When You Start to Miss Me: A Romantic Suspense (Wildflower Romance Book 3)

by Stacy Claflin

  “Where? I’m going to put someone out no matter where I go. And this place is empty.”

  “For now,” Jaiden says. “They might come home at two—and your dad won’t give a second thought to wake you and rip you a new one. You need to go somewhere else after this.”

  I squeeze her hands. “He’s right. And it’s getting late, so we have to decide quickly.”

  Malia sighs. “I’ve kept you both from your studies.” She twists to look at me. “And you had that study group. What about that?”

  “I emailed one of the other students my portion. Don’t worry about me.”

  She turns to Jaiden. “What about you?”

  “I don’t have any tests until next week. I’m all good.”

  A car slows and pulls up behind mine.

  My heart races and I crane my neck to see it in the fading light. A door opens and closes. Footsteps sound on the concrete.

  Jaiden and I exchange a worried glance. What if it’s Malia’s parents? Or even just one? I really don’t want another confrontation with them, but I’m more than willing to face them again. One thing is for sure—we need to get her and her things out of here.

  When the person comes around my car and stands on the sidewalk in front of Malia’s house, it takes me a moment to register who it is.

  I sit up straighter. “Mom?”

  My mom walks through the grass over to us. “I thought that was your car, Linc. Is everything okay?”

  “You remember Malia?” I ask.

  She nods then smiles at my girlfriend.

  “Jaiden and I are helping her pack. She’s, uh, having some family issues and needs someplace else to stay.”

  Mom kneels down. “I’m sorry to hear that. Is everything okay?”

  She shrugs. “I guess it will be.”

  “Where are you staying?”

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  “No? Why don’t you stay with my husband and me? We have lots of room—a big, empty house all to ourselves. Our guest room is rather lonely if you’d like to use it.”

  I throw my mom a grateful look.

  “Are you sure?” Malia asks. “I don’t want to put you out.”

  “Not at all.” Mom gives her a reassuring smile. “And as you know, it isn’t far from here. You can even bring your pup if you need to.”

  “Thanks.” Malia’s tone holds sadness. “She’s actually my dad’s dog, so she should stay. But that reminds me. I need to bring her inside, or she’s going to bark in the back yard all night.”

  Mom glances at my car. “Can you fit everything in Linc’s car? I can bring over Brady’s truck.” She turns to Jaiden. “I’m Greer, by the way. Linc said your name is Jaiden?”

  He shakes her hand. “Yes, ma’am. I’m Jaiden. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Please call me Greer.” She turns back to Malia. “What do you think about the truck?”

  “That would be great, if you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all. I can order some pizzas if you kids are hungry. I made a pot roast that didn’t turn out—that’s why I’m out now. We need something quick.” She chuckles.

  “Pizza would be great,” I say. “None of us has had dinner.”

  Mom rises. “That settles it. I’ll call it in and bring over the truck.” Then without another word, she hurries back to her car.

  Malia stands and helps me up. “Your mom is really nice.”

  “Yeah.” And I’d never truly appreciated that fact until meeting Malia’s parents. “We’d better bring your stuff down.”

  The three of us get the boxes down fairly quickly. Both my parents arrive, and before I know it, all of Malia’s things are in the truck and my car. We head over to my old house and get there just as the pizza delivery arrives. Mom pays and takes the food in while the rest of us lug the boxes up to the guest room.

  By the time we sit to eat, we all scarf down the food without much conversation.

  “Do you have a car, Malia?” asks my dad.

  She swallows her pizza. “Yes, you don’t have to worry about me. Linc drove us to the hospital.”

  Concern covers Mom’s face. “The hospital? Are you okay?”

  Malia nods. “It’s my brother. He did it to himself.”

  I hope my parents don’t push with more questions. Thankfully they don’t.

  Dad stretches and yawns. “I wish I could stay and talk, but I have an early morning.”

  “Thank you so much for letting me stay, Mr. Jones,” Malia says.

  “It’s no problem. Help yourself to whatever you need. And call me Brady.” He rises and puts his plate in the dishwasher before kissing Mom. “Goodnight, everyone.”

  The rest of us help Mom clean up the kitchen, then Jaiden announces he needs to get going. “Oh, wait. My car’s on campus.”

  “I’ll take you.” I grab my keys then turn to Malia. “Do you want to stay and settle in? Or do you want to get your car too?”

  She rubs her eyes. “I should get my car. I’m going to need it in the morning.”

  “I can always stay in my room here and drive us both in the morning. Same first class, remember?” I kiss her cheek. “Just get settled, okay? I don’t want you worrying about anything right now.”

  She gives me a grateful, and also exhausted, smile. “I can’t thank you enough.” She turns to my mom. “And you too. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to stay in that house.”

  Jaiden folds his arms. “I keep telling you, my place. I don’t mind crashing on the couch.”

  “And I keep telling you I don’t want to put you out.”

  He walks past me, putting his hand on my arm. “Sure you want such a stubborn girlfriend?”

  Malia shoves him.

  I laugh and give her a kiss. “Do you need anything before I come back?”

  She shakes her head. “More than anything, I need some rest.”

  Mom comes over. “Let’s make that happen. Do you want help settling in?”

  Jaiden and I leave for campus. He talks a mile a minute the whole drive, which allows my mind to wander and process everything. What a first meeting with my girlfriend’s parents. That has to be some kind of record. And now she’s staying two doors down from my childhood room.

  Oh, how things can change in the span of just a day.

  I pull up to Jaiden’s car, and he gets out. He stops before closing the door. “I’m so glad your family stepped up to take her in. I was really afraid she’d stay at her parents’ place tonight.”

  “You really think she’d be in danger?” My stomach knots.

  He lifts a brow. “They both hit her.”

  “That’s obvious, but I mean, they wouldn’t take it further than that, would they?”

  Jaiden leans against the car. “It gets ugly over there. Things she won’t even tell me or Raven and Samara. Last year, she had a broken arm—and to this day none of us knows how it happened. When that girl doesn’t want to talk about something, it’s a sealed mystery.” He hesitates.

  “What?”

  “That’s not all of it.” He rubs his chin.

  “Meaning?” I lean closer, my heart racing. Do I really want to know more? Would Malia want me knowing this?

  Jaiden takes a deep breath, probably pondering the same questions. “Well, Samara went with her to a doctor’s appointment around that time and saw Malia’s x-rays. She’s no expert, but she could tell there were healed breaks in Malia’s bones.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything. Kids break bones all the time. I nearly killed myself falling out of a tree when I was seven.”

  Jaiden shakes his head. “She snapped a picture and showed me and Raven. There were a lot. Way more than normal, I’m telling you.”

  My stomach lurches. “If that’s the case, wouldn’t one of her doctors flag her for being abused? They’re supposed to look for those things, aren’t they?”

  His expression tightens and he cracks his knuckles. “Do you realize how much money they have? Her dad’s lawyer is
probably going to get today’s arrest completely wiped off their records. They’re untouchable—and they know it.”

  I’m seriously going to lose my dinner. “They can’t get away with all of that.”

  “Money equals power.”

  I squeeze the steering wheel. “That ends now, if I have anything to say about it.”

  “Then get back to your big house and make sure she stays there.”

  “Will do.”

  He throws me an appreciative glance before closing the door.

  I head to my apartment and grab what I need for the night, which isn’t much since my school bag is already at my parents’ house.

  Once home, I throw everything in my room before knocking on Malia’s door.

  When she opens it, her hair is pulled back into a messy bun and she’s wearing a well-worn sweatshirt with a high school logo across the front.

  I pull her into my embrace and never want to let go, especially now that I know about her x-rays. How much pain has she endured? Not just physical, but emotional? I’m going to turn it into my life mission to make sure she never goes through anything like that ever again. Her parents will have to kill me first, and that’s not going to happen. I’ll go to jail for protecting her before I let them near her.

  Malia looks at me. “Is everything okay?”

  I lose myself in her eyes for a moment. “It is now.”

  She starts to say something, but I press my lips on hers and kiss her deeply, taking in the taste of her cherry lip balm and the smell of her freshly washed hair. Clinging to her, I step inside and kick the door closed. I’m desperate to make everything better for her. It can’t happen in an evening. Heck, it probably can’t happen in a lifetime, but I’m going to do my best.

  I run my fingers through her hair, pulling out the bun. Then I cup the base of her head, my mind conjuring up images of her damaged bones, and worse, her broken heart. I need to heal everything. Help her see herself as I do, as the most amazing person to walk the earth.

  Knock, knock!

  “Malia?” My mom’s voice comes from the other side of the door.

  She pulls away from me, her face filling with pink. “Yes, Greer?”

  “Do you need anything before I go to bed, sweetheart?”

  “No, but thank you.”

  “Okay. Goodnight.”

  “’Night.”

  I draw in a deep breath, glad my mom didn’t walk in.

  Malia smiles at me. “As much as I’d love to keep that up, I really need to finish studying for tomorrow’s exam.”

  I nod, still trying to catch my breath, and notice most of her boxes are pushed against a wall, unopened. A few of her things are spread out on the nightstand and the bed. “I have to study too. But first, I think I’ll take a shower.”

  An ice-cold one.

  She pulls close and squeezes me, cutting off my air. “Thank you for everything.”

  I return the embrace. “I’m just glad you’re letting us help.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Malia

  A slight snore pulls me from my sleep. I open my eyes and look around, confused and lost for a moment before the events of the previous day tumble into my memory. Mom and Dad charged for assault. Holden unconscious in the hospital. Belen being driven away with the social worker. Now everything I own is in the Jones’s guest room.

  And Lincoln is lying next to me, his arm draped around me. After his shower last night, he returned and we studied for hours. I don’t even remember falling asleep. I’d been trying to make sense of my statistics homework. I must have dozed off doing a math problem.

  I sit up, careful not to disturb Lincoln. He lets out an adorable little snore before rolling over. Then I gather my textbook and notes from the floor and check the time. My alarm is set to go off in about twenty minutes. There’s no way I’m getting back to sleep, so I find some clothes and my bathroom supplies, then tiptoe to the bathroom and get ready.

  Back in the bedroom, Linc is still sleeping. My heart warms as I watch him for a moment before gently kissing his lips.

  His eyes flutter, then widen. After just a moment, he grins. “I couldn’t ask for a better way to wake up than to see your beautiful face.”

  My cheeks warm. “It was pretty nice waking in your arms.” I give him another kiss. “You’d better get up before we’re late for class.”

  He bolts upright. “Class! I nearly forgot. Did I set my alarm?”

  Both of our alarms go off, his playing an alternative song and mine playing soothing Tibetan ringing bowls. I grab my phone and turn it off.

  Linc lifts a brow and turns his off. “We have our alarms set for the same time?”

  “Great minds …” I tap my temple and kiss his forehead. “I’m going to see what we can eat for breakfast and let you get ready.”

  “How is it you’re already ready?”

  I try to hide a smile. “You snore.”

  His eyes widen. “I do?”

  “Don’t worry. It’s cute.” I step toward the door.

  He takes my hand. “You don’t have to go.” He swings his legs off the bed. “All my stuff is in my room. I’ll get ready in there.”

  I rub his scruff. “Either way, I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

  Lincoln squeezes my hand and smiles. “I’ll miss you.”

  “I’ll only be downstairs.”

  “Exactly.”

  I plop on his lap, cup his chin, and kiss him. “I’ll miss you too, but I can’t afford another tardy.”

  He holds my gaze and gives me a few light kisses. “I’d better get ready, in that case.”

  “You make it hard for me to want to leave.”

  Linc kisses my nose and rises. “I was going to say the same thing about you.”

  I somehow manage to pull myself away from him and make my way downstairs. His mom is already in the kitchen cooking at the stove. Bacon and pancakes, if my nose is any indicator.

  She turns to me and smiles. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

  Heat creeps into my cheeks, knowing that I snuggled her son all night. “Better than I have in a long time, thank you.”

  “Oh good. Hey, would you mind grabbing the milk from the fridge? I hope you two have time for breakfast. I made plenty.”

  “Yeah, we have time. Thank you.”

  We make small talk until Lincoln comes down. The three of us eat, and I overstuff myself on the delicious food. My parents may be chefs, but this breakfast beats any they’ve ever made.

  Lincoln picks up his phone. “We’d better get going. I’m going to have to park at my apartment before class.”

  We race out to the car and end up running through the door just as class is beginning. I can barely concentrate between my full belly and the high from waking next to Lincoln.

  Maybe moving out was the best decision. I just hope my brothers are doing okay. I’ll have to make some calls on the break after my second class. But for now, I need to focus on the professor.

  “Today we aren’t going to open our textbooks. I want you to use the first part of the hour to do one of your experiments. Then we’re going to come back and discuss the results. Be back in twenty minutes.”

  I turn to Lincoln. “Twenty minutes? That isn’t much time.”

  He shoves his books into his bag. “Let’s do the wall one. That can probably be done in ten.”

  “We were going to bring in Jaiden, Raven and Samara for that one.”

  Linc shrugs. “We can do the first part now.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense since we don’t have much time.”

  We hurry outside and go to the side of the building, which luckily has a lot of foot traffic.

  He stares at the enormous blank wall. “You want to go first, or should I?”

  “Since you walked through campus in curlers, I think it’s my turn.”

  The corners of his mouth curl up. “That reminds me, you still need to do that.”

  “I will. Stand back over there so
people don’t see you observing.” I march toward the wall while Lincoln stands under a tree and pulls out his phone to record.

  I stop about four feet from the building and stare straight ahead at the blank wall. I feel like an idiot but do my best to shove that aside and try to pay more attention to the people walking by. A few slow near me, but nobody stops. Others glance at the wall as they hurry past. Just as I’m about to wave Lincoln over, a lady stops a few feet away and studies the same spot I’m looking at. After a few moments, she wanders off shaking her head.

  Lincoln comes over. “Not much interest with one person looking at a blank wall. Think two will drum up more?”

  I shrug. “We’ll see.”

  He drapes his arm around me. “This’ll be harder without someone recording from a distance, but we can always replicate it when your friends help us out.”

  “I think it’s safe to call them your friends too.”

  He doesn’t respond other than to whisper, “Look, people are already stopping.”

  I do feel a lot less dumb staring at the wall with him here. From the corner of my eye, I see two guys standing not far away. They’re whispering to each other and pointing to where we’re staring. Then a few more students stop and look. Now that we have a full group of people looking at the blank wall, everyone who passes by stops, even if only for a moment.

  I try not to laugh at the ridiculousness of it. There are now at least ten people staring at a totally blank wall for no other reason than Lincoln and I started it.

  He nudges me. “We might not need to bring the others. I think we have all the data we need right here. We gathered a crowd on our own.”

  “Maybe they just wanted part of what we have.” I turn and kiss him.

  “Can’t say I’d blame them.” He beams. “Who wouldn’t want in on this love?”

  My heart skips a beat, then my whole body warms. “Did you say love?”

  His smile fades and he turns to face me. Now neither of us is looking at the wall. “Is that okay?”

  I chew on my lower lip and nod. “If that’s how you feel.”

  But I expect him to bolt.

  He cups my chin. “It is. I love you, Malia Devereaux.”

  My stomach tingles, and I struggle to breathe normally. He loves me? I need to say something.