Page 149 of The Route to You

So free.

On the cusp of finally breaking out of the mess that had dragged her down so long ago. Then, right on cue, life had decided to rip her back into the tidal wave, with a new, horrible iteration of the devastation she’d already gone through before.

He’d tried to be there for her in any way he could, offering consolation from afar and giving her the distance she seemed to want by not letting him come with her.

What scared him, though, was that he’d been through this too. With her. And the last time she’d fallen apart because of something like this, she’d run.

Even though Evan had deserved it, she’d run from him, too. Hadn’t wanted to even talk to him.

Sloan liked to run when she was scared and hurt.

So, would she run from him—again—this time?

He pushed the thought away before it sank too deeply. He couldn’t unpack it. Didn’t want to.

“Looks like you have company,” Jeremy said, nudging him in the ribs.

The house was in view now, a familiar car in the driveway, but not the one he wanted to see. Elle’s minivan.

Elle was on the front steps, sitting. She straightened as she saw Kyle, her face perking up.

“You gonna come in?” Kyle asked him as they slowed.

“Nah, I’ll head on out. I need a shower.” Jeremy waved at Elle as he jogged to his car, parked on the street. “Hey, Elle! Congrats!”

Kyle turned toward her as Jeremy left. Things with Elle hadn’t been smooth lately, and he hated that. She’d called him to apologize a few days after they’d gone out with Jeremy and Anna, and that had helped.

But he still couldn’t get her words about Sloan out of his mind.

And it was startling to see her here, considering she was only two weeks postpartum.

“Hey,” he said, walking the last few feet toward her. “No baby?”

“Hey.” She didn’t look happy. “Yeah, no. I left him with Quinn and Liddy. I can’t stay long.”

Ah, shit. Am I in trouble?

He unlocked the door. “Want to come in?”

“Sure.” She leaned back on her hands, tilting her face into the sun. “Though it’s been nice in the quiet. Sometimes I just want to stand in the sun without someone calling my name, you know?”

“Can’t say I can relate to that,” he said, holding the door open for her as a cool wave of air-conditioning greeted him. She slipped past, and he grabbed a resistance band hanging off the knob of the coat closet as he went inside.

Slinging it over his shoulder, he walked up the steps as Sadie and Charlie started barking. He let them out of their crates, opened the door to the backyard for them, then grabbed a glass of water.

As he walked back toward Elle, he found her standing in the living room, gazing at the mismatched furniture and the half-painted walls. She frowned. “Is that your couch?”

He nodded, half tempted to goad the judgment he was certain he saw on her face. Temptation won. “You want some water? I’d offer something else, but Sloan’s the one who does most of the cooking and shopping, and I ran out of groceries a few days ago.”

Elle’s lips thinned to a line, and she glanced away, the struggle to bite her tongue clear on her face. “When does Sloan come back?”

“Not sure.” Kyle sat on the couch, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. Charlie wiggled in through the dog door then came inside, panting, and sat at Kyle’s feet. Kyle chugged his water. “Some time in the next few days probably.”

Her eyes shifted toward the loveseat. “Can I sit?”

“Sure.” He gave her a curious look, an edge of irritation building at the awkward way Elle was acting. “To what do I owe the visit?”

Elle cocked her head slightly. “Do you remember what yesterday was?”