Page 60 of Search for the Truth
It was surprising; it wasn’t surprising.
Liam Weaver was perhaps the only person who Blake had met in the last few years that she had felt this comfortable with. The only man who she had let into her home so easily. The only man who hadn’t made her occupation, her personality and her unusual life choices and circumstances feel less than.
He had helped her. She had helped him. He had a problem. She wanted to help. He wanted to help keep her safe. She wanted to help keep him safe too.
He was so very handsome.
And they were so very close right now.
Blake knew she probably could have helped it, but in that moment, she decided her actions were out of her control.
Liam leaned down, closing the distance between them, and Blake was ready to accept anything he gave. Her eyes almost fluttered closed.
But then a noise made them stay wide open.
“I’m hungry.”
Blake whirled around to see Clem standing at the foot of the stairs, eyes sleepy but tummy apparently growling.
Normally, that would have given Blake a laugh. Clem was quiet only until she was hungry, then she would chat the entire alphabet until she had food in hand.
However, when Blake saw her, she couldn’t stop the first thought that came into her head.
She looks just like Beth.
All at once, Blake remembered why she was in Seven Roads. Just as she remembered why she left.
And why she hadn’t come back. Till now.
Guilt and anger and immense sadness gripped her chest tight.
She got off the couch, not looking back at Liam.
It was for the better.
Blake wasn’t back in town for her life after all.
Chapter Sixteen
That night, Blake slept. Though not soundly.
She was sharing a bed with Lola, and Lola was moving to every toss and turn. It wasn’t until the morning sun started to creep through the slit in the curtains that the older woman finally whispered into the quiet.
“What’s hurtin’ on you? Your nose, mind, or heart?”
Blake went still, though she opened her eyes wide. There was no use in pretending she had been anything but restless.
“I think I’m finally over the hump with this cold crud I got from the kids,” she hedged at first. “Liam gave me the nod of approval after supper, if you don’t believe me.”
“So, not the nose. Then is it the mind or heart that’s got you all jumbling the sheets?”
Blake sighed.
She could lie, but with everything Lola had done for her, there wasn’t a good enough reason in the world to tell the woman anything but the truth.
Too bad the truth for her wasn’t as easy to answer herself.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I keep thinking about how close y’all were to danger. Clem for the second time. I keep thinking about Liam’s arm bleeding. I keep thinking about Mater and Ray. Then I’m thinking about Beth. Then I’m thinking about how she trusted her kids to me, and I’m already having to shuttle them off to a safe house with no clear plan on how to make sure they stay safe.”
