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She’d figure out the rest when the time came, Chloe thought, slowly exhaling as she slid off the bench and began pacing the shed as she did her best not to think about all the things that could go wrong with this plan. She just needed this plan to work, which meant that she was going to have to make sure that Cole didn’t find out what happened. She-
“Here,” came the murmured words as something metal was pressed into her hand.
“What’s this?” Chloe asked, frowning as she looked down at the key in her hand.
“It’s all set,” Cole said, stepping past her and released the hood.
“Thank you,” Chloe mumbled softly, unable to help but smile as she looked up from the key and found herself throwing her arms around him and hugging him before she realized what she was doing.
“You’re welcome,” Cole said, wrapping his arms around her and-
Made her feel safe for the first time in months.
Slowly exhaling, Chloe closed her eyes even as she told herself that this was a mistake, that she needed to let go before she did something stupid like tell him everything. She-
“Goodnight, Chloe,” Cole said softly as he pulled away from her as she told herself that this was for the best.
“Goodnight, Cole,” Chloe said, forcing the words out of her mouth as she watched him head back out the doors and-
“What the hell is wrong with me?” Chloe muttered, shaking her head in disgust as she glanced back at the Jeep and swallowed hard.
She needed to stay focused.
With that in mind, she gave the key in her hand a gentle squeeze before she grabbed her bag and headed for the door, turning off the lights before she closed the doors behind her and headed back to the house as she ran the next part of her plan through her head. She needed to get her permit, which she could take online and with the extra papers that she’d sold, she could afford driving lessons now.
She didn’t have anyone to take her driving to practice, but if she sold a few extra papers a month, she should be able to afford extra lessons. This could work, Chloe told herself with a firm nod as she made her way to the front porch, pausing by the door to make sure that Cole wasn’t around before she switched the key in her hand for the one in her pocket and let herself inside.
As soon as she closed the door behind her, Chloe locked it and placed the house keys back on the hook by the door and moved to place the key for the Jeep there, only to rethink that decision and placed it above the fridge and out of Katie’s reach. Once she was sure that her little sister wouldn’t be able to find it, Chloe made her way upstairs and checked on Katie before heading to her room and-
-forgot how to breathe when she spotted Cole sitting on her bed.
“Start talking.”
CHAPTER32
March
Releasing a shaky breath, Mikey took in the large canisters of flour and sugar before moving on to the stack of egg cartons, the gallon jug of vanilla extract, the bags of powdered sugar, cocoa, and-
“Let’s do this,” Mikey said with a firm nod as she reached for her apron, only to rethink that decision when she remembered the unfortunate incident that occurred last week when she was taking brownies out of the oven and reached for Sebastian’s apron instead.
“What exactly are we doing?” her mother asked, looking confused as she followed Mikey’s gaze to the ingredients that she’d set up on the kitchen island before that look of confusion turned into terror when Mikey said, “Helping you.”
“Sebastian!” her mother rushed out almost desperately.
“Is probably busy,” Mikey said, keeping her gaze locked on the mission ahead as she tied the apron around her waist, determined to do whatever it took to make this happen.
“Wouldn’t you rather sleep in late?” her mother suggested with a hopeful smile.
“Sleep is for the weak,” Mikey said as she reached for a mixing spoon and-
“Wouldn’t you rather spend the day with your father instead?” came the panicked question as Reese walked into the kitchen carrying his toolbelt.
“I’m listening,” Mikey said as her hand stilled over the mixing spoon.
“He’s helping Aunt Kenzie renovate a house and they’re going to need a supervisor,” her mother said, only to follow that up by mouthing, “I’m sorry,” when Reese shot her a panicked look that Mikey chose to ignore at the moment.
“What would this job entail?” Mikey murmured as she considered her options.
