Page 137 of Timid (Lark Cove 2)

“Yes, you should have.” She gave me a sad smile. “But I understand why you didn’t.”

“Are you mad?”

“At your mom for putting you in this position? Yes. At you? No.”

I squeezed her hand tighter. “Do you believe me?”

“I believe you.” She slipped her hand free of mine to cup my cheek. Then she leaned up, kissed me gently and wrapped her arms around my neck. “It’ll be okay.”

I pulled her into my lap and held on tight. I really fucking hoped she was right, because as tough as I tried to be, going to prison and leaving her would break me apart.

“Willa,” Jackson said quietly.

I turned around from my spot in front of the stove, spatula still in hand. I was in the middle of making pancakes for breakfast. I smiled at him, but it dropped as I took in his face. “What?”

He held up his phone. “Magee called. He wants me to come down to the station. First thing.”

“Did he say anything?”

Jackson shook his head and crossed the room. He came right into my space and wrapped his arms around me.

I didn’t hesitate to hug him back, even with the spatula still in my grip. I pressed my cheek against his heart and slipped my free hand around his waist. “It’ll be okay.”

He nodded, holding me so tight I couldn’t move. “It’ll be okay.”

Over the last week, the two of us had said those words at least twenty times a day.

It had been the longest seven days of my life. Every day, we waited anxiously for a phone call from Sheriff Magee. Most days, they didn’t come. Usually by midafternoon, Jackson would be so tense that he’d drag me down to the sheriff’s station to check in with Magee personally—which meant I’d been to the sheriff’s station seven days in a row.

The entire week, Jackson and I had been glued at the hip. We hadn’t left the other’s sight, not once. When he went to work, I went too. When I had to run errands or go to the camp, he came along. And both of us had spent as much time with Ryder as possible.

I’d expected Jackson to push me away some because of the stress. I was braced and ready for him to be distant like he had before Thanksgiving. But instead, he’d just pulled me in even closer. He confided in me. He leaned on me. When he was worried, we talked it out.

And though the last seven days had been pure agony, there was beauty in them too.

We’d finally gotten to an us. A real and lasting and true us.

“When do we need to be at the station?”

“Magee said as soon as possible.”

I nodded, taking one last inhale of his shirt before letting him go. “Let me get breakfast done and I’ll hop in the shower.”

“Okay, babe. I’ll wake up Ryder.”

“I’m up.”

I looked past Jackson as Ryder shuffled into the kitchen. He dropped his backpack by the kitchen table, then sat down. He’d already showered and gotten dressed for school, but he looked exhausted.

Ever since we’d told him about Melissa’s death, Ryder hadn’t been sleeping or eating much. One night I’d woken up with too much on my mind and had come to the kitchen for some tea. Ryder had been on the couch, watching TV on mute. He picked at his breakfast, and not even my wheat chili could entice him for seconds.

I’d n

ever forget Ryder’s pained cry when Jackson had told him about their mom’s death. After we’d met with the attorney, Jackson and I had come back here to talk with Ryder. We’d sat him down on the couch, one of us on each side, and Jackson had delivered the news.

Ryder had broken down and cried for almost an hour into Jackson’s chest until he’d finally passed out and Jackson had carried him to bed.

Even though Melissa had disappointed him and left him behind, she was his mom. I think Ryder had always held on to a little slice of hope that eventually she’d come back for him.