Chapter 16 "Hi, um, it's Liora, right?" I turn at the sound of a woman's voice just as the baby swing I have Hazel in comes shooting back and hits me right in the chest and knocks me onto my ass. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry. Watch out!" I duck just in time to miss the return swing that would have plowed right into the back of my head. A hand grabs me by my upper arm and pulls me up. "Are you okay?" "Uh, yeah. Nothing a week in the Bahamas couldn't fix." She laughs. "Right? I don't think there's anything a week in the Bahamas couldn't fix. Anyway, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you and cause"-she swirls a finger around me-"all of this." The woman with dark hair and blue eyes, dressed in a sweater, coat, jeans, and high-top Vans, comes to stand beside me with a little girl on her hip, and I feel like I should know her as she seems to know me, but I can't place her. She smiles, clearly reading this. "I'm Vander's friend, Katy. We met a thousand years ago, though you likely don't remember me." My eyes shoot open wide just as the swing comes back, and I give Hazel another shove. The little girl in her arms starts to squirm, and she puts her into the swing beside Hazel and starts to push her. "I do remember you now. Hi. Wow." She laughs. "I'm really, creepily good with faces. My husband is working today. You've met him. He's Bennett. The real Bennett. I'm shocked I haven't seen you in the hospital yet since I work there too. Anyway, we came here because if she's inside for too long, she gets stir-crazy. She gets that from me, I think. This is Willow." "Mine's Hazel. And I get that. I hate being in our apartment any longer than I have to be," I say, then wince, wishing I hadn't been so honest. I don't know her, and she's Vander's friend. Luckily, she seems to roll with it. "This is a great park. It's Willow's favorite, and it's also close to my friends' place"-she points behind us, through the park, and across the street to the large buildings lining Beacon Street-"so sometimes I can drag them with me. Speaking of, Vander mentioned you work for him now." Stunned, I do more of my weird blinking thing at her. He talked about me with her? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Jack said something similar. Wait. "Vander lives across the street?" "No." She laughs. "He lives in Cambridge, so don't worry about him randomly showing up." Oh, good. Phew. "But he did mention you want to be an OB-GYN nurse." Both of us continue to push our girls, who are giggling and kicking their hands and legs out as they swing. "Uh, yes. I want to be an OB-GYN nurse and eventually a midwife." "That's amazing. My cousin Keegan, who you also might remember, is an OB. When you're done with school, I bet she could help you get a job." I lick my lips. "That would be incredible." Katy beams at me. "Great. How old is Hazel?" "Two and a half." "Oh fun! Willow will be two in June. We should meet up for coffee and a playdate. Other than now, since obviously we didn't schedule this, and I simply accosted you in the park and nearly got your head knocked off." "I'd really love that." Then I think better of it. "But I'm not sure that's so wise since you're so close with Vander." "Ah, in love already, I see." She waves me away. "Anything that happens between us doesn't concern him. He's my friend, but I can be friends with you too and have that be separate, if that makes sense." It does, and wow. Are there people like this? Genuine and honest? I mean, I had Christine, and she was a fairy godmother who literally showed up out of nowhere and changed everything for me. But she's back in California, and since I moved out to Boston and had Hazel, I rarely hear from her. I don't have friends. Certainly not girlfriends and certainly not people I feel like I could trust. "Then I'd love to do that. Sorry if what I said came off as rude. I'm not..." I swallow as I think about how I want to phrase this. "I'm not good at trusting people." "That's fine. I get it, believe it or not. I'm part Fritz, and a natural distrust of people and their motives is ingrained in us." Fritz. "Dr. Fritz." She looks at me. "Yes, but my last name isn't Fritz." I shake my head. "No. I mean, wait. You're a doctor?" She laughs. "Yes, I'm a trauma surgeon." "Wow. Okay, then. No, I meant I met two Dr. Fritzes in the ER the other day. I think it was an Oliver Fritz, and he introduced me to his sister-in-law, Layla. And then Jack Kincaid told me he's dating Wren Fritz, as if I should know her." Now she's really laughing at me. "Yes, Oliver's my grandfather, sort of, and Layla is my stepmother. Wren is one of my best friends and cousins." "That's a lot and a bit confusing." I laugh lightly. "Story of my life right there. Anyway, half of my family, or should I say, half of the Fritz family works in the hospital." Jesus. How did I not remember that last name or put it together? They're billionaires. I remember this now. Vaguely, but you tend to remember the word billionaire when it's tossed around, and the Fritzes are billionaires. Famous ones at that. Sort of like how Vander's parents are friends with famous people. I mean, I didn't realize this before, but Vander's mom is a Monroe, as in Monroe Securities-obviously-and Monroe Fashions. Georgia is so lovely and normal and always made me feel like hers. Even when I saw her last week, it was still like that. She even invited me out for dinner, which of course I had to decline. My head starts to spin with it all. How could I be friends with this woman when she's a billionaire? It's so far from me and my life. Then again, she's in the park with her kid, pushing her on a swing wearing clothes I could see myself wearing. She doesn't scream money. Not even her purse is designer. It's one of those giant diaper bags, and it's sitting on the dirty wood chips beside her. "I didn't realize how far-reaching Vander's world went." And how closely I'm now connected to it. "Don't stress it. For real. Vander is Vander, and he does his own thing his way. He's a good man. You seem a little on edge about him, which I get, but he is." "That's what Champagne said, too, but he and I have a slightly different relationship than what you all have with him." Katy winks at me. "I can only hope." "No, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that I don't like him, and the feeling is mutual. More than that, it's how I intend to keep it with us." My heart couldn't handle Vander twice. It just couldn't, and I have too much going on, too much at stake to manage a man like him. It's already there. That pull. That connection. It's intrinsic. It's been more than a week since what happened between us in his office. I've done as much as I can to see as little of him as possible. It wasn't too difficult, as he seemed to be avoiding me too. We can't keep having these encounters, and I can't keep letting him touch me, benign or not. My heart remembers him. And that memory is a dangerous thing. Not a lot of my childhood was happy. I had a father who liked to use my mother as a punching bag but could never talk about it with anyone. Cass and I did a bit, but even he didn't want to talk about it. No one knew. It was our horrible secret, and secrets like that corrode and wear and rust within you if you can't expel them. Vander filled my heart with gold and rainbows and magic. He filled it with love, and it's difficult when I think about how wrong things have gone in my life not to want that again. Except that's not how it would be for us this time. Not even close. Vander isn't that boy anymore, and I'm not that girl. I got paid, which was amazing, but after all the things they had to take out for taxes and everything else, and then needing to pay off the rest of my tuition and more than the minimum on my credit cards, there was nothing left to save toward a new place. So my days on the pole aren't done quite yet. Because I'm determined to move. Every time I leave my building, I'm constantly looking over my shoulder, sometimes legit running from the asshole who thrills in hunting me down. Katy's serious eyes hold mine, a frown on her lips as she gives Willow a hearty shove. "If you say so, I believe you, and I respect your choice with it. I just know him too, so..." She lets that ride with another shrug, and I don't want to press this because I don't want to talk about or even think about Vander. It's Sunday. It's my damn day off from him. "I didn't mean to come off as preachy about him," she finishes. "I didn't mean to come off as abrasive and short with you." "We're good." She beams at me. "I promise. I don't know a lot of people with kids our age." "Same with me," I tell her, offering a smile to match hers. I go from zero to defensive in about two point four seconds, and it's not one of my better learned traits. "Anyway, after the kids play here, do you want to grab a hot chocolate? I know a place not too far from here, and there's a space the kids could hang out in." I'd freaking love that. To go out for hot chocolate and chat with a friend and watch our girls play. That's the dream right there. But with all dreams, it's not reality for me. Maybe after I get my next paycheck, I can do hot chocolate dates. "I'd love to, but unfortunately, I can't tonight. Maybe some other time?" She winks. "I'm going to hold you to that." Two hours later, it's starting to get dark as Hazel and I race off the T toward our street. We were at the park all afternoon, having the best time with Katy and Willow since the weather was nice, and time slipped away. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the Find_Nøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Then there's this text. Mom: Your father was just named Maine's man of the year. You should call to congratulate him. Maine's man of the year. I didn't even know that was a thing. And no, Mom. No, I won't be calling to congratulate him. I'd ask why she stays, but I already know the answer. He'd kill her if she ever tried to leave him. That and I think she still loves him despite his swinging fists and vicious words. Even with that, she still doesn't know the full extent of the man he is. All the things he's capable of. Me: No thanks. Mom: I know he'd love to hear from you. He loves you. I'm a thousand percent positive he doesn't. Mom: When are you planning to come home? I'd like to meet my granddaughter. My jaw inadvertently clenches. I wish they didn't know about Hazel. In fact, I never told them when I was pregnant or when she was born. My father knew, essentially letting me know he was still keeping tabs on me. And with that, his threat extended from my mom's life to my daughter's. As if it were even necessary. Me: When you're willing to travel to Boston without Dad. I leave it at that, knowing she'll never do that. She hasn't left Lavender Lake, let alone the state of Maine, in decades. But she's alive, and my leaving the way I did, the arrangement I made, means my father won't touch her. At least I have to hope he won't. I'm also hoping Sunday means the assholes aren't out lurking, but as I turn the corner onto our street, I see that my wishes fall flat. Shit. My number one asshole is right there, and he's not alone. He's got his crew of merry men with him, and they all find me. My grip on Hazel's hand tightens, and I quicken our pace, my head down and my gaze locked on the steps of my building up ahead. Whistles ring out through the night, bouncing off the brick buildings on either side of us. "Where are you going in such a rush, honey?" Ricky calls out to me. "Come over here. I want to talk to you. I think we got off to a bad start, and I want to change that by letting you suck my dick." Laughter surrounds him. "Come on now. You don't have to run." Oh, but I do. Hazel whimpers, pulling on my hand and saying, "Mama." She knows something isn't right and is scared. Fury pulses through me. I hate that my child is scared. Footsteps behind us have me swooping her up into my arms and taking off at a run. "Oh, no, bitch. You think you can carry your kid and that will keep you safe?" Before I know what's happening, Hazel is ripped from my arms, and I'm shoved face-first into the building with an arm at the back of my neck holding me there.