“Thank goodness,” I respond with a relieved smile.
She unlocks the door then puts the key back where she got it and we make our way inside. After Ella’s initial guardedness toward me the first day we met, we’ve sort of become friends. One morning, while Theo was shaving, his phone rang. I brought him his phone, but he told me to answer it for him since he was busy. The conversation was stiff in the beginning, but after a while, things became more relaxed. She’s called me on my phone several times since then. When Theo suggested Ella take me to my next doctor’s appointment, I was reluctant to ask, but did so anyway. I didn’t realize until she accepted how grateful I was. It meant Theo didn’t have to take me himself.
“Would you like something to drink?” I drop my phone on the counter beside the house key and go to the fridge. My stomach rumbles, reminding me I haven’t eaten today. I look at Ella over my shoulder. “And maybe something to eat?” I add with humor.
“Water’s good, but nothing to eat for me. But it sounds like you need to.”
Nodding, I grab a glass, fill it with water, and hand it to her before going to the fridge and grabbing out the makings for a salad. Today’s been a good day. My doctor’s appointment went well and having Ella around has been great. The only real communication I’ve had since being released from the hospital, besides talking to Ella or Helen on the phone, has been with Aria and Theo. I love being with Aria, she always finds a way to make me smile, but being around Theo is stressful. I’m always worried what he’ll do next. And there are times when he looks at me with an expression that downright scares me.
I’ve learned a lot from Ella today. She told me how she and Vicki met and the struggle she went through before she came into her life. She also spoke of Theo, explaining the type of person he normally is. It’s strange to think of him relaxed and joking. It’s a side of him I haven’t seen yet. He always seems so tense around me, but I chalk it up to his life taking a one-eighty turn since I woke up. Things have not only drastically changed for me, but for him as well.
When Luca was brought into the conversation, I couldn’t help the warm feeling that hit my chest. I listened avidly as she told me she worked with him in his shop, the one he bought from his dad years ago. I wanted to ask so many questions, but I refrained. It wasn’t my business to know more about Luca than she already gave on her own.
“How are things working out between you and Theo?”
Her question brings me back to the room. I continue chopping tomatoes as I answer with a shrug. “They’re okay. He’s been patient with me. It’s still weird to think I’m married. The last I knew, I had just graduated high school.”
I dump the tomato in the bowl and start on the cucumber.
“I can’t imagine waking up to find my life has totally changed.”
“It’s scary,” I admit.
“And your parents still aren’t talking to you?”
My hand tightens on the knife as pain tears through me. “No,” I answer softly.
Several seconds pass before Ella’s hard voice says, “I’m sorry, Jules. I know you love them, but they’re assholes for ignoring you.”
I nod, because she’s right. My feelings toward my parents alternate between anger and heartache. There’s no way I could ever abandon my child.
I glance to the doorway when I hear the front door open and close. A moment later, Theo appears in the kitchen.
“Hey.” I turn from the counter. “You’re home early.”
“I was in the neighborhood, dropping off a car, and decided to stop by and grab something for lunch.” He looks at Ella. “Hey.”
“‘Sup, brother,” she greets.
Theo moves toward me, and I tense. No matter how hard I work at it, he always makes me nervous when he’s near.
“You wanna put that away?” he says, jerking his chin to my hand. I look down and only then realize I’m still holding the knife.
“Sorry,” I mumble and place it on the counter. “Do you want me to make you a sandwich?”
He steps closer, putting him only inches away from me, and my eyes fly to Ella. She’s not paying us any mind as she looks down at her phone.
I hold my breath as his head lowers to mine. He presses his lips against mine. They feel cold and dry. When his hand lands on the side of my ribs, just below my breast, I barely hold back the need to shove him away from me.
Thankfully, the contact is only brief. He pulls back, and something flashes in his eyes. Anger? Annoyance? Displeasure? Whatever the look is, it leaves me trembling, and not in the good way.
“I’ll get something on the way back to work,” he says, stepping back from me.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll see you later tonight.”
“Okay. See you tonight.”
I turn back to the counter and start working on my salad again.
“Later, sis,” he says after a moment.
“Bye.”
When I hear his boots moving across the floor, I turn with my salad and go to the table. Ella’s watching Theo as he walks away, her expression one of confusion. When she turns back at me, the look is gone, but I still see something lingering in her eyes.
Doubt.
I SPRING AWAKE, a silent scream on my lips from the dream I was having. The dark silhouette of a man was there, and he was coming toward me. I tried moving, but my body was locked in place. When I opened my mouth to scream, nothing came out.
Luckily, something, I’m not sure what, pulled me from the dream. I lie there, trying to get my breathing back to normal, when something slithers down my spine. A feeling, one I don’t like, has a different kind of fear settling in my stomach. I sit up to look around the dark room and see movement in the corner by the closed bedroom door. A whimper leaves my lips when the shadow moves, reminding me of the dark figure in my dreams. Remembering that I’m no longer in my dream, therefore can scream, I open my mouth to do just that, when a voice stops me.
“Jules,” he says softly. “It’s just me.”
It takes me a moment to realize it’s Theo, and I sag back against the headboard.
“You scared the crap out of me, Theo.”
I pull in a relieved breath. Then a new kind of fear tries to take over. Blindly, I reach over and flip on the small unicorn lamp. The lamp doesn’t put off a lot of light, and what it does provide gives Theo an ominous look, which doesn’t help the shivers running over my arms.
“What are you doing in here?” I ask cautiously, and clutch the sheet and blanket closer to me.
He comes further into the light, and I notice he only has on a pair of sweatpants, leaving his muscular body bare. I lift my eyes back to his face and see his frown. He appears worried.
“You were crying in your sleep. When I came in to check on you, you were thrashing and getting louder. I closed the door so you didn’t wake Aria.”
“Oh.” I glance down at my hands and loosen my grip on the covers, feeling silly for suspecting him.
“Are you okay?”
I gather my hair in my hand and bring it over my shoulder to get it off my neck, suddenly feeling warm.
“Yes,” I answer.
I tense when he moves closer and sits on the side of the bed by my hip. He reaches out and fingers the end of my hair. When his knuckles barely graze my nipple, I don’t know if it’s on purpose or accident. Either way, I don’t like it, so I readjust the covers in my lap, making sure my arm pushes against his wrist so it moves away. His jaw tightens, but thankfully he drops his hand to his lap.
“What were you dreaming about?”
I snap my mouth closed, not wanting to rehash my dream. It’s already bad enough to have them; once I wake up, all I want to do is forget about them.
Theo sits patiently waiting for me to answer.
“I don’t remember.”
He looks at me doubtfully, and I squirm under his scrutiny. I wish he’d just leave so I can be alone again. I don’t see myself falling back asleep, but I’d rather be alone than have him in here with me. He still makes me feel uncomfortable.
“Maybe it was a memory?” he suggests, obviously not ready to let it go.