Page 24 of Where Love Lies

Taking my face in his hands, he makes me look up at him.

“Are you okay?” he mutters. My bottom lip quivers at the care in his tone. My stomach warms as much as my heart does, this feeling of affection from a man so unfamiliar.

“Yeah. I just lost my balance.” Acid threatens to burn my esophagus at my attempt to cover for Cam.

“No, that was a bitch move.” He growls. “You don’t put your hands on a woman. Especially the mother of your damn child.”

I scoff. “Cam used to hit mewhileI was pregnant. He didn’t care. I guess he missed the class about having morals.” I remember the shock that riddled my heart when he pushed me after announcing we were expecting. He wanted to watch the news and I didn’t, so I got up to do something else. He didn’t like that.

Heston inhales a large breath, his chest rising as if the mere thought of it causes him pain. Reaching out, he pulls me into him, wrapping his arms around me.

“The world is full of monsters. The only way to beat them is to become like them,” he breathes into the top of my head.

“You okay, Rain?”

My head whips to the left, and my eyes lock on Flynn, standing at the end of his driveway, his arms crossed, biceps bulging, stance wide. How long has he been watching?

“Yeah, I’m okay.”My nerves are a trainwreck, though.I raise my hand, waving him off as my pulse quickens. I bet the whole neighborhood just watched what went down.

Looks like I’m the guaranteed entertainment.

12

Heston sits on the toilet in my bathroom, looking up at me while I dab a wet towel on the tip of his chin, the blood staining the fabric. I feel his eyes on me while I work on his cut, the sound of his subtle breaths making it hard to concentrate.

“We need to put something on this.” My voice light.

“You mean a band-aid?” There’s laughter in his voice.

“Unfortunately, I think that’s all I have?”

He takes the rag from me and stands to look in the mirror. “Nah, it doesn’t need anything. I’m good.” Dropping the towel in the sink, he rests a hand on the counter and looks at me with hooded eyes. “You have the softest touch.”

I feel that down to my bones.

“Well, I have a tomboy for a kid, lots of scrapes and cuts,” I say.

“That’s not what I mean.” His lips rise at the corners, giving that playboy smirk I love.

“Oh,” I whisper. Turning away and leaving me wanting more, he stops at the doorway.

“You coming?”

Both of us get into his truck and head to get flowers. Hopefully, we can get them in the ground while the sun is out because storms are on the way tonight. Heston has a new truck already, and just sitting inside I can see down into other cars passing by. The leather seats are polished and new give off the new car scent that everyone loves, and his steering wheel doesn’t look close to the one in his other truck.

“Do you want to go to Lowe’s?” he asks, shifting to his side, so he can see me better.

“Um…actually, I was thinking about checking out a place called Olive’s Flowers. It’s a smaller shop here in Fairview. I don’t really want to go to the city.” I express more emotion in my reply than I meant, but I can’t help it. You could compare my feelings for Charlotte to as a cold biting fear, reminding me I’m alone, no matter where I go in that damn city. I imagine my mother waiting in line for coffee and cussing under her breath. I can’t even pass someone asking for spare change because my mother would always give what she had in her purse. She’s everywhere there. I can’t go back without her. It’s not home anymore. It’s a reminder of everything I lost. Her.

“Their supply will probably be limited. Are you sure?” He raises a brow, the reflection of the clouds through the windshield swimming in his blue irises.

“Yeah. It’s fine.” I shrug with a smile. He reaches over his massive console, grasping my hand, and I can’t help the hard breath that rushes through me from his soft palm. With Luke Bryan’s “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” on the radio, the sun caressing the windshield, spreading warmth across my face, and the most handsome man I’ve ever met holding my hand in his brand-new truck, I can’t help but feel like this is all too perfect.

Pulling up to Olive’s, I can’t help but admire how simple and cute it is. A one-story brick shop with glass windows and a matching door propped open by an old tin watering can. Wooden barrels filled with flowers sit under the awning with fairy lights hanging above them. I inhale. Wet earth with a hint of sweetness fills the air.

An older woman comes through the door, her shoulders hunched, her hair once black but graying. Her green apron and bright yellow rain boots grab my attention, standing out like a daffodil in a dirt road.

“Hello. Can I help you find anything?” Her voice cracks with old age, but her eyes are bright emeralds, making her seem younger.

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