MILES FOLLOWED LETTY’S silhouette down the dark hallway and watched as she opened the second door on the left. Still cradling G in his arms, Miles trailed her path into a cozy nursery. Letty quietly turned on a table lamp that was situated near G’s crib with a gentle flick of a knob. The light that emitted from the lamp cast the room in a warm glow. The walls were painted in a rich coffee hue, and the room was decorated simply. A plush cream rug lay underfoot and on the far side of the wall stood a mahogany crib with cute teddy bear sheets. On the wall above the crib, a large decorative G was painted in bold lettering.
“Well, I know who sleeps here…” Miles said with a smile. Letty lowered the rail of the crib so Miles could lay G down.
Letty was worried the child would wake up upon impact with the mattress, but Miles had transferred G from his arms to the bed with gentle ease. Letty stared at Miles as he released G, biting down softly on her bottom lip. Her thoughts going haywire in the intensity of the moment, Letty wondered, What is it about a hot guy with a baby that made him even hotter? Oh, my God, I need to open a window. It’s getting stuffy in here.
As Letty began to fan herself with her hands, she caught the bewildered expression that was growing like wildfire across Miles’s face.
“What?” Letty said in defense. “It’s hot in here!” Letty said, playing off her embarrassment.
“Mmmmmhmmmm…..” Miles said with a laugh.
“C’mon,” Letty said, quickly changing the subject. “We’ve got letters to read.”
“Oh, frig… I barely remember what I wrote last week, let alone seventeen years ago,” Miles said, his brow furrowing, giving his face a serious look.
“Yeah, right…” Letty said, clearly not believing a word he said. “You’ve got the memory of an elephant.”
Picking up the metal box with one hand, Miles grabbed Letty’s hand with the other, letting her lead him to her bedroom.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
THE WHEELS IN LANDON’S head churned as he maneuvered through the streets of Carrion. It bothered him that Dustin had banished him from the house like that.
Obviously, something had just gone down, and Dust was just trying to protect me, but fuck… To be a fly on the wall for that conversation! Landon thought.
Landon pulled at the steering wheel as he turned the corner of Merion Avenue. The street lights flickered overhead and there was hardly anyone else on the road as Landon whipped the car smoothly through the streets of Carrion. Curling around the corner of Mulberry Terrace, Landon spotted a man in a tan jacket walking up the sidewalk with his hands tucked deep inside his pockets. Landon thought nothing of it until the man stopped, looked from side to side, and darted into the driveway of 201 Mulberry Terrace. Stalling in the middle of the street, Landon quietly pulled into an empty parking spot a few houses down. In the darkness, Landon cut the engine, lying in wait. Under the dim street lights, Landon could barely make out the man’s figure as he stared at something in the driveway. There was a parked car in the driveway. Landon couldn’t identify the make and model of the vehicle in the darkness, but it definitely had the man’s attention.
“Must be some car,” Landon said as he watched how the car seemed to mesmerize the man.
Starting up the car again, Landon watched as the man jumped. He was clearly startled by the sound of Landon’s revving engine. Landon allowed the engine to roar a few more times as he waited for the man’s reaction. A moment later, the man was gone, fleeing into the darkness, vanishing from Landon’s line of sight. Landon, peering at the number on the mailbox, had a confused look upon his face. 201 Mulberry Terrace. The address was so familiar to him. Pulling a folded up piece of paper from his coat pocket, Landon’s eyes read the almost indecipherable scrawl. Quickly, he realized whose house he was looking up at. The property belonged to Juan Alves, Letty’s father.
“Oh, shit…”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
LETTY SLID A SILVER KEY into the rusted lock of her father’s storage box. After a moment of coercion, Letty was able to twist the key, effectively unlocking the box with a clang.
“Moment of truth,” Miles said as he walked into Letty’s bedroom with a faint smile on his face. He stood there with a pair of cold Coronas, leaning against the doorframe casually.
Letty peered up at Miles from the edge of her bed with a look of unmuted expectation. Miles took a swig of his beer, sighing softly as the beverage slid down his throat. Patting the mattress three times, Letty cued for Miles to sit down.
“Come join me,” Letty said. “It’s high time we got caught up.”
A flash of trepidation crossed Miles’s face as he took a seat across from Letty on the bed. Passing Letty a beer, they clinked their bottles together and drank to each other; to their history, to their future, and whatever they would face together.
“Crack it open…” Miles insisted as Letty’s fingers lingered on the metal handle of the storage box.