After leaving Jeffrey’s room, I followed Lewis back to ours. The mont the door clicked shut behind us, I turned to face him. "What’s really going on? Are you and Dad planning sothing?"
He cupped my face in both hands, his touch easy and warm. "There’s nothing for you to worry about. Dad just doesn’t want a pregnant woman staying up late. Go shower and rest."
"But "
He was already steering gently toward the bathroom. I pulled back slightly. "Carl, I’m not helpless. I can manage a shower on my own."
"I know," he said, giving in just enough. "But tomorrow I’m having Theo add non-slip mats in the bathroom and a carpet in the bedroom. Better safe than sorry."
It was a little much, but his heart was in the right place, so I let it go. "Okay."
"Be careful getting up after," he added.
"I know, Honey." I rose onto my toes and kissed his cheek. "But if there’s any news from Whitney, you tell imdiately."
"I will," he promised.
He stepped out and pulled the door shut, and only then did I realize he’d never actually answered my question. What had Jeffrey ant earlier? Were they planning sothing sothing involving Sera? I’d spent most of my ti recently at Sergio’s with Whitney. What had been happening back here while I was gone?
Lewis was probably keeping it from so I wouldn’t stress. And honestly, what could I do right now? I’d only be in the way. I decided to listen to him and rest.
The shower left feeling clean and clearheaded. A cool breeze moved through the open window, lifting the curtains in slow waves. I walked over and looked down into the yard below. Everything looked still. Quiet. Normal. I told myself I was overthinking and climbed into bed.
Sleep ca easier than I expected deep and unbroken, the way it had been since the pregnancy. The doctor said it was normal, that symptoms were different for everyone. For , it seed carrying two lives had quietly cured the insomnia that used to chase through every night.
In the middle of that sleep, a sound split the silence apart.
My eyes snapped open. Lewis’s voice was already there, low and steady. "Don’t be scared, Elena."
Rain hamred the windows. Through the glass I could just make out the trees in the yard bending under the weight of it, their shapes twisting strangely in the dim light. The rain fell like a sheer curtain pulled across the world.
Still half-asleep, my voice ca out rough. "Carl... was that thunder?"
"Yes. It’s pouring. Go back to sleep."
Another flash of lightning turned the room white for a mont. I pressed closer to him without thinking. He was looking out the window, his expression distant and unreadable. When he felt my eyes on him, he turned back, gentle again. "It’s okay. I’m here. Rest."
He covered my ears with both hands, softening the storm to sothing muffled and far away, and pulled back under.
Outside, the rain kept falling. Down in the dim yard below, sothing dark moved slowly through the water collecting on the ground thin red rivulets bleeding into the puddles, quiet and unseen.
..
Morning ca bright and soft, the air carrying that clean, washed sll that only cos after a hard rain. I woke to an empty bed I’d gotten used to that and padded across the new carpet Lewis had already had installed. It was thick underfoot, like stepping on sothing that wanted to take care of you. Every sharp corner in the room had been padded. Non-slip mats lined the bathroom. The shower gel sat exactly where I could reach it without stretching.
We still had months before the babies ca, and he’d already prepared for everything.
I touched my stomach lightly. "Your dad is incredibly thoughtful," I told them.
Theo was waiting outside when I opened the door. "Good morning, Mrs. Hale."
I looked at him the guilty tilt of his eyes, the way he wasn’t quite eting my gaze. I thought about how I’d slapped him for letting Whitney go. I’d been furious in that mont. But looking back, he hadn’t defied . He’d followed Lewis’s orders. My anger had just needed sowhere to land.
"I’m sorry, Theo. For hitting you yesterday."
His face went red and he started waving both hands imdiately. "No, no I failed your instructions. I deserved it. You did nothing wrong, Mrs. Hale."
This foolish, honest boy. His reaction only made feel worse. He was such a good person he deserved soone kind to love, soone who’d make sure he didn’t end up alone and overlooked the way Lewis once had been.
"Breakfast is ready," he said, filling the silence.
"Alright."
I headed toward the dining room, and then stopped.
Police officers were moving in and out of Sera’s room with the calm efficiency of people doing a job they’d already finished. The mory of last night’s sounds surfaced what I’d assud was thunder cracking through my half-awake mind.
Those weren’t thunder. Those were gunshots.
"Where is Sera?"
Before Theo could answer, Captain Tucker stepped out of her room and gave a asured nod. "Mrs. Hale."
"Captain Tucker. Are you here officially?"
He looked faintly surprised. "Mr. Hale didn’t tell you? We’ve apprehended the suspect in the dismbernt case."
I went still.
Lewis had solved a dismbernt case the one that had been sitting like a shadow over everything and hadn’t said a single word to .
"The suspect," I asked carefully, "it isn’t Sera, is it?"
Even as I said it, it felt absurd. She was pregnant, barely holding herself together. When would she have had the ans or the strength to do sothing like that? We’d considered her early on, but her condition had ruled her out. I’d even wondered briefly if it was Wisteria circling back sohow.
Captain Tucker confird it. "Yes. It’s Sera. Thanks to Mr. Hale’s cooperation, we were able to identify and move on the real culprit."
"What happened last night?"
"She was apprehended," he said simply.
He left shortly after, and I turned to Theo. He spoke before I could. "Mrs. Hale, please don’t bla Mr. Lewis. You’re pregnant and you haven’t been well. He didn’t want this weighing on you."
"Of course," I said quietly.
That was just who Lewis was. He calculated everything around , arranged things so that I never had to carry what I didn’t need to. It should have frustrated and part of it did but underneath that I knew exactly what it ant.
"But I still want to know," I said. "What exactly happened last night?"
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