Julia
“She lives,” Wes joked when he let himself into my house later that morning.
“Of course I live,” I shot back, ignoring the insinuation in his remark as I finished packing snacks for our drive. It reminded me of the trips we took to the beach as teenagers. Wes would always drive. I’d always bring the snacks.
“Pretty sure this is the longest you’ve gone without stopping by my house, especially considering Imogene’s been out of town. In the past, you’ve practically lived at my place whenever she was at camp. Hell, I even asked if you wanted to come down to Meemaw and Gampy’s old lake house last weekend, but you said you couldn’t.”
I shrugged. “I’ve been busy.”
“Yeah.” He leaned against the island and waggled his brows. “Getting busy.”
“Wes!” I playfully punched his arm. “What are you? Twelve?”
“No. I’m just glad you’re finally dating again. And that you’re happy.”
He left a kiss on my temple before pulling back, meeting my gaze.
“All joking aside, how’s it going? Is he treating you well? Because, I swear to God, I don’t care if he’s bigger than me, stronger than me, and can probably kill me with his bare hands. If he so much as even thinks about hurting you, I—”
I placed a hand on his arm. “He’s the perfect gentleman, Wes,” I assured him. “Well, maybe not a complete gentleman.” I gave him a sly smile. “But he’s perfect. It’s been…perfect.”
“Good.”
He smiled, then cleared his throat.
It was an innocent sound, but being as close as we were, having the ability to pick up on each other’s moods, I heard a hint of uncertainty.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He didn’t immediately respond. Finally, he sighed. “Agent Curran called right before I left to come here.”
My shoulders fell. “Oh.”
I knew we’d have to face reality at some point. Get answers about what was going on. Try to figure out if Nick were still somehow involved in taking women’s lives, even from behind bars.
“Did he find something?”
“He wouldn’t say. Asked if we were available to meet with him this weekend.”
“This weekend? Why can’t we just go to his office during the week?”
With Lachlan gone until Monday night, I’d planned to spend the next few days with Imogene. Go to the spa. Get mani-pedis. Take her shopping for the start of school in a few weeks. Stay up late watching movies. Appreciate what precious little time I could get with my daughter now that she was a teenager and her friends were her life.
“I don’t know. All I do know is that he insisted we talk as soon as possible.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Part of me wanted to remain blissfully ignorant of whatever was going on. But I did that during my marriage, and it cost several women their lives.
“Okay. Set it up for whenever it’s convenient for you.”
“Will do.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “What do you think is going on, Wes? Are you worried?”
He ran his hands through his dark hair that had a few flecks of gray in it., giving me a sideways glance. Then he pushed out a long breath.
“Yes, I’m worried. For Londyn. For Imogene. For Eli. For my unborn daughter. But mostly, I’m worried for you, Jules. I don’t think ‘worried’ is the right word here, though. It’s more…” He shook his head, then brought his gaze back to mine. “It’s more like I am fucking terrified what this could all mean.”
I hated the thought he’d probably lost sleep over this since he’d learned the possible connection between the “gifts” I’d received and more bodies.