating that the reason Savannah might be unhappy with her current living situation was because April and Julian kept her on a tight leash—or they’d tried. If Savannah thought life with Hux would allow her more freedom to bend the rules, then of course she’d exaggerate.
But in the end, the agent told Nelson that she suspected a change might do the girl good. Especially now that there was a female under Hux’s roof.
The entire room, save Nelson, had looked my way. Not even standing on stage, singing to a crowded bar had been so nerve-racking.
But wh
ile everyone else had stared at me, Nelson had kept his eyes on the agent, his hands steepled in front of his chin. Maybe he suspected this marriage was a fraud. If so, he hadn’t called us on it.
He’d simply thanked the agent, then called on Julian to speak first.
One sentence out of Julian’s mouth and I’d wanted to pick up a chair and slam it over the bastard’s head.
Julian had instantly reminded Nelson of Hux’s past. He’d gone into gruesome detail about the beating Hux had delivered years ago. Then he’d waxed on and on about how hard it had been for April. How he’d stepped into the role of father and wasn’t comfortable letting Hux ruin Savannah’s life.
I’d never been so furious in my life.
Nelson had listened, taking a few notes as Julian had spoken, but he’d asked Julian no questions. He hadn’t called on April either.
No, he’d saved only three questions for Hux.
You’re a newlywed, correct?
Do you have contact with your daughter now?
She’s a troubled young lady, isn’t she?
Hux had given a simple yes, sir to all three.
What had happened next was a blur. One second I was sitting there with my heart racing, the next, Nelson had slammed his gavel on its block and vanished inside his chamber before his decision had even registered in my brain.
Two weeks a month.
I’d smiled. I’d been so happy. Two weeks! That was so much better than nothing. But then I’d looked to Hux and seen nothing on his face. It had just been . . . blank.
Up to that point, Hux had kept a death grip on my hand. With the slam of Nelson’s gavel, he’d let me go. He’d crossed his arms over his chest and sat like a statue as April and Julian huffed their way out of the courtroom.
Aiden had clapped Hux on the back, congratulating him. Reminding him that it was progress.
All Hux had done was nod, stand and leave the room. I’d rushed to catch up, blurting a thank-you to Aiden as I scurried for the door.