Page 105 of Protecting You

The door in the other room opened, and Callan headed down the hallway. “You made it.” His voice sounded unnaturally enthusiastic.

Alyssa followed, grinning at Peri as the child stepped inside, a purple backpack in her hand. She seemed happy enough until she saw her father.

“Sweetheart.” Hannah crouched at her side. “I’m going to talk to your dad for a minute and then go home. Why don’t you give Miss Alyssa a tour.”

“I’d love that,” Alyssa said. “Would you show me your room?”

“Okay.” She gave her aunt a hug, then took Alyssa’s hand and climbed the stairs.

The house wasn’t as big as it’d seemed from the outside. Upstairs, Peri stepped into her grandparents’ room, which would have seemed larger if not for the king-sized bed that took up most of the space. The child was comfortable, insisting Alyssa come in—she felt like an intruder—to show her old family photos on the older couple’s dresser.

Leaving her grandparents' space, Peri next pointed out a small room with a large table covered in fabric scraps and a sewing machine. A twin-sized bed covered in more random scraps of fabric took up one wall. “Gigi makes quilts in here. She’s making me one. Wanna see?”

“Sure.”

Peri showed her the fabric squares the older woman would sew together. All bright pinks and yellows and blues, polka dots and stripes and graphic flowers. It was perfect for a little girl.

Peri tugged Alyssa to the next bedroom, but she didn’t go inside this one, instead hovering at the door. “This is where Daddy stays when he comes,” she explained.

The walls were blue, and a shelf unit on one wall held books and trophies probably from his high school years. It had a full-size bed that couldn’t possibly be long enough for his tall frame.

After Peri pointed out the only second-floor bathroom—it had been updated and, she assumed based on the size of it, expanded from the original—they continued to the final bedroom on the floor. Peri pushed into this one and flicked on the light.

“This used to be Aunt Hannah’s room, but now it’s mine.”

Alyssa stopped at the threshold, unsure if she was invited in. She didn’t have to ask to know that this room had been updated since Hannah was a girl. Three of the walls had been painted bright yellow, and the fourth was covered in a yellow-and-white floral wallpaper. The pale wood twin bed had a canopy strung with fairy lights over a white blanket and bright pink pillows. More pink was scattered throughout the space—in the lampshade, in artwork, and in a giant P over the headboard.

The bed had been hastily made, the comforter hanging unevenly on one side. A pair of jeans was draped over a small upholstered chair in a corner of the room. Peri dropped her backpack on a white dresser beside a framed photograph.

Alyssa gazed at the photograph, blinked. Confused at what she was seeing.

She bent closer to the picture.

Peri had been maybe four or five when it was taken. She wore a white satin dress, and her hair had been fixed in a beautiful updo that looked far too fancy for a little girl. The basket she held in one hand was filled with rose petals. A flower girl.

But it was the woman in the photo who caught Alyssa’s attention. She was seated and leaning toward Peri, smiling for the photographer. Her hair was long and medium-brown with blond streaks. She had the same big, brown eyes, though they weren’t nearly as innocent as her daughter’s.

“That’s my mommy,” Peri said.

Alyssa hoped her press-on smile was believable even as she tried to come to terms with what she was seeing, what the child was saying.

Peri's mother was Megan, who'd been Alyssa's college roommate, first in a dorm, then in an apartment their senior year. She'd been Alyssa's best friend. Or so Alyssa had thought.

Swallowing all the questions that arose, Alyssa said, “She’s beautiful.”

Wasbeautiful.

Megan had been killed in a car accident the previous autumn—after avoiding Alyssa’s calls for years.

Nine years, as a matter of fact. Ever since they'd graduated.

Feeling suddenly too warm, Alyssa took off her jacket and draped it over her arm.

Peri sat on the bed and pulled a folder from her backpack. She opened it, tucking her long hair behind her ear, and Alyssa remembered Megan doing the same thing a thousand times.

In college, Megan had been convinced that Alyssa had a thing for Callan. No matter how many times Alyssa tried to deny it, Megan had seen right through her.

And then…somehow, Megan had Callan’s kid.

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