Page 4 of Kylie

Thankfully, Travis’s cousin Brantley had stepped in, finding Kate and bringing her back to us. She’d been unharmed physically, but she was still going to therapy to work through the trauma she’d endured. My girl was strong, though.

I thought things were getting back to normal, but in recent weeks, Travis had started his whole helicopter routine, hovering around us, keeping tabs, watching our every move. At first, I thought he was just working through his own trauma, wanting to assure himself that we were okay. Now I knew he was actually worried the threat was still out there.

As for me, I was ready to move on with my life. I wasn’t losing another second to Juliet Prince.

I got out of the truck, and while Gage retrieved the wagon from the bed, I started unbuckling Maddox and Haden. They weren’t nearly as excited as Kate, Kade, and Avery, but I figured that was because they didn’t really understand what was going on. A day out was a day out to them.

“Might wanna leave some room for Avery,” Gage suggested, his gaze darting over to where Travis was helping her out of the SUV. A second later, he tacked on, “Never mind. I think she’s gonna walk.”

I smiled. That was Avery. She was exerting more of her independence these days.

While I situated Maddox and Haden, Travis and Gage grabbed backpacks and bungeed what they could to the wagon; the others they hitched onto their shoulders. And though he didn’t say anything about the extra bags, I saw the side eye he shot my way. It made me smile.

“Hope y’all are ready for this,” Curtis told the kids, taking Kate’s hand and then Kade’s while Avery latched on to mine.

“We are!” Kade confirmed in his little-boy shout.

“Good.”

“You wanna know a secret?” I asked, falling into step with them.

Travis put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me against him. “What’s that, darlin’?”

“I was hopin’ to get a little quiet time today,” I told him, peering up into his face.

“Quiet time?” Gage snorted a laugh. “Where do you hope to find this at?”

Well… “I told Jess we’d sneak away to do a little shopping, maybe splurge on some coffee and a funnel cake.”

I could sense Travis’s unease instantly. He didn’t like the idea of me going off by myself. He preferred to have us close so he could keep an eye on us. I understood that to a degree, but I was tired of looking over my shoulder, waiting for Juliet Prince to pop out of the shadows and throw my world into chaos. I wanted to believe that she had moved on. After all, that was what we were doing.

“Well, if it helps, we’ve got the kids today,” Gage said. “Your only job is to enjoy yourself.”

I caught the glare Travis shot at Gage, and like Gage, I ignored it.

“Yeah,” Travis agreed, reluctantly. “We’ve got this. You have fun.”

I flashed a grin, one that I hoped relayed my relief and my gratitude. While I loved being a wife and a mother, I needed time to myself in order to recharge. And today was the perfect opportunity for me to do that. With Travis, Gage, and Curtis keeping an eye on our brood, what could possibly go wrong?

A couple of hours later, as I was sitting at a table with my sister, savoring a latte, my cell phone rang.

“Don’t get it,” Jessie said, shaking her head as she sipped her coffee.

I picked up my phone, glanced at the screen. It was Travis.

“He’s gonna make you go home,” she teased in a mock whiny voice.

Yes, he probably was, but that was the price of having a family. To be fair, I’d already spent more time away from them than I thought he would be comfortable with, so I figured answering the call was the least I could do. I tapped the phone and put it to my ear.

Before I could say anything, Travis barked, “Where are you?”

I knew it was pointless to give my husband grief about his less-than-polite greeting. Based on his tone, chastising him would only piss him off.

Keeping as much snark from my tone as possible, I said, “I’m at Batter and Bliss. Why?”

“You need—” Travis cut himself off, lowered his voice. “I think it’d be best if you came back to the park.”

“I’ll be back that way in half an hour. I promise. Unless somethin’s wrong,” I told him, glancing at my sister. The last thing I wanted was to cut this short because Travis was on edge. I’d placated him enough these past few months.