Chapter 105

The bright light coming through my window makes me open my eyes. Instead of getting up immediately, I just stay in bed for a while as I rub my belly and feel my baby move inside me.

I look at the calendar on my bedside table and realize that today I just hit the sixth–month milestone. It’s scary to have a baby. The whole journey is filled with uncertainty. I always make sure to thank God each time I pass a milestone with my baby, knowing not all babies get to be born.

After saying a small thank–you prayer, I get up and move downstairs. I could always shower later, but right now I am hungry. With everything that happened yesterday, I forgot to eat.

Thinking about yesterday brings me to what happened with Rowan. I still can’t believe that I let him k*ss me or that I actually enjoyed it.

It bugs me so much that I wanted more. I wanted him to deepen the k*ss. I wanted him to take it further. I can blame it on the hormones, but we all know that I’d be lying to myself.

Rowan hurt me so much. The fact that I wanted him yesterday makes me hate myself just a little bit. I promised myself to move on, yet there I was making out with him in my living room.

I want to believe that Rowan has changed, but I just can’t. Even if, by some miracle, he has, don’t you think it’s a little too late for us? Too much has already happened for us to make something out of the mess he created.

Taking out the ingredients for breakfast, I get to work. No matter what I try, I still can’t stop thinking about the k*ss. For heaven’s sake, why the hell did this k*ss affect me so much? I just don’t F***ing get it, honestly.

I groan in frustration, wishing I could erase the feel of his l*ps on mine.

“What’s got you so frustrated?” Calvin’s voice startles me so much that I let go of the eggs I was holding.

“Jeez, Cal, you scared the living day lights out of me,” I say with my hand pressing hard on my beating heart.

“Sorry,” he grins. “I thought you heard us, given Gunner and Noah didn’t really get inside quietly.”

I turn to said boys to find them munching on the cookies that I had baked yesterday.

“It’s okay, I was just a little bit lost in thought.

The grin sl*ps from his face. “Are you still thinking about what happened yesterday with Emma?”

I just nod my head. It was a lie, but he didn’t need to know that I was thinking about a totally different thing.

“What are you making for breakfast, mom?” Noah asks

“A fry up” I respond.

“Yes!” Gunner pumps his fist up in the air. “I love fry–ups; it’s like having all your favorite breakfast food at once.”

I smile at him. So happy that he is happy. I’m hoping that one day Emma will see the error of her ways and mend her fences with Gunner before it’s too late.

“Are you almost done?” Noah asks. “I’m so hungry.”

“Not yet. Just a few more minutes, and I’ll be done. Why don’t you go wait in the living room while I finish up?”

“Okay,” they say at the same time, before rushing to the other room.

Cal takes the cleaning tools from me and proceeds to clean up the mess I’d made. “Sorry I brought

them here for breakfast when we should have given you more time to yourself. It’s just that they insisted that they wanted your breakfast.”

I laugh at that. It’s not that Calvin was a bad cook. He just didn’t make it like I did. Their word, not mine.

“It’s okay. I would have finished cooking and brought some over anyway, so it’s not a big deal,” I tell him as I get back to frying the eggs.

“How are you holding up, all things considered?” I ask him

“Good.” He pauses. “I feel relieved that now everyone knows about Gunner. He’s an amazing kid, and he shouldn’t be hidden away like a dirty secret. After my grandfather died, I had no one until

Gunner was born. I didn’t mind it being just the two of us, but I knew it was unfair to him given that his mother had a family. Gunner deserves to know his uncle and grandmother.”

In my eyes, Travis and Kate weren’t people worth knowing, but they’d treated Noah well, so I guess it was safe for Gunner to be around them.

Shit. I should really let go of my resentment towards them. They were no longer part of my life, so it didn’t matter what they did to me before.

“You’re right. Emma didn’t have any right to keep him from her side of the family”

He goes to add something, but the doorbell rings. As I hear Noah’s steps running towards the foyer, I hope that it isn’t Rowan at the door. I didn’t want another brawl between him and Cal this early in the morning.

I excuse myself and leave the kitchen.

“Who is it?” I ask my son.

He shrugs his shoulders. “There was no one outside. Just this note.”

He hands me the note that had my name written on the front. I feel a chill run down my back when I look at it.

“Alright, you head inside. I’ll be there in a second,” I tell him.

He nods his head and gets back in the house. Still feeling out of sorts, like I was surrounded by an air bubble of danger, I unfold the note.

YOU WILL PAY FOR EVERYTHING.

What the hell? My heart starts pounding as I grip the note tightly. I scan the street, but I don’t see anyone or anything suspicious.

Folding the note, I tuck it into my pajama pocket. I enter my house and close the door behind me before heading to kitchen.

“What is it?” Cal inquires while looking concerned. “You look spooked.”

“Nothing. There was just no one at the door.” I shrug and try to play it cool while my heart was beating hard against my chest.

“Maybe it’s a kid playing a prank.”

“You’re probably right,” I mutter.

I finish preparing breakfast, and we eat to our hearts desire. Gunner and Noah share funny stories from school, while Cal shares his from work. Even as I smile and laugh, I can’t help but think about the note.

Romething tells me that there is something more to it. I trust my instinets and it’s telling me that Borneone is after me

My life casce again seems to be in danger