Page 10 of Keeping Caroline

Ethan’s nod confirmed. “If it wasn’t for him, we would be in a very different place right now.”

No matter how much I knew he had done for Scarlett, a protective wave surged through my chest, like a mother bear roused to defend her cub. “Are we safe, Ethan? Will Evie be safe?”

“I killed Delacroix, her husband’s accomplice, and her husband is dead.” Even with fallen enemies, Ethan’s jaw clenched, telling me he was still worried. “But their shadows may linger. I’m not foolish enough to believe they won’t look for revenge, but I don’t know if there are any supporters of Delacroix left who even know Scarlett was involved in what happened all those months ago. They may know about her father, but not about her. That’s my hope, anyway.”

Turning toward me, he reached out and took my hand. “I know what we’re up against if they seek retribution. I’ve already gone up against Delacroix’s gang, and I’ve fought against darker demons than even them. I didn’t emerge from that world to stand by and watch it claim the ones I love. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep our family safe. This is something I promise you, Cara. You, Evie, Scarlett, and my baby.”

The last of the evening’s dishes clinked softly against each other as I set them on the drying rack. Down the hall, Evie slept soundly, but for some reason, my heart thudded discordantly against the peacefulness of our cottage.

Hands dripping and pruned, I turned the faucet off, a chill running down my spine as my eyes locked onto the black SUV parked across the street. The lights in my neighbor’s house were off. The SUV wasn’t directly in front of their house but in between our two properties. I didn’t know why it was there, but it cast an ominous shadow underneath the moonlit sky that filled me with dread.

Air seized in my lungs as I stared at the dark vehicle through the reflection of myself in the glass, my heartbeat speeding up.

“Get a hold of yourself, Caroline,” I whispered to myself, trying to shake off the unease that settled deep in my chest. Ever since Ethan told me about Scarlett’s haunting past the night before, and about everything they’d gone through together, my mind had been filled with thoughts of danger lurking in the shadows, ready to strike when I least expected it. The SUV could have been for someone visiting the elderly couple who lived across the street, but what if it wasn’t? What if a ghost of my brother and Scarlett’s past dealings had found its way to our doorstep, looking for retribution or leverage? What if we were just easy prey? A shiver danced across my shoulders, and I wrapped my arms around myself, needing comfort.

Moving away from the window, my feet were silent against the hardwood floor as I started my nightly ritual of making sure the house was secured before bed. Although we no longer lived in a city ripe with crime, it still seemed like a good habit to hang onto.

Evie’s soft breathing was the sole sound of peace in the deafening quiet that blanketed our home. As I turned the deadbolt on the front door, doubt gnawed at me like a persistent itch, making me wonder if I should call my brother, but I couldn’t rouse the sleeping beast without a good reason. Ethan had seen too much darkness, and he didn’t need shadows cast by my fraying nerves. Each window’s lock met my touch with steadfast resistance, offering silent promises of safety. Yet, for every latch secured, my mind drew tighter, strung like a bow waiting to strike at an unknown threat.

When I returned to the kitchen, I leaned my forehead against the cool glass of the kitchen window, peering out into darkness where shadows clung to the edges of the world. I searched for the SUV, but it had vanished like a phantom, leaving only the ghost of a presence behind. You would think its disappearance would have soothed the tension in my shoulders, but the unease remained, a stubborn knot in my gut refusing to be untangled by logic or reason.

“Mommy?” Evie’s tiny voice cut through the silence. I jerked upright, heart seizing for a panicked moment.

“You should be asleep, nugget.” Leaving the window behind, I rushed to her side, cursing the fear that made my voice sharper than intended. The last thing I wanted was to worry her.

Eyes barely holding open, she held the stuffed llama tightly in one arm, wrapping the other around my leg. “I had a bad dream. Can you sleep with me?”

Without another thought, I nodded, rubbing my hand against her back. I understood nightmares all too well. “Absolutely, sweetheart. Let’s get you back to bed.”

Chapter 7

The Phoenix

“Can we get ice cream after this, mommy? Chocolate chip. No…cotton candy!” Evie's tiny voice broke me out of my thoughts, her depthless ocean eyes were watching me and waiting for a response. I’d been dwelling on the mysterious black SUV all day, wondering if I should tell my brother, but convincing myself that I was being ridiculous. It was probably someone just visiting a neighbor, or even someone using the street for one of the many hiking trails that branched off it. There were a thousand reasons why a vehicle could be parked on my street, but something about it rubbed me the wrong way. Paranoid. With how bad my depression and anxiety had been as of late, I couldn’t give the question any more weight over me than it already had.

Forcing a smile onto my face, I nodded. “Anything you want, nugget.”

With the last vial filled, the nurse withdrew the needle and placed a Minnie Mouse bandage over Evie’s wound. “Let me go get Dr. Warner, so you can get that ice cream.”

A bright smile spread across Evie’s face as the nurse left, her missing front tooth only making her cuter.

“Maybe afterwards,” I begin, grabbing her tiny hand and wrapping my fingers around it, “we can go to the bookstore and see Aunt Scarlett and Uncle Ethan.”

As expected, my daughter's smile brightened. “Yes. Yes. Yes. I’m ready for my baby cousin to be born already.”

Her smile instantly fell, her lower lip puffing out into a pout. Ever since she met Scarlett, Evie had been obsessed with her new aunt, and once she found out about Scarlett’s pregnancy, it was all she could talk about.

“Not much longer, and then you will be the best cousin…I mean auntie in the whole world.” Although I was aware Evie would be the baby’s cousin, she’d been so enamored with Scarlett ever since they’d met, that she insisted on being called the new baby’s ‘auntie,’ so we’d let her run with it.

For a moment, Evie basked in the praise, giddy with excitement for the new baby, but then Dr. Warner walked in, and her smile fell a little. She was much too young to go through what she’d already gone through, but she still handled it with bravery and sass.

“How are we doing today, Miss Evelyn?” The look on the doctor's face gave the tension in my chest permission to release, if only a little.

Setting her file down on the counter—her very thick file—he washed his hands before turning back to face us.

“Guess what,” Evie said, her voice low and wispy, as though she was about to spill a secret.

The doctor leaned in, his eyebrow lifting as he placed the stethoscope against her chest. “What?”

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