Page 65 of Jaime
She smiled sadly.
“But it’s a beautiful name…”
“I know,” I agreed. “Mom must be happy you named your baby after her, wherever she is.”
Liz nodded.
“Do you mind if I stay here for a couple days?” she asked. “I’ll just take the couch. You won’t even know I’m here. And… It’ll be nice for us to catch up. We can all spend time together.”
“Of course,” I found myself saying.
She beamed, standing and going to her backpack to pull out a bag of toiletries.
I had so many questions. Where had she been? Where would she be staying next? Was she planning on disappearing again?
Was she going to try to take Evie back?
That gnawed at me while I waited for her.
After a moment, I heard the shower start and forced myself up, getting bedding from the closet and setting up the couch with clean sheets and a fresh pillow and blanket for her.
It was a small thing I could do for her, but I didn’t feel like she got thought of much in the places she usually slept, shelters and friends’ couches, or sometimes hotels… At rehab things had seemed to be pretty good last time she’d called, but that was more like a hospital than a home and—why was I already thinking this was going to be permanent?
I shook the hopeful thought away.
It never was.
Liz showed up for weeks at a time, convinced me I was about to have my sister back, and then vanished in a puff of smoke. That was just how she was. It had been like this for years. This time, though, the stakes were higher.
By the time she was done in the washroom, I felt completely depleted. I waited outside the door until she emerged, looking a bit fresher, wearing my towel robe, which was huge on her small frame.
“Do you need anything else?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“No, I’m okay. I thought we could sit up and chat for a bit though.”
“Would you hate me if I blew you off until the morning? I’m exhausted.”
She shook her head.
“That’s fine, Jaime, go sleep.” She gave me a quick hug. “Thank you.”
Her quiet whisper didn’t sound like it had much to do with giving her a couch to crash on. More like it was a thank you for keeping her baby alive while she was away.
I shut the door to my room and went to look in at Evie. There was a small plug-in night light on the other side of the room. Just enough to make out her form in the middle of the night when I needed to pick her up.
I looked at her for a moment, listening to the even sound of her breathing long enough that my eyes started to droop, and then crawled into bed, burrowing under the covers.
I longed for Ethan’s arms around me, holding me tightly.
Shit.Ethan.
He would be here any minute now. Actually, he should have been here already.
I crawled back out of bed, rummaging through my pants until I found my phone. I’d forgotten he was coming over the moment Liz showed up.
Hit heavy traffic. There was an accident.
