The Heart of Us (Love in Isolation 4)

After the kitchen is clean and all the groceries are put away, we go from room to room, and I'm in shock from every update Piper made.

“We'll have to play some pool. You any good?” I ask.

“Not sure. I haven’t played in years.”

“Now that’s a crime. We'll have to change that soon.”

Next, I lead her upstairs. “There's one bathroom but two bedrooms. The bathroom downstairs, as you know, has the deep jet tub, but the shower is up here. You can have either room.”

Tatum looks in both and decides on the one with the great ocean view. Honestly, I don’t blame her. She sets her bags of clothes down on the freshly made bed. Whoever Piper hired to clean and stock the place did a fantastic job. You wouldn’t even know there was a whole construction crew here just last week. I’m not sure if anything else needs to be done, but it looks finished to me. Knowing her, though, she probably has minor tweaks no one else would even notice.

“What's that?” Tatum asks when we enter the living room.

“Oh, that's a five-thousand-piece sailboat puzzle Tristan and Piper did a couple of years ago when they were stuck here for a few weeks.”

She furrows her brows at my choice of words.

“Long story, I'll tell you later. Anyway, once it was done, I mod-podged it and was going to ship it to them, but then Piper decided she wanted it to stay here. So she got it professionally framed and hung it up. Makes for a cool piece now.”

Next, I bring her to the game closet that's still packed full of board games we played anytime we came here.

“Wow...that's a lot.” Her eyes widen in amazement.

I nod, then notice some newer games Piper must've bought.

We finish the rest of the tour, and once we make it back to the living room, I hear Tatum's stomach growl.

“Would you like a turkey and cheese sandwich or anything? I'm pretty certain I can't screw that up.”

She laughs, grabbing a throw blanket and snuggling into the sofa. “Sure, that'd be great. Thank you. I'm probably going to fall asleep soon, though.”

“Me too. We've had a long fucking day.”

I think about everything I need to handle as I prepare our meal. I have so much shit to do between getting reports and contacting the insurance company.

“You never told me how it went at the station,” Tatum says after I hand her a plate and the bottle of water she asked for. I take the seat next to her, and the TV's volume is low enough for us to talk over it.

After I pop the tab of my beer and take a long sip, I tell her what the officer said.

“How will I get a temporary restraining order if I'm hiding out?” she asks while we eat.

“That might be something you’ll want to ask your lawyer. I'll take you to the courthouse to file one if he thinks that's what you should do. I'd hope Justin wouldn't be stupid enough to try anything in public if he found you, but then again, I don't know him.”

“No, he'd never do anything to jeopardize his perfect reputation, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't follow me or try to grab me or something. I have no idea if he's working alone or has the entire state of Florida searching for me at this point.”

“Well, if Detective Bradbery knew of him, he didn't make it obvious. Didn't seem fazed in the least when I dropped his name as a suspect.”

“That could go either way. Perhaps, the detective was prepared for you to name-drop him because he knows Justin's after me, or he has no idea what’s going on. Regardless, I wouldn't give them my full trust just yet.”

I can't blame her for reacting this way.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t. Do you mind me asking, how are you paying for your lawyer?”

“Friend of a friend's husband. He's doing it pro bono. Without his help, I would've had to file myself, and though there's nothing I want from Justin regardless of being told half of everything is mine, I feel at ease asking him legal questions instead of googling them.”

“That's good. I'm happy someone was able to help you.”

“Do you think we'll have to stay indoors while we're here? I'd hate to neglect the beach.” She gives me a little smile.

“Considering it's private access, I think venturing outside is safe. Maybe don't go alone, though. I’d feel better if we stayed together. Plus, now that Justin’s a person of interest in the investigation, we could call in the threat if he shows up. It’s on paper now, so we have a trail.”

“I’m good with that. I’ve been cooped up long enough to last me a lifetime, so if I have to stay in, I will, but enjoying the water for a bit would be a nice change of scenery.”