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I unlocked her end of the cuffs and reached down, holding ust "Want to come with me? Your mom puked all over my sneakers, and I need to clean them off"

His hand sliding easily into ross Benji did that in preschool once after we had birthday cupcakes and it soaked intoross"

One last look at Scarlett before we left her to change "Five e under the bed for her bag She wasn't going anywhere Not while I had her son The mystery of Scarlett deepened

I ust chatter about puke and Benji and cupcakes Taking off my sneakers, I rinsed them in the tub until they were ot to the Manor as long as I wasn't walking in puddles of puke Squishy gross about surabbed a bar of soap and took care of my feet

Of all the scenarios I'd been building inhadn't ht e'd entered the cottage and she hadn't seen hier hiood reason

Leaving hie she'd broken into while she snuck around the Inn? What would drive her to do that?

I wasn't a parent Nicky was the only kid I knew on a first-naht-year-old on his own in a strange place

Sticking my feet back into my wet but mostly puke-free sneakers, I looked up at the knock on the door frame

My eous in a torn t-shirt and threadbare, baggy shorts In a light yellow sundress andflip-flops, her hair pulled back on one side with a flower-shaped clip, she was absolutely stunning

Fuck

I looked down at the kid in reflex as if to remind myself that Scarlett was far more than a very pretty face She was coood And my alibi Definitely not hook-up material But still Damn

She held up a hand, fingers gripping a blue toothbrush, a sheepish s her pink lips "Is the bathroom free? I won't make a mess, but I'd love to brush my teeth"

Nudging August ahead of estured back to the sink "All yours We'll just wait out here"