Page 111 of Everything We Found

“Yeah, I invited you like five times over the past three days, but you keep falling asleep before you give me an answer.”

Thomas attempted to swallow the knot in his throat but it wasn’t going anywhere. “I’d like that. Very much. Once I get out of here.”

“Good.” James smiled. “Hurry up and get back on your feet. The boys want to meet their uncle. And I want you to meet my daughter.”

The nurse poked at him, checking his vitals, and he glared at her. She just smiled, used to difficult patients.

“You have a daughter?” he asked, incredulous. The first girl in their family of boys.

“Zelie. She’s six months. Copper-red hair just like her mother and as stubborn as her uncle.”

The nurse glanced from James to Thomas and back. “You’re making your brother cry.”

Thomas felt the tear leak down his face and into his short beard, and he paid it no mind. Was this what true happiness felt like?

“I’ll swing by tonight after dinner.” James smiled and clapped the doorframe. Then he left the room.

Thomas turned to the nurse. “I’m an uncle.”

“Yes, you are. Now give me your arm so I can check your dressing.”

37

NADIA

ONE MONTH LATER

Nadia punched in the code to the front lock and nudged open the door. Dust motes danced in the afternoon sun coming through the large picture window in her living room. Everything was exactly as she’d left it almost four weeks ago—mail piled on the entryway table, half-eaten box of chocolates on the counter, throw blanket haphazardly draped over the couch.

She’d been home once since Thomas was released from the hospital to collect a few essentials. Between staying with him at Cammy’s ranch while he recovered and coordinating with contractors for the repairs on his house, she hadn’t been able to get back here in almost a month.

Dropping her purse on the table, she surveyed her home with fresh eyes. The house she bought three years ago had been remodeled and decorated to be her sanctuary. All clean lines and minimalist furnishings in warm earth tones. But it felt unfamiliar after staying at Cammy’s rustic ranch for so long. Nadia’s house was too pristine, too empty, and too quiet.

It made her smile. She’d grown accustomed to the familial routine of ranch chores with Cammy in between work calls andweekly road trips to Thomas’s house to check in on construction. To his constant presence, the casual intimacy of sharing a room with him. His compression bandages discarded in the bathroom, his workout clothes in the laundry basket, their coffee mugs side by side in the sink.

She’d spent years valuing her independence above all else, but a month with him had remapped something intrinsic within her.

Wandering into her bedroom, she yanked open drawers and collected clothes—bras, yoga pants, tops, and sleepwear—tossing them onto the bed. She needed to swing by her office for those client files too. The Sandersons’ remodel plans were due next week and she’d fallen way behind on the renderings.

The doorbell rang and she paused, her hand in the sock drawer. Nobody except Thomas and Cammy knew she was home so it was probably a solicitor. She closed the drawer and moved to another.

The doorbell rang again. She sighed and padded to the door, ready to send off whoever it was. She was in a rush, had a ridiculously long drive ahead, and she didn’t have time to listen to a solar panel sales pitch. But when she peered through the peephole, her breath caught. Aimee stood on her porch, arms crossed, face pinched with uncertainty.

How did she know Nadia would be here?

Thomas must have reached out to her through Nick or Kristen. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She certainly wasn’t eager to discuss how deeply she’d hurt Aimee. But this talk was inevitable, and she’d put it off long enough.

Nadia opened the door. “Aimee.”

“Hi.” She shifted her weight, not quite meeting Nadia’s eyes. “I, um, saw your car in the driveway.”

Nadia doubted Aimee just happened to be driving by. She lived on a cul-de-sac.

She nodded, trying to rein in the frantic drumming of her heart. She hadn’t spoken with Aimee since that evening at the Garners’ when she’d been trying to reach James. Kristen had called a few times to check in on her, texted too. They had short conversations about Thomas’s recovery and Nadia’s involvement in putting his house back in order, but that had been about it. They never broached anything too personal, and danced around the subject of Aimee like prima ballerinas on stage.

“Can I come in?” Aimee asked.

“Of course.” Nadia stepped back, opening the door wider. Aimee moved past her, the whimsical, radiant scent of her perfume hitting Nadia in a wave of nostalgia so strong her eyes stung.