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My G-Wagon sits outside, not a mark on it. Not that I’d be mad. After all, she doesn’t drive much, so accidents can happen.
“Thanks.” I open the door.
“Tomorrow night,” she calls. “Invite her and her grandma for dinner, okay?”
“I will.”
She leans over. “Marco.”
“Yeah?” I turn back to her.
“I like her, okay? I want you to be happy. I just think maybe she needs to know more about us before she can make any decisions.”
“I get it, sis.” I sigh and give her a small wave. “Don’t worry.”
She leans back. “I always worry.”
I close the door and turn to head up the stairs as Sophia retreats down the driveway. A curtain twitches in a window along the side of the Bradford house. Trent. Has to be.
I knock on the apartment door, and it only takes a few moments for Evangeline to open it. “Are you okay?” I cup her cheek.
“Me? You’re the one who got arrested.” She takes my hand and pulls me into the apartment, then closes the door behind me. “What happened? Are you okay? Is this going to go on your record? Did you get hurt? I wanted to come and--”
“Shhh.” I smooth my fingers across her worried brow. “Everything’s okay, babydoll. No record, no problems. Nick took a while to come get me because he was out on business, but the moment Sheriff Hale saw him, I sprung out of that place like a rabbit.”
“Thank God.” She leans forward and presses her forehead against my chest. “I was so worried.”
I wrap my arms around her. “Don’t worry about me. That deputy was new. If he’d known who I was, Trent would be the one sitting in a cell right now.”
“He’s home.” She glances toward the house, even though there’s not a window in her small living room. “I saw him park his Range Rover and go inside. He wasn’t at school today, but he’s over there now. And his mom …” She lifts a hand to the back of her head, then drops it.
“What about his mom?” I tilt her chin up.
She avoids my gaze. “Nothing.”
“Evangeline, you can tell me.”
She shakes her head. “Nothing.”
She’s hiding something from me. I could push it, but she seems fragile already. I let it go. For now. I sigh and peer down the short hallway toward the back of the apartment. “Which room is yours?”
“You want to see my room?” Her eyebrows draw together.
“Yeah.” I brush my lips across her forehead.
“Um, okay.” She leads me down the hall to the first room on the right.
I go to the window and look out. Sure enough, that same window where I saw the curtain move is directly across from her bedroom window. Reaching up, I draw her pink curtains shut.
“Why? I like the sun that comes in.” She joins me.
“Trent has been peeping on you. Best if you keep your curtains drawn from now on.”
She blanches. “Peeping?”
“Don’t worry. He can’t now that you know to keep the curtains closed.” I turn and get a view of her decorating style. She has a twin bed made neatly with a white blanket, pillows with kittens on them, a stack of books beside a small desk, and various reprints of great artworks on her wall.
“Sorry.” She twines her fingers together. “I didn’t know you’d be coming in here, so I didn’t--” She reaches out and swipes a bra that was hanging on the back of her desk chair. “Didn’t clean.”
