Page 26 of Before We Fell

He consumed me that night, even in my dreams.

Nine

Lauren

“Guess what, Miss Frazier?”

“What, Riley?” I crouched down and grinned at the little girl. She’d almost skipped into the classroom, eyes igniting like she couldn’t wait to see me. Nothing made me smile more especially when it came from her.

“My grandma’s picking me up today and I’m staying at her house tonight. I get to ride horses and make brownies.”

“That sounds like an excellent way to spend the weekend.”

She nodded and skipped off to her cubby, stowing her lunch bag and book bag where they belonged.

Her hair was still braided from when I’d done it yesterday, frizzies flying away at her temples and at the nape of her neck, but she looked as cute as ever.

An idea shot off like a light bulb inside my brain. There was something I could do to help them. A small thing, but small steps led to great rewards.

It was a ridiculous idea. A stupid one.

I was still, totally, going to do it, because even as hard as I tried, I couldn’t get Noah’s voice or the pain in it out of my mind. It tortured me while I slept, and while I woke to the sound of my alarm and not the sound of him hammering away through the trees, my sleep had been anything but restful.

Greeting the rest of the kids as they came into the room, I pushed all thoughts of Noah to the back burner and went on about my day, but it trickled by slowly, every minute feeling like an hour and by the time the school day ended and I was back at home, cleaning up my own dinner dishes, I’d thought about and re-thought my idea more than dozens of times throughout the day.

“Just do it,” I said to myself and wiped down the counter. “He’ll laugh his ass off and slam the door in your face, or you might get somewhere. Neither one will kill you.”

Pep talk completed, I draped the towel over the handle on my dishwasher and went to my guest room. There, I dug through bins of my childhood possessions I’d saved and once I found what I was looking for, I double checked to ensure I at least looked halfway decent.

That done, I slid into a pair of flip-flops and went out my back door. The front door was locked up as was the garage.

The sun was still shining as I headed toward the back yard and my phone was tucked in my purse. I could use it as a flashlight on my way home.

I pushed through the layer of brush lining my yard and came to an abrupt halt, jaw dropping almost to the cleared ground before me.

“What the heck?” My gaze skipped over the trees. The path. To Noah’s house where I could see he’d gotten a lot done for the back of his house despite not pounding away at six o’clock anymore.

He’d cleared the path. Trees were trimmed, bushes cut back and all of it had been cleared so that once I passed through the overgrowth at my lot line, there was a completely clean walkway to take me to his house.

Like he wanted me there. Or knew I’d come back.

A strange, warm sensation bubbled in my chest just behind my rib cage, and I was still feeling it as I entered his yard. Though the blinds were closed, light still filtered through the back of his entire house where the living room was.

The addition he’d been building was closer to being done. The walls and roof were completely framed. Siding was completed around the bottom half, shingles done on top. The only openings were for future windows and a doorway, and then it would need to be drywalled on the inside. But it looked fantastic.

It took me a second to decide which way to go and I moved around to the side of the house, walking through his yard with my arms loaded down by the bags I’d stuffed full and decided on going to his front door. It’d be even stranger to knock on the back one. Noah’s truck was parked in the driveway and lights illuminated his front porch where he had not one, not two, but six pots filled with bright petunias lining the steps to the front door.

Flowers? From the surly rude guy? It had to be his mom. Or maybe Riley had a green thumb she hadn’t yet told me about.

Still, the porch said family and happiness and a familiar sensation trickled down my spine as was becoming normal whenever I thought about Noah. It was unwanted and uncomfortable, and yet there I was, pushing myself into his life.

For Riley. It’s only for Riley.

I shifted the bags in my arms and bumped the doorbell with my hip, unable to use my fingers for fear of dropping everything I held.

Wisps of my hair flew in the breeze and stuck to my lips. I spit out the faux hair from one of the dolls and was wrinkling my nose from the tickling sensation of it all when the door opened, and Noah appeared.

He had one brow arched, a lift at one edge of his lips and his eyes widened as his gaze dropped to my arms. Leaning on the doorframe, his arms slid slowly in front of him, crossing his chest and I couldn’t help but notice how the move emphasized the curve of his pecs. The strength in his biceps.

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