Hallie stiffened. “Did I do something wrong? I can fix it. I—”
“You’re perfect.” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.
Hallie’s eyes went wide, and her lips parted as she sucked in a breath. I wanted to tease and taste those lips. Wanted to feel them wrapped around me—hell. I shut those images down.
“You’re doing an amazing job. Better than I thought possible. Even Luke seems…”
I wasn’t sure what the right word was. Gentler, maybe? Not as filled with rage?
Hallie’s entire demeanor softened. “Luke is an amazing kid. I think he just feels more than the average person. It makes everything hit him harder.”
My throat constricted. I’d known that about him. I’d felt it on the first day of kindergarten when he hadn’t wanted to let me go. Saw it as he wept uncontrollably when my parents lost their dog. But I’d somehow forgotten along the way.
“He is. A feeler, I mean. He always has been.”
Hallie twisted her fingers together. “He needs to learn to take care of himself. To not let others’ emotions overwhelm him. But he’ll get there.”
I loved how she saw my boy. Loved it so much that the knowledge hurt, causing my chest to crack the way ice did when it thawed. “He will.”
She worried her bottom lip. “You wanted to tell me something.”
Hell, she’d pulled me under again. I got lost in the Hallie spell. I cleared my throat. “Yeah, let’s sit. Do you want tea or anything?”
As if that would help what I needed to tell her.
Hallie shook her head. “I had some hot chocolate earlier.”
I nodded and headed for the sectional.
She sat an appropriate couple of feet from me. I wanted to close the distance, hating that it was there at all, but I stayed where I was.
“A body was found today.”
Hallie sucked in a sharp breath. “The missing woman?”
I nodded. “Someone killed her.”
Hallie’s face went blank. It was as if someone had erased all hint of emotion from her. “Someone killed her.”
She echoed the words robotically. Her gaze was locked on me, but I knew she didn’t see me. She was somewhere else entirely. Her hands trembled in her lap, the force of it making her entire body shake.
I hated everything about it. It was so completely wrong.
I moved instinctually, closing the distance and taking her hands in mine. “Come back, Hallie. Come back to me.”
I squeezed her fingers, trying to remind her that she wasn’t alone. That I was right here.
Hallie blinked, the movement jerky and rapid, but then her eyes seemed to focus. The gray had a bit more life. “Sorry—”
“Don’t apologize. That kind of news always hits hard.”
“How?” Hallie whispered.
I didn’t want to tell her any other details. Didn’t want to fill her mind with the trauma I’d seen today. “Are you sure you want me to keep going?”
“I need you to.”
I read between the lines. She didn’twantto hear, but she had to. I understood that. “She was stabbed and strangled.”
