CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Kol
SOMETHING WAS OFF WITH NOVA. I WASN’T SURE IF something had happened in the five minutes it had taken for her to grab a sweatshirt or if I’d missed something earlier.
It could’ve been the missing woman. That would definitely do it.
But something was scratching at the back of my brain, telling me that wasn’t it.
“Thank you so much for the most amazing breakfast, Sky,” Nova said with that smile that looked real but wasn’t.
Skylar executed a spin and then a bow. “Anytime, milady.”
Nova’s gaze flicked to me. “I’m just going to shower and change real fast. Are you sure you’re okay with dropping me at my car?”
“Of course,” I said, frowning.
“I got the dishes, Daddy!” Skylar hurried to grab one from the table. Helping with the meal process and the chores afterward had become her thing lately.
“You don’t have to, you know,” Nova said softly. “Brae can give me a ride.”
My frown deepened. “You don’t want me to drive you?”
“You’re all scowly.” She reached up, her thumb rubbing at the spot where I could now feel my brow furrowing.
“I don’t like it when you fake smile.”
Nova’s eyes widened, and her hand dropped away. I instantly missed the contact, the point of connection, the heat. Now, it was Nova’s turn to frown. “How do you always know?”
I shrugged, but I knew the truth. Because I’d made a study of Nova Monroe. All her smiles and frowns. Her tells and covers. Every mask she donned to face the day.
But the most beautiful sight I ever saw was when Nova was real. I lived for those moments.
She sighed and pulled out her phone, showing me an article by that asshole Reese. A slew of curses slid free, making Nova chuckle. “Pretty sure that qualifies for the swear jar.”
“Only if Sky heard,” I shot back. My gaze lifted to Nova’s face. “I’m so sorry.”
She stared at the screen. “Feels like someone stripped me naked in front of the whole world.”
I wanted to kill the reporter for that. Taking choice and autonomy from someone who’d already had it stripped away in the worst way imaginable? It was lower than low.
“I’m gonna get Dex on it. See what he can do,” I ground out.
“You don’t have to. It’s not the first article. It won’t be the last.”
I reached out and took her hand, squeezing. “You’re gonna make it through.”
Those gray eyes flashed silver. “Damn straight, I will. And I’m going to find someone to hex Reese Gatlin with a limp dick for the rest of his life.”
I barked out a laugh. It was the last sound I’d expected to make when I was this angry. “That’s one way to deal with it.”
Nova was constantly a surprise. How she dealt with things. How she rose from a knockout punch every damn time. Everything about her wove a spell around me. Which was exactly why I let go of her hand.
“I’d better get that shower,” Nova said, her voice just a little hoarse.
“Yeah.” Mine was pure sandpapered grit. As she headed for her apartment, I could still feel her hand in mine. My skin buzzed and burned as if it refused to forget.
“All the dishes are in the washer,” Skylar said, landing in front of me with a jump. “I rinsed really good.”
I stared down at my girl. Today, she wore pink camo pants and a sweatshirt that read Feeling Cute, Might Cause Some Chaos Later. That one had to have come from Mav.
Hoisting Sky into the air, I hugged her tight. “You know you’re the awesomest helper, right?”
“Duh, Daddy.”
I chuckled. “I’m glad you’re secure in your awesomeness.”
She stared down at me, her hazel eyes nearly identical to mine. “Can I ask you a question?”
I instantly braced. There had been some awkward ones over the years. The highlights included:
“Why don’t I have a penis?”
“Where do babies come from?”
“What does asshole mean?”
That last one was Mav’s fault.
I set Skylar in our conversation spot on the counter. It put her closer to my level without us sitting on the couch and making things feel formal. “Sock it to me, Little Princess.”
I really hoped we were still too early for the birds and bees. The baby discussion was bad enough. And while I had a book on my night-stand about girls going through puberty to prepare for that talk, I thought eight was a little young for questions about her period.
Skylar stared up at me. “What happened to Nova’s arms?”
I braced for a whole other reason. It made sense that Sky had noticed. Kids were far too perceptive, and they registered differences because they wanted to understand them. But I didn’t have the first clue how to explain this to an eight-year-old.
“She doesn’t like those marks,” Sky said softly. “She’s always pulling at her sleeves and checking that they’re covered.”
My gut twisted because Skylar wasn’t wrong. “Sometimes, it’s hard to have things that make us different.”
Sky nodded. “Owen didn’t like his glasses because not a lot of kids have them. But now he loves them because Uncle Dex got him the perfect pair.”
My mouth curved at that. “It can take a little time to figure out, but what makes us different is also our superpower. Though sometimes, we can’t see that those differences make us beautiful.”
She was quiet for a long moment, as if mulling something over. She looked so much older, and it was a punch to the gut. “Owen said she was gone for a long time. Is it like … is it how it was with my mom?”
Every muscle inside me twisted so hard, it was a miracle my bones didn’t crack.
Skylar almost never asked about her mother anymore.
There had been questions when she started school, around Mother’s Day, or when they did projects about family, but I couldn’t remember one time she’d asked about Kendra in the last year.
I’d always tried to be honest and protective when it came to the topic. But trying to figure out how to ease the blow of her mom leaving was like walking through a minefield. “Did Owen telling you that make you have questions about your mom?” I asked gently.
Skylar shrugged in a way I knew meant yes.
I took my girl’s hands, so tiny in mine. “You are the most amazing kid on the planet. I don’t know how I got so lucky to have you as mine.”
“Daaaaaaad.”
“It’s true,” I said.
Sky bit her lip, a little uncertainty in her gaze. “Then how come she didn’t want me?”
God, I wanted to kill Kendra in that moment. Even knowing it was better that she’d simply left. The pain she’d caused ate at me. Even more so because I worried it was my fault.
“She wasn’t ready to be a mom,” I told Skylar. “But she knew I would love you. That I would love being your dad. So she gave me the best gift I’ve ever been given. You.”
Sky thought about that for a moment. “I am pretty great.”
I laughed, scooping her up into my arms again. “The absolute greatest.”
Skylar slapped her hands on my cheeks like she had when she was little, rubbing her tiny palms on my scruff. “I’m gonna make something for Supernova.”
The way kids’ minds worked was a trip. “I think she’ll love whatever it is. Your vase is her favorite.”
Sky’s smile widened. “I like her.”
“Me, too,” I admitted. Only I was starting to think like didn’t come close to encompassing how I felt about Nova. And that was dangerous.
I scowled at the road as Pete kept futzing with my radio. He changed the station thirty seconds into every song when he realized he didn’t actually like it. Then changed it back again.
“Pick a station and keep it there,” I clipped.
“Touchy, touchy,” Pete sniped. “You’d think I’d get a thank-you for filing the majority of the paperwork from yesterday while you took off early.”
My fingers tightened on the wheel. “I didn’t take off early. I went to talk to a victim.”
He bristled. “And you didn’t take me?”
I wouldn’t take him anywhere if I had a choice. Today, he’d caught me heading out to meet Roger to interview Heidi’s family, and there’d been no shrugging him off.
“You weren’t needed,” I ground out.
Pete’s glare bored into the side of my head. “It was Nova Monroe, wasn’t it?”
It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. She was Travis’s only living victim, at least to our knowledge. And the only other case I had on my desk right now was out-of-season poaching in a section of national forest land.
“Yes.” That was all he was getting from me.
Pete muttered something under his breath, but I just turned up the radio, letting the sounds of Credence Clearwater Revival drown out any attempts at conversation until I pulled up in front of Heidi’s parents’ house in Clover Creek.
Only about twenty minutes from Starlight Grove, Clover Creek was slightly larger but was still rife with that small-town feel.
The house looked straight out of textbook Americana—white with black shutters, a wraparound porch complete with a swing, and immaculately mowed grass with a tire swing hanging from a tree in the front.
Shutting off the engine, I climbed out of my truck. Pete was already hurrying to the door as if it were some sort of race. It wasn’t. And the longer he was on the job, he’d start to realize that.
The door swung open, and Roger frowned at Pete but then nodded in greeting. “Pete.”
Pete only scowled at the acting sheriff. “Where’s the family?”
That had Roger bristling. “You’re here as a courtesy. That campsite’s on state land, and since the state police are drowning in cases at the moment, they gave jurisdiction to us. You’re not point on this.”
“Maybe I’ll get Sherri to request jurisdiction,” Pete shot back.
“Enough,” I clipped, my voice low as I stepped onto the front porch. “This isn’t about you. This is about showing respect for the people who are hurting in there and doing everything we can to find their daughter.”
Roger cracked his neck. “You’re right.”
A muscle in Pete’s cheek fluttered, but he said nothing, just stepped inside.
“That went well,” I muttered.
Roger clapped me on the shoulder. “You’re doing everything you can.”