Page 26 of Fractured Hearts

“A phone?” I practically squeal. “When the hell did you get this?”

“My dad sent it along with this,” Ezra says, handing me a sleek silver laptop. “That has a program on it that will have your IP address pinging all over the planet. It makes it impossible to narrow down a location. I figured you could still get some work done while we’re stuck here.”

I stare at him, wide-eyed and with my jaw hanging open. The man doesn’t exactly scream thoughtful and considerate. Although, that was exactly how Belle described him when we interviewed her for Ezra’s episode of our podcast. I was starting to think she was confused because that was not the cold and distant man I’ve been sharing a living space with.

“What?” he says, annoyed. “Is that the wrong brand?”

“No!” I shout, hugging the phone and laptop to my chest like he might take them away from me. “It was just unexpected. I was in a state of shock.”

“Right,” he says, rolling his eyes and turning on his heel toward the front door.

“Thank you!” I yell after him. He doesn’t even turn, just grunts and leaves. “What a charming and pleasant man.”

I spend the next thirty minutes setting up my emails and logging into all my accounts on my phone. The laptop can wait until I talk to Harlow. Her dad got in touch with her and let her know that everyone is safe, but that’s all the information he would give her. I have no idea where Maverick is right now, but at least I know he’s alive. The two days I spent worrying he was dead really put into perspective how much he’s suffered over Ezra.

The phone rings in my hand, and I’m so startled I scream. I didn’t think anyone had this number yet, but then I see Harlow’s name on the screen and know Ezra put her number in there for me.

“Hi Harry!” I say, excited to speak to my best friend whenever I want without having to ask Ezra to borrow his phone. Cora’s cute face smushes in next to Harlow’s before she can even get a word in.

“Auntie Jo Jo! Guess what? I pooped on the potty like a big kid so now Daddy has to buy me a puppy!” Cora’s voice increases in pitch the more excited she gets. I laugh when she pushes Harlow out of the frame completely and runs across the room to a guilty-looking Cal.

“Is that right? You get a puppy for pooping?” I ask, not even trying to keep the humor out of my voice.

“We were having trouble getting her not to hold it in!” Cal says. I can picture the look of exasperation on his face, even though I can currently only see Cora’s forehead and Cal’s chin. The girl needs to work on her camera skills.

“A puppy though?” I ask, laughing when he groans.

“I tried everything else first. Candy, money, toys. Hell, I even offered to buy her a lake house. The puppy was a last-ditch effort.”

Harlow snags the phone, and I get to see my exhausted but happy friend smiling at me. Pregnancy looks good on her.

“Babies and a puppy?” I ask, raising my brow. Harlow sighs.

“Cal is on his own with the puppy.”

“But Firecracker! A puppy is a family obligation!” Cal calls from somewhere in their house, causing Harlow to roll her eyes and move further away from him. I still have no idea where they are. They weren’t allowed to tell us because there always seemed to be a risk of someone overhearing us.

“Hey, can you tell me where you are now? Or is that still a secret?”

“Oh, we’re in this adorable little town in upstate New York. It’s very Hallmark movies. I actually think they may have filmed one or two here before. Where are you?”

“A cliffside beach house in Maine. It’s really pretty, but very boring. The closest town is twenty minutes from here and there are like four stores and a library. That’s about it.”

Harlow smiles knowingly. “You’re completely out of your element and hate it. You could try relaxing. Everyone is safe for the time being.”

“We both know I don’t know how to relax.”

Harlow looks around, probably checking for nosy ears. “You need to get laid.”

“I’m stuck in a secluded house with a gay man, Harlow,” I point out, not arguing with her. It’s been years. I couldn’t get my mind off Maverick enough to look for someone to scratch that itch with. I probably still couldn’t even though his boyfriend is back. He broke me, and he doesn’t even know it. This is what I get for not being attracted to women. My life would be much easier if I wasn’t exclusively and tragically only attracted to men.

“Eh, I’m sure there are some cute guys wandering around that town who would grovel on their knees for a chance to get in your panties,” Harlow says with a snort. She hates the word panties, but uses it to be funny anyway. It only makes her laugh, but I always let her have it.

“Yeah, I’m sure they’d love to do that while I have a massive mountain man trailing me everywhere while glaring at me for it because he promised his boyfriend he would watch over me.” My statement sobers Harlow up quickly.

“You may have a point there.”

“Mommy! Daddy found a puppy! He said we can go meet him if you say we can go meet him. Can we go meet him? Mommy? Mommy!” Cora yells.