Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Eden
Since the strings Libby pulled to get permission for me to stay didn’t extend to sharing the tiny hospital bed, I spent the night on the pullout hidden in one of the room’s hideous green vinyl chairs. Weirdly, I slept like a rock, knowing Milo was safe and sound barely an arm span away.
Before he was released to go home, however, Chief Roberts and Detective Hanson came to talk to us again—together this time.
“Milo, I’d like you to take a look at a couple photos for me,” the chief said as he pulled up a chair.
“Okay,” he said, pulling himself upright.
Hanson laid out a few photos on the edge of the bed, each showing a woman in her fifties or sixties. Milo shook his head once they were all in front of him.
“No. None of these are her.”
The chief tapped the top photo. “This is Martha Baranski. She’s the woman who applied to move into Eden’s store. Definitely not the woman who attacked you?”
“No. I’m sure of it,” Milo replied, shaking his head.
“Okay. Then we’ve got good news and bad news. Traffic cams caught some video of the woman leaving the store after she set the fire, Milo, and we got prints off the statue she hit you with.”
“Those both sound like good news,” Milo said hopefully.
“The bad news is we still haven’t identified her.
Prints aren’t in our system. However, on the chance that the girl who showed up to warn Eden was this woman’s daughter, we hoped maybe you would be willing to take a look at the most recent high school yearbook.
If we can pin down the kid, we can track down the mom. ”
My eyebrows lifted. “Oh. Sure.”
Hanson passed me a heavy book with a gold embossed pirate on the cover. When I smirked at Milo, he grinned and said, “Spruce Hill Scallywags for life.”
“You’re kidding.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Did you know there were pirates along the Erie Canal? That’s where the mascot came from.”
“I did not. Learn something new every day,” I muttered, flipping open the hard cover.
My parents had refused to pay for my own yearbooks back in high school—hell, they’d only allowed me to attend public school after I got myself kicked out of the tiny Christian school they’d forced me to attend until I decided I was done following orders—but I’d managed to save up enough from my after-school job to get one my senior year.
Looking through the pages of strangers threw me right back to my teenage years, an outsider watching everyone else laughing in the quad, joining clubs, signing the blank pages at the back with inside jokes and sentimental musings about unending friendship.
Milo seemed to sense my disquiet, because he squeezed my hip and rested his chin on my shoulder as we bent over the book. The sections of official school photos were sorted by grade, and I flipped the pages slowly, scanning each and every face for any sign of the girl who’d saved Milo’s life.
“These kids look way too cool,” Milo complained. “Where’s the bad hair and goofy smiles? I don’t think a single school picture day in our family resulted in anything half as nice as these.”
I huffed a laugh, thinking about every blank order form I’d reluctantly handed back to the photographer throughout my years in school, about every teacher who wondered if I’d forgotten to give it to my parents before picture day.
Thankfully, most of them knew me well enough by then to understand the situation at home.
“She was terrified last night,” I whispered, images of my childhood and this girl overlapping in my head. “If her mom finds out she warned me…”
Roberts shook his head. “If we find her, we’ll tread lightly, Eden, don’t worry about that. She’s wanted for attempted murder. We won’t give her the chance to take anything out on the kid, all right?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Word is they’ll be discharging you soon, Milo. I’m leaving Officer Ford outside your door, and when you head home, he’s on duty outside your place. You need to go anywhere, he tails you.”
Milo grimaced, but acquiesced. “Understood.”
“I don’t see her,” I said, frowning as I reached the final page of the yearbook.
Roberts nodded slowly. “I was afraid of that. She could be homeschooled, or it’s possible she’s still in middle school, but they don’t do yearbooks like the high school does.
If we can find any class photos, we’ll get in touch.
Thanks for looking, Eden. We got descriptions of her, but is there anything else you remember? ”
I thought about it and started to shake my head, then something niggled at the back of my brain as Milo’s words about the woman came back to me.
“The kid looked a little familiar, but I don’t know why.
I occasionally get curious teenagers in the shop, but I’m positive I hadn’t seen this girl there before. ”
“We’ll do what we can to track them both down, but if anything comes to mind, you let me know. In the meantime, you two focus on healing, got it?”
After Roberts and Hanson left, Milo leaned in close and whispered, “Ford’s got the hots for you. Maybe we should make out for a bit, just in case he peeks in here.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Mm-hmm. The day of the bomb threat, I thought he was going to ask for your number right in front of me.”
I rolled my eyes and cuddled back against him. “Unfortunately for him, I’m pretty into this guy I’m seeing. Maybe you know him. Tall, broad shoulders, amazing in bed…”
Milo’s arms, warm and snug around me, tightened ever so slightly, then I felt his lips brush my temple. I could deal with the narrow hospital bed and the constant checks from nurses, because this, right here, was exactly where I wanted to be.
By that afternoon, we were settled back at Milo’s house. His brothers had parked his car back in the driveway and his parents chauffeured us home—after completely restocking his kitchen full of more groceries than we would need for a month.
“Snow’s coming next week,” Tucker said when Milo looked at them in question.
Terry squeezed us both tight. “Better safe than sorry, right? Besides, now you won’t have to go out anytime soon.”
We stood at the door and waved as they left, though I ended up crouched beside Milo so I could give Jiji some love after our absence. The family had been by to take care of him, but he seemed overjoyed at having us back.
“Aren’t cats supposed to hold grudges?” I asked, rubbing his soft cheeks.
“Not this one,” Milo muttered. He helped me to my feet and lifted the cat into his arms. “Jiji would never be so cruel.”
Both stores were officially closed until Tuesday at the earliest, and I wasn’t sure the impending snowstorm was a bad thing. Staying holed up with Milo at his house while he recovered sounded kind of ideal. He needed to rest, and I needed to remind myself that he was okay after this ordeal.
Eventually, I’d also have to process my intense relief at the fact that nothing from my past was responsible for his injuries.
I still couldn’t quite believe it, but after hearing his full account of what transpired at Dueling Dragons, I was unable to cling to the guilt that had plagued me for weeks.
“C’mon, let’s get you into bed.”
His eyes danced behind the glasses his parents had brought to the hospital. “Okay, but you’ll have to do all the work.”
“No one is doing any work, Casanova. You’re supposed to avoid all physical exertion for another twenty-four hours.”
Milo groaned. “Fine, but I’m only staying in bed if you’re there with me.”
“I think I can tolerate that.”
A slow smile lit his face as he set Jiji on the back of the couch and slid his arms around my waist. Despite my warning glare, he lowered his face so our lips were barely a millimeter apart. It took an enormous amount of effort not to close the distance.
“I’m not sure I thanked you yet for saving my life,” he whispered.
My body jolted. “You don’t have to—”
“I absolutely fucking do. Thank you, Eden.”
My response caught in my throat, wedged there like marbles, so all I could manage was a tight nod. Milo understood, though. He dropped his mouth to mine, coaxing and sweet, like he could pull the words free. By the time he lifted his head, I was pretty sure he’d succeeded.
“Are you hungry?” he asked out of the blue.
I blinked away the daze of his kisses. “I am, yes.”
“Good, Mom said there’s a couple plates of cold chicken and potato salad in the fridge. Let’s eat and then we’ll both get into bed.”
Jiji sat on the table beside our plates, waiting for one of us to offer him tiny shreds of chicken as penance for being gone all night.
Aside from the bruising on his face, Milo looked better now that he was home—less wan, more alert.
I tried very hard not to think about the impact of one of those hefty statues against his head, but every so often, my imagination betrayed me.
I must have flinched at the thought, because he reached over and grasped my hand across the table.
“Look at me. I’m alive. We’re safe. No one else got hurt. The fire was contained before it spread into Garden of Delights, though Maverick said the inner wall had a bit of damage on my side. It’ll all be taken care of.”
“I know,” I whispered, blinking back tears. “It’s just…that woman, she might be that girl’s mother. What the hell kind of life is that kid living with her? I hate to even think of it.”
“Because it hits too close to home?” Milo asked gently.
My breath stalled for a few beats, then I gave a gasping laugh. “Probably. I hadn’t thought of that.”
We both fell silent, turning back to our food with significantly less gusto. When we rose to clear the table, Milo paused before heading toward the kitchen.
“Your birthday is next week,” he began, sounding almost hesitant. “Did you have plans with Addie, or your aunt and uncle?”
I hadn’t even realized we were so close to the end of February, especially after the time we’d lost to my numbness after the brick incident.
My birthday was one of my least favorite celebrations, anyway, but I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been in a relationship when it came around.
My parents had treated it as a day of prayer, spending the entire day in church, like maybe they would finally get the obedient daughter they wanted if they just begged for it hard enough.
Even though Addie tried to make it special in the years we’d lived together, I still hadn’t quite gotten used to being celebrated.
“No. No plans.”
He drew a breath and continued, “My mom asked if they could host a birthday dinner for you. All of us—my brothers, your cousins, your aunt and uncle. The Davies clan goes big for family birthdays. If you’d rather stay home and keep it low-key, though, we can do that instead.”
“But I’m not family,” I said, confused.
“Yes, Eden, you are.”
The words were quiet but firm, leaving no opening for argument. I blinked at him as that settled into my chest. Would it ever cease to be a surprise? Even struck silent, yet again, I knew Milo needed an answer.
“Yes. We should go,” I said hoarsely. “I want to go.”
That smile, the one I fell in love with at a hotel bar, the one I continued to fall in love with over and over again every time I saw it, crept across his face like a gift from the heavens. His gray eyes went velvet soft, crinkling at the corners as he smiled down at me.
He didn’t say anything, just leaned down to press his lips to my forehead, and one thing became perfectly clear as my resolve hardened into something fierce and protective.
If Milo was that woman’s true target, it was up to me to do everything in my power to keep him safe.