Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
Maren woke up the next morning with her fingers pressed to her lips, wishing Colin had kissed her.
She’d lain in bed for a while after that, staring at the ceiling and replaying the moment. His hand cupping her jaw. His thumb against her cheekbone. The way his eyes had gone dark and focused and hungry in the half-second before they’d both pulled back.
She knew what she’d seen in Colin’s eyes last night afterward, the battle between wanting her and his professional ethics. But right now—with Juni traumatized and Maren running from God-knows-what and Colin assigned to keep them both safe…
I don’t want to use you.
He’d said at the exact same time she did.
Maren rolled over, pressed her face into the pillow, and groaned.
She didn’t want to be someone he kissed because she was scared and convenient. He didn’t want to be someone she reached for because he was there and she was lonely.
If things were different, she’d told him.
And she’d meant it.
But things aren’t different. Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
So she got up, took a shower, and made Juni breakfast. And when Colin had left for his meeting that morning with Mac staying behind, she’d watched him go and thought about how the house would feel emptier without him.
Juni wasn’t the only one out of sorts without Colin.
Maren was just better at pretending.
By lunchtime, Juni had given up on pretending entirely.
Colin had gone to the Watchdog office for a meeting.
Maren was trying to coax Juni into eating.
Juni had been picking at her sandwich for ten minutes, tearing the crust into tiny pieces and lining them up on her plate like a fence.
She’d been like this all morning—quiet, clingy, asking where Colin was every few minutes.
They’d done another pinkie promise before he left and she’d been fine for a while, but now she was regressing into fear.
Maren couldn’t help but feel anger toward her twin. This is all your fault, Mira.
I’m sorry, she could hear her sister say. Once this is all over, it won’t happen again.
“Colin’s at work, sweetie. He’ll be back soon.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
Juni’s bottom lip trembled. “I want Colin.”
Maren’s chest squeezed. She reached across the table and smoothed Juni’s hair. “I know, baby. But Mac’s here. And I’m here. And Colin will be back like he promised. He always is.”
And I want him too, Maren thought. So we’re both in trouble.
Maren’s phone buzzed. She picked it up and read Arden’s name.
“Hey,” Maren answered.
“Hi! How are you holding up?”
Maren glanced at Juni, who was now stacking the crust pieces into a tower. “We’re okay. Juni’s a little out of sorts without Colin.”
And she’s not the only one.
“I thought she might be.” Arden’s voice was warm. “Listen, I have a friend who’d love to meet you. She has a little girl, too—not quite Juni’s age, but close enough. I thought maybe some company might help. Would you be up for visitors?”
Maren looked at Juni again. The tower had fallen over and Juni was staring at it like it was the saddest thing she’d ever seen.
“Yeah,” Maren said. “That would be great, actually.”
“Perfect. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Arden hung up before Maren could ask who the friend was.
Mac raised an eyebrow. “Company?”
“Arden’s bringing a friend.”
Mac nodded and pulled out his phone, probably texting Colin to let him know.
Juni looked up. “Is Colin coming back with them?”
“Not yet, Junebug. But Aunt Arden’s coming. And she’s bringing a friend who has a little girl.”
Juni’s eyes got a little rounder. “A little girl?”
“Yep. Maybe you can show her your drawings.”
Juni considered this. Then she picked up her sandwich and took a bite.
Small victories.
Fifteen minutes later, Arden’s truck pulled into the driveway.
Maren opened the door and watched Arden climb out of the driver’s side. A small woman with reddish-brown hair got out of the passenger side, then opened the back door and lifted out a toddler.
The little girl had dark curls and bright eyes and was already wiggling to get down.
Arden grinned as she came up the steps. “Maren, this is Ellie. And this is Star.”
“Great to meet you.” Maren said as she let the women in.
Ellie shifted Star to her hip and gave Maren the warmest smile. “Hi. Thanks for having us.” She looked over at Mac, who had come from the kitchen into the living room. “Hey, Mac.”
“Hiya, Ellie. Arden,” he greeted with a big, warm smile.
Star squirmed harder and Ellie set her down. She spoke close to Star’s ear. “See Juni? Go say hi.” Star immediately toddled toward Juni, who was still sitting at the table.
“Hi,” Star said, clear as anything.
Juni stared at her. Then she looked up at Maren. “She’s little.”
“She is,” Maren agreed. “But I bet she’d like to see your drawings. Or maybe the garden?”
Star grabbed Juni’s hand and tried to pull her out of the chair. Juni’s face lit up. Just like that, the nervousness was gone.
Ellie laughed. “Star’s never met a stranger.”
“Neither has Juni,” Maren said. “Usually.”
Arden set a basket on the kitchen counter. “I brought snacks. And Ellie thought you might like some company while the girls play.”
Maren looked at Ellie, who was watching Star tug Juni toward the back door. She turned back to Maren and there was that warm, friendly smile again.
“I’d love that,” Maren said. “How about we follow the girls out to the garden?”
When they stepped outside, the air was cool and fresh, the sun behind a thin sheet of clouds.
It had rained sometime the night before, the gentle sound outside Maren’s window finally lulling her to sleep after her talk with Colin.
It felt strange to have someone there in the middle of the night to talk to—strange and comforting.
Maren could understand why Juni felt it so intensely when Colin wasn’t in the house.
He was like a stone wall in a fairy tale keeping out any and all danger.
But at the same time, Maren thought that wall kept Colin hidden away from the world.
Maren had tried to climb it, asking about his sister and hoping to get him to open up.
The way he had read from the Blue Fairy Book, his voice light and gentle, but with a look of sadness in his eyes, she thought maybe something had happened between him and his sister.
But it came down to kids. And he didn’t seem about to open up about it. He wasn’t wearing a wedding ring—yes, she’d looked—so maybe he’d lost a child in a divorce?
Mac followed them outside and took up his position by the back door, watching without hovering. It was the same spot he’d stood in yesterday with Colin when Maren had walked in the garden during Juni’s nap, watching her but also giving her space as she admired the beautiful flowers.
Juni was already pulling Star toward the flower beds, chattering about fairies and how you had to look under the leaves to find them. Star followed eagerly, her little hands reaching for everything Juni pointed at.
“The rain was so nice last night,” Maren said, watching the girls.
“Yes, and we need it,” Arden said. “It’s been a dry spring, especially on the Western Slope. The summer’s supposed to be dry, too.”
Ellie nodded. “Bear’s already worried about the lake level. And fire season.” She turned to Maren. “We live in a cabin up in the mountains with a lake and grazing land for buffalo.”
Maren’s eyebrows rose. “You have buffalo? Are they wild?”
Ellie grinned. “No, they aren’t. And they aren’t ours, either.
Some city slicker back east”—she put some Western twang into her voice and laughed—”is leasing the land as some sort of tax write-off, I guess.
Bear’s family is handling the details. Oh, that’s my husband’s name.
Bear. He was friends with Sean and Arden growing up. ”
Arden’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and grew serious. “I’m sorry, I need to take this call inside. It’s one of my patients.”
“Of course,” Maren said.
Arden gave her an apologetic smile and headed back inside, already answering the call.
Ellie watched her go, then turned to Maren. “Want to sit?”
She gestured toward the bench Maren had noticed the day before. It sat in a patch of sunlight, the wood warm and dry from the morning sun. They crossed to it and sat down. The metal placard on the back caught the light. Maren leaned in to read it.
In memory of Walter Sanders who tended this garden with love
And waited patiently for the bus that would take him to his beloved wife
They are home now in Heaven
Maren’s throat tightened. “That’s beautiful.”
“That was my Uncle Walter.” Ellie’s voice was soft.
“He was my mom’s brother. He got dementia.
Toward the end, he’d forget that my aunt was gone and he’d regress into the past, when he was a young man who would take the bus to court her.
My cousin put this bench beside the end of the driveway so that he wouldn’t wander and get lost. She put up a bus stop sign and everything.
If he snuck out without her, he’d sit there waiting for a bus to take him to see his fiancée. ”
“Oh, Ellie. I’m so sorry.”
Ellie smiled, but her eyes were bright. “He was a good man. Stubborn as hell, but good. He left me the cabin in the mountains when he died. I…I couldn’t have survived without it.
” Her eyes grew misty. “This was his house, too. My cousin sold it to Watchdog when it got too hard for her to take care of Uncle Walter here. I’m glad it’s being used to keep people safe.
He would have liked that. He kept me safe when I was little, too. ”
Maren looked out at the garden. The flower beds were immaculate.
Someone had been tending them carefully.
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, watching Juni show Star how to look under the leaves for fairies.
Star giggled and Juni beamed, suddenly the big kid showing the little one how things worked.