I looked over at him and he was squinting at the screen. “Do you really think that’s her? Why would she dress up as you?”
“Because she’s a crazy person.”
He switched to a different still, but it was equally blurry. “But why would she come here after all these years?”
“I don’t know.” It had been twelve years since I’d died. Twelve years and no word about anything from the life I left behind. Nothing from Isabella. Nothing from my dad. “What if my dad found us? And Isabella somehow figured it out? Saw something she wasn’t supposed to see?”
“We’ve been careful. This is pretty much the only place we come.”
“And she showed up here. The one place we’ve slipped.” I stared at the picture again. It had been a long time since I’d seenIsabella. Would I even recognize her now? Even if the picture wasn’t blurry?
“You heard what Alice said, though. That she realized it wasn’t you. She was just slammed. She didn’t even get a good look at her.” He pulled out his phone. “And if she knew where we lived and had gone to the house, I’d have an alert by now.”
I took a deep breath. “You really think it was a false alarm?”
“I hope so.”
Me too. Now that I’d had a few minutes to calm down, Miller’s words made sense. I didn’t want to move again. I didn’t want to start over. I put my hand on my stomach. This was where I pictured raising our kid. I wanted to give our baby the life we’d lived here. Long summer nights and lazy winter days. I wanted all of it.
“Stay here today. We’ll go home together after my shift ends. You can sit in a booth and…”
“Can I help you cook?” The last thing I wanted to do was sit around being nervous.
He smiled. “Of course.” He pulled me into his chest. “It’s going to be okay.”
It was easy to believe him when his arms were around me.
***
Miller had checked every inch of our home. We’d taken a walk around the lake, searching the perimeter of the woods for anything amiss. And then he’d checked the house for a second time. There was…nothing.
He handed me a cup of hot chocolate and joined me on the couch, lifting up the blanket to drape it over both of our laps.
I blew on the top of the mug. I’d had all day to calm down. All day to think about the blurry face in the surveillance footage. There was no reason why Isabella would suddenly think I was alive. And no reason why she’d dress like me. Or dye her hair to be blonde like mine. None of it made any sense. Isabella thought I was dead. She was out there somewhere living her life. I wasn’t on her mind anymore. Surely I didn’t haunt her dreams the way she’d haunted mine.
I took a sip of the hot chocolate, letting it warm my cold bones. “Why’d you think I knew about the cameras?”
“Because it’s my responsibility to protect you, kid.”
“You’re missing a key word there.Was.Itwasyour responsibility to protect me.”
“No. It was myjobto protect you when I didn’t know you. It’s myresponsibilityto protect you now. As your husband. As the father of our child. As the love of your life.”
I didn’t need the hot chocolate to warm my heart. He’d already done it. “You really think we’re safe?”
“I would never put your life in jeopardy ever again, Brooklyn.” He put his hand on my stomach.
I loved when he did that. Like his love radiated through to the baby growing inside of me. We’d decided we didn’t want to know if it was a boy or a girl. That it would be a surprise we’d wait for. But I had a feeling it was a boy. And I prayed to God it came out looking exactly like Miller.
I took another sip of hot chocolate, and his words finally registered in my head. “Wait. What do you meanagain?”
“At homecoming. When Isabella…”
I laughed. “You’re joking. You can’t possibly still blame yourself for that. Isabella injected you with something and locked you in the closet. That wasn’t your fault.”
“I left my post because I was pissed. I walked out of the ballroom of that stupid hotel because I needed air. If I hadn’t left…”
“Trust me, I would have left too. If I’d seen you dancing with a bunch of other girls.”
