But instead, in a few days’ time, I’d be back in California with a horde of friends, family—mostly Henry’s—and acquaintances barging into my life to figure out what the hell happened. The idea was exhausting. How was I supposed to explain my decision to run? Could I really look Henry’s parents in the eye and tell them their dead son was a killer? That he’d tried to have me murdered? Would they even believe me? I had no idea what details the FBI would release or how the media would spin the information. Was he being touted as a victim of an aggressive task force? Or was he being portrayed as an evil criminal ringleader who would stop at nothing to get his way?
On top of that battle, I would also have to find a way to explain the new man in my life and the fact that I was pregnant with his child.
That might be the worst part of it all. It was enough to make me want to crawl under the bed and stay there forever. Or get on the boat and set off in the opposite direction. Without Henry’s men after us, we could go anywhere. I didn’t know how much money Henry would have left to me, but I knew there’d be plenty. He wouldn’t have wanted Jackson to go without. And I still had most of the money from when we left him. We could all just run away together.
“Yeah, right, dumbass.” I chided myself. I knew it wasn’t an option. I couldn’t run away forever. I needed to go home and face up to my problems.
And with Chase at my side—it would be a helluva lot easier.
I pushed off the floor and took a moment to steady myself before going out into the kitchen. Jackson was at Chase’s side and coaching him through the steps to make perfect pancakes. “No, no, don’t stir too much!”
“Why not?” Chase asked, glancing down at his small assistant.
Jackson thought for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know but Mama says not to go too crazy. And I’m your ’Seuss’ chef, remember?”
I stifled a giggle as Chase laughed and nodded down at Jackson. “All right. I promise not to go crazy. So what toppings are we doing today?”
“I think we still have some berries in the fridge,” I offered, joining their conversation.
They both turned to glance over their shoulders. “Mom, Chase is going crazy with the stirring!”
I laughed. “It’s okay, baby. I’m sure the pancakes will be great.”
I retrieved the berries from the fridge and Jackson insisted chocolate chips would add to the experience so I got those out of the cupboard. “All right, this looks great. I set a hand on Chase’s back. “You want me to take over here?”
“I got it. How about you sit down and rest for a little bit.”
“Rest? I just woke up not too long ago,” I protested, laughing softly at his concern.
“We got it, Mom!” Jackson added.
“All right, all right.” I held up my hands in surrender and circled back to the dining room table.
I smiled as Jackson and Chase worked together to finish their pancake masterpieces. They worked so well together. Whether it was fishing, cooking, or learning to snorkel, Chase had a way of getting Jackson to slow down long enough to listen to his instructions. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that the baby inside of me would have Chase’s heart and that Chase would be an amazing father.
The past month had been so dark and full of moments that stretched me to my limit. While I wasn’t happy about the way things had ended, I never wished Henry dead, but now that we were coming out of the darkness and into a whole new future, it was hard not to let myself feel a little bit of excitement.
“I can’t believe this is all over,” I marveled as Chase came to sit beside me back where things had all started, the top deck of Matt’s boat. Jackson was sleeping down below and Chase and I had decided to pick up our old tradition of a nightcap overlooking the ocean. Of course, Chase’s new beverage of choice was a Mexican beer and I was sticking to sparkling water instead of wine, but the rest of it was the same, and it felt good.
“I know,” Chase agreed. “We should be back to the harbor tomorrow afternoon. We’ve made really good time. The ocean has been kind.”
“Did you talk to Matt today?”
“Yeah, he said he’ll meet us at the harbor when we arrive,” Chase answered with a nod.
“Cool.”
Chase considered me for a moment as he took a long sip from his beer bottle. “Any thought on where you’re going to stay?”
“I’ll make reservations when we get back to a Wi-Fi hotspot. I don’t want to go back to the house yet. I’m not ready for that and I don’t think Jackson is either.”