“No,” she answered quickly. Too quickly, it seemed.
“Okay, I don’t believe you.”
“Why not?”
“For one thing, you’re at my house instead of yours. What happened?” Katie’s voice dropped into a serious tone that brooked no argument. “Did Griffin do something? Do I have to kill him?”
So much for secrets. Nicole glanced out the window at Connor, digging happily in the flowerbeds. No matter what else happened in her life, Nicole thought, she had her son. That would get her through anything.
“No,” she said finally, “you don’t have to kill Griffin.”
“Oh, God,” Katie groaned. “You slept with him, didn’t you?”
Shaking her head, Nicole took the phone from her ear and stared at it in wonder. It was like her friend had X-ray vision or something. “How can you tell that through the phone?”
“Easy. I know the King men.” Clearly disgusted, Katie muttered, “I told him to stay away from you. Heck, I told all of them to stay away from you.”
“Yeah, so Griffin told me. Thanks for that, by the way. What am I, twelve?”
“No,” Katie said quickly, “but you’re vulnerable and they’re all so…”
“Oh, they really are.”
“Damn it.”
“It’s not his fault anyway, Katie. Griffin was staying away,” Nicole told her with a sigh. “I went after him.”
“Oh.” Katie was quiet for a minute. Then, “I don’t know what to say, I guess. But, Nicole…”
“Look, something happened at my house and I couldn’t stay there and—”
“What happened?”
“Griffin accidentally started a fire in my kitchen and I didn’t have a place to stay, so Griffin offered to let us move in here while Lucas and his crew fixed my kitchen and…” She was talking too fast and couldn’t seem to stop herself.
“A fire?”
“A small one.”
“Oh,” she said with a laugh, “well, then.”
Nicole blew out a breath. “The point is, my house is almost fixed and I’ll be moving home soon…” Did she sound as depressed about that as she felt?
“And what about you and Griffin?” Katie asked. “You’re telling me you can just walk away without a second thought?”
“I am,” she said, and wished she meant it.
“Sweetie, that’s just not who you are. But sorry to say, it is who Griffin is. Nicole, you have to know what he’s like. He’s commitment-phobic. Seriously. I mean, Rafe was a challenge, but Griffin is impossible. Being single is like a religion to him.”
“Yeah, I know,” Nicole told her, leaning on the kitchen counter. With her free hand, she brushed at a few toast crumbs she had missed after Connor’s lunch. “Katie, I’m not looking for a husband, remember? And if I was, I wouldn’t be looking at Griffin.”
My God, could your tongue actually fall off from an overload of lies?
“Oh, honey,” Katie said on a half groan. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
Irritation spiked. “How did you get that out of what I said?”
“I notice you’re not denying it.”
She should. She really should. Otherwise, here came the sympathy train, which she wanted to avoid. But Katie was her best friend, and Nicole couldn’t lie to her over the long haul. And let’s face it, once Katie got home and found Nicole miserable, she’d know the truth anyway, so what was the point? “Okay, I might be. Maybe. Probably.”
“Nicole…”
“Fine. Yes. I am,” she said, grinding out each word. “What’re you, a master interrogator?”
Katie laughed a little. “I don’t even know what to say to you.”
“No sympathy, okay?” Nicole interrupted before her friend could get going. “I don’t need you to feel sorry for me, really. I’m a big girl. I knew what I was doing, and I’ll be fine. Honestly.” She lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. “I was doing great on my own before and I will again.”
“Of course you will.”
“Thank you,” she said, glad to have her friend’s support.
“But I’m still going to have Rafe beat him up.”
Nicole laughed and shook her head as if Katie could see her. “No, you’re not. You’re not going to tell Rafe. You’re going to pretend you don’t know any of this.”
“Uh-huh. Why would I do that?”
“Because I’m asking you to,” Nicole told her.
“I don’t know, Nicole. I feel like I should tell Rafe what happened.”
She didn’t want one more person to know if she could help it. “Just let it go, okay, Katie? This is between me and Griffin, and it’s almost over, anyway.”
“Damn it,” Katie muttered, “Griffin’s never getting another cookie from me as long as he lives.”
Outside, Connor stood up and headed for the gate between the yards. Nicole leaned toward the window and tilted her head so she could make sure that the, gate was closed. It wasn’t. Griffin must have left it open when he went next door.
Connor was going to run right into a construction area.
“I gotta go, Katie. Connor’s running off to our house, and the guys are working there.”
“Go, go! I’ll see you in a few days!”
Nicole hung up and sprinted for the doorway. She was across the yard and through the gate a couple seconds later. Connor was just toddling toward the house and the sound of the construction crew when Nicole came up behind him and swept him off his feet.
He giggled and shrieked when she lifted him into the air before plopping him onto her hip. Here was her world. Safe and secure and held close to her heart. Whatever else happened, she and Connor would get through it all. Together.
“Escape artist, huh?” She grinned and tickled him until he squirmed in delight. “No visiting our house without me!”
Laughing and pointing, Connor looked at the house and said, “Home!”
She followed his gaze. Home. Where they belonged. The two of them. The way it was supposed to be. Maybe it was time to start moving toward the future. Start letting go of the fantasy and take the first step back to normalcy. Nicole started for the house before she could think about it. It was past time to see what was going on in there. Past time to remember who she was and where she really belonged.