“Not anymore you don’t, and the grill’s mine.”
“I picked it out.”
He looks at her as if her announcement is the most ridiculous thing he’s heard. But he doesn’t hide the hurt that deepens the grooves around his mouth.
She rests a hand on his chest to guide him out the door. It takes effort not to curl her fingers into his shirt. His body is warm under his biker jacket and she wants to lean into him, tell him everything that’s happened since she broke up with him. She wants to express what she’s been thinking about them. She owes him an apology, but not with an audience. If she didn’t think Ethan could help in her search for Lily, she’d ask him to leave now. But if Blaze doesn’t go, Ethan might clam up, and she’ll get nothing from him.
Searching his face, her eyes asking for his patience, she lowers her voice. “Can we talk tomorrow?”
“Wait a sec.” Ethan clues in. “You’re dating Theo?”
“Yes.” She closes her eyes. “No,” she says softly. Not as of several nights ago.
Blaze is grinning down at her when she opens them, as if he can tell she’s fighting her feelings for him. He knows she’s realizing that she made a mistake.
Josh, lurking off to the side, coughs into his hand. “Awkward.”
He couldn’t be more accurate.
Blaze gives Josh the once-over. He smiles. “Hey, I’m Blaze. You are?”
Her nephew surprisingly stands taller when she’d expect him to recoil from such a direct question. “Josh.”
“This your kid, Miller?”
“No, he’s Lily’s son,” Olivia answers for Ethan. As far as she knows, Blaze isn’t aware she thought Lily’s son was Ethan’s. They weren’t in touch when she was in college and Blaze was in the army. And over the last year they never got around to why she and Ethan broke up. Blaze didn’t ask and she didn’t volunteer. It was a period of their lives they glossed over like a countertop sealant. Between Blaze’s parents divorcing, his mom’s lymphoma, and Olivia’s family drama, they didn’t let those years bleed into their relationship.
“Not . . . Lily,” Josh says.
“He’s not her son?” Blaze looks to her for clarification.
“We think Lily changed her name,” she says.
His brows shoot up. “To what?”
Josh opens his mouth. “Peanut.” He then swears. His neck and cheeks flame. He starts to back out of the room.
“Josh, stay. It’s okay.”
Blaze covers his mouth with the back of his wrist and studies Josh, mildly shocked. “She here?” He looks at Olivia, searching. Questions are clouds crossing his face, different shapes and sizes. She senses he wants to ask why, but more than that, he wants to know how she’s faring. He knew Lily, and while they weren’t together when Lily ran, Blaze would know Josh being here, standing with them in her entryway, is a big deal.
“No. Josh is staying with me for a bit.” She has so much to tell Blaze, she’s practically bursting to share.
Screw it. Ethan can wait.
“We’ll be back in a few.” She grabs Blaze’s elbow to draw him out front but his boots remain firmly planted. He sets down the Fireball on the table by the door and gives Josh his hand.
“Nice to meet you. How’s your mom?”
“Umm . . .” Josh gnaws his lower lip.
“Is she okay?” Blaze asks when Josh struggles to answer. He pivots to Olivia. “Where is she?”
“We don’t know.” His eyebrows rise and she picks up the Fireball. “I’ll explain everything. Just come with me.”
“You have my PUMAs.”
Those darn shoes. Dropped and forgotten when he elbowed her aside to get his McIntosh turntable. She tossed them in her closet when she cleaned up after Josh had gone to bed his first night here.
“They’re in my room. I’ll get them,” she says, but Blaze is already on the move. He strides through the entryway, his gaze locked on Josh. He checks him out from ball cap to black Vans, lingering on Josh’s face until he’s forced to look away or else he’ll walk into the wall.
Josh unconsciously touches his cap as if Blaze can see through it to his scar.
“Go help Ethan with dinner,” Olivia says in a gentle voice. “I won’t be long.”
Fireball in hand, Olivia follows Blaze into her room.
“What were you thinking?” she asks of the liquor. “You’d get me drunk and into bed?” She should be mad at him for asserting his way into her home, and her life. But she’s grateful he’s here, even if for a short bit.
“I don’t need to get you drunk for that.” He looks out the window that has the perfect view to her outdoor kitchen. The backyard is lit up. She can see Ethan and Josh trying to master the grill Blaze personally installed. She expects to see the cocky smirk that always riles her, but when he turns around, the look on his face is anything but that. He appears troubled.
“What is it?” she asks, the skin along her hairline tingling.
He meets her in the middle of the room. “I’m worried about you.”
“Because of Lily?”
“Her and because I care about you. Your call this afternoon. It scared me.”
“I’m okay.”
His brows drew closer. “You sure?” She nods, tight lipped. “Tell me about Lily. What’s going on?”
“She’s missing.”
“Hasn’t she always been?”
“Yes, but it’s different this time. Josh showed up here on his own. He says she’s gone, but I think that’s the word he’s using for missing. I’m starting to think she didn’t run away this time. Josh is injured. He hit his head a while back. That’s why his speech is confusing. I’m worried there’s a connection between his injury and Lily’s disappearance. Because of his impediment, Josh has trouble explaining what happened. He gets worked up and starts talking gibberish. For all I know, Lily could be dead,” she explains. Tears threaten to spill as an invisible load lifts off her shoulders. Her chin trembles.
“Hey there, what’s wrong?” He tucks his finger under her chin.
She steps out of reach, undeserving of his tenderness, ashamed she behaved so irrationally. He’d betrayed her long before, and her reaction was instinctual. But now she wonders if the one man she’s trusted most and looked up to her entire life has been the one lying to her all along—her father. Her world crumbles further, as if she has more bricks to spare. You think you know someone until you learn something new and realize you didn’t know them at all. There are new pieces to their puzzle and the finished image isn’t anything like the original on the box lid.
“Dwight’s in San Diego.”
“What does your dad have to do with this?”
“Josh was born in San Diego. I think that’s where he lives now, or somewhere nearby.” She tells him about Josh’s arrival, the police station, the visit from Charlotte, and Josh’s reaction to Dwight’s photo this afternoon. He carefully listens to every word, his features softening. He’d pull her into his arms if he weren’t holding his helmet or was afraid how she’d react. She can tell he’s not taking any chances that would push her further away.