Page 109 of Stolen Fate

Evelyn

I didn’t spendthe night in Jace’s bed, no matter how badly I wanted to.

I didn’t want Elliot to catch me out of bed. Even though Elliot was usually a heavy sleeper, he had come to my room last night, and I didn’t know if he would do it again.

That was not a conversation I would ever be ready to have with a five-year-old. I supposed it would be different if Jace and I were married.

My heart beat heavily in my chest at the thought, and I had to rub away the ache that had taken residence there.

Marriage was not something I thought about. At least, not in recent years.

Like most little girls, I had grown up fantasizing about my wedding day. Of course, in my fantasy, both of my parents were there, and that could never be the case. So I stopped entertaining the idea of me getting married when I was twenty-two.

Yet, here I was envisioning a whole future with Jace.

But if we were to go further—if there was even a future—I knew I had to come clean to Jace about my past. Sooner, rather than later. I just didn’t know how to do it.

How could I go about telling him without having him look at me differently?

I had looked at myself differently, and the person I saw in the mirror most days was not someone I liked very much. How could I expect anything different from Jace?

I shook away the thought and climbed into my bed, pulling the covers up and trying to get comfortable.

Already I missed Jace’s arms around me. I missed being near him, and I had only left his bed moments ago. My body still ached in the most delicious way from his rough manhandling, and all I could think about was when we could do it again. Obviously, we would need to be careful to not let Elliot catch us. But I knew we could be smart about it.

The only problem was that I couldn’t see my heart not getting involved, if it hadn’t already.

Jace was easy to fall for.

And I was falling.

And I hated that.

Yet I loved it, all the same.

I sighed and snuggled deeper into the blanket, trying to get warm. It was almost ten, and I needed to be up early to bring Elliot to school. Jace didn’t want him to stray too far from his usual routine, and I agreed.

Elliot needed structure in his life, and I hoped that one little incident with Camila wouldn’t throw him off.

About a half an hour after I got into bed, and still unable to sleep, I heard little feet shuffling outside my door. I moved up onto my elbows just as the door opened, and Elliot stood there, Wilbert clutched in one hand, the other one rubbing his eye.

“Evelyn?”

I knew I probably shouldn’t encourage it. I didn’t want to make this into a habit. But I didn’t have the heart to turn him away either. “Yeah, sweetie?”

“Can I sleep with you again?”

“Yes.”

Even in the dark, I knew he was smiling, and it made that “yes” even more worth it. He climbed into my bed and laid himself down close to me. I hugged him and the teddy bear, and it wasn’t long before he fell back to sleep again.

And I stayed up most of the night watching him.

I was sure my little boy was around Elliot’s age. But was he as happy as Elliot, or was the family who took him in cold and unloving?

It was that thought that kept me up most of the night. That my little boy could be with someone who didn’t love him, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

I kissed Elliot’s head. He smelled like his shampoo. His scent was soothing to me, and sometimes, when I could feel my thoughts turning dark, I turned to him and reminded myself that at least I knew one little boy who was loved.

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