Page 16 of One Little Mistake

And frown again.

“I asked you to let Natalie in. She left some of her stuff at my place.”

“I… I’m sorry… Are you sure? It’s just… she was standing at your door and said your name. It was the day after your message.”

“And it didn’t seem strange to you that she moved in instead of just stopping by for five minutes? And that her name isn’t Natalie?”

“I’m sorry, Max. God, I… I just deleted your message right away. You know how Logan gets about us texting, so I didn’t remember her name. You said a girl would show up, so I gave her the keys. You’re not serious right now, are you?”

Instead of answering, I bring my phone closer to her face so she can see the message with her own eyes.

“Oh.” Vivienne covers her mouth with her hand, looking at me in shock. “But how? Erin talked about you so much, it never even occurred to me that she might be lying. And she didn’t seem like the type at all. She runs a flower shop in the mall, volunteers, weeven went to the spa and shopping together. Picked out a crib for your… her baby. Why would she break into your apartment and lie about being with you?”

Good question.

I rub my face, then give her a brief rundown of everything I’ve managed to learn so far. Now there are three of us—confused, bewildered, and with zero answers.

“She met my sister, too. And apparently my friend.”

“You mean Lucas Simmons?”

I nod.

“He helped assemble the nursery furniture and took some of your books. Said there’s no way you’d let them be thrown out. Promised to stash them for you until you got back.”

I’m both grateful and annoyed that even my friend somehow got roped into this mess. If not for him, some homeless guy could’ve spent the whole winter burning my collectible volumes.

“And how did Lucas even get involved?”

Vivienne shrugs. Then, for some reason, she lowers her voice to a whisper and glances toward the door that leads to my apartment.

“Maybe we should just ask Erin? I still don’t believe she’s some scammer. She had six months to clean out your place, and instead, she turned it into a nursery. That doesn’t really add up, does it?”

“Don’t even mention the nursery,” I groan, rolling my eyes. Another disaster I’ll have to fix.

Vivienne smiles at that, and I can’t help but chuckle too.

“Most likely, her boyfriend found out she was pregnant and just disappeared. Gave her a random address, and it just happened to be mine. Though honestly, that sounds ridiculous,” I sigh. “Or maybe… maybe this guy actually does know me somehow… I don’t know what to think. And no one’s giving me a straight answer.”

“What does Erin say?”

“She’s convinced there’s been some mix-up. That I’m the one who got the wrong apartment. Also, she gave birth yesterday,” I add all in one breath.

“Oh, that’s wonderful…”

Vivienne catches my disapproving look and falls silent, hiding her excitement behind a small, sheepish smile. “I should go visit her. If you’re right and the father really bailed, she’s all alone. God, that’s awful. I can’t imagine what she must be going through.”

“Yeah, we’ll visit. Just… later. The delivery was complicated, and no one’s allowed in right now,” I lie. Mostly.

I say goodbye to Vivienne, promising I’ll let her know when it’s okay to visit Erin, and finally head back into my apartment. I barely have the energy to take off my shoes before collapsing face-first onto the bed. The last thing I register before blacking out is that the sheets smell different. Like someone spilled an entire bottle of floral perfume on them.

It’s irritating.

CHAPTER 7

Max

I wake up, and the first thing that feels off is the silence. It’s almost never quiet on a ship—there’s always the hum of the engine, crew voices, someone snoring behind the paper-thin wall of my cabin. So the total silence in the apartment feels unbearable.

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