Page 47 of Broken Vows

“Carmen.”

Nothing.

I scrub a hand over my face, then reach in and unbuckle her seatbelt. “Up.”

She lets me pull her to her feet, but the second she’s standing another sob rips out of her. Before I can figure out what the hell to do, she steps forward and presses her forehead against my chest.

I freeze. My arms hang there useless for a second. Then, slowly, I wrap my good arm around her back and hold her. It’s awkward at first—too stiff—but she’s soft and warm against me, shaking with these quiet little sobs. She smells like vanilla and something sweet in her hair.

That stupid clenching returns harder than before, like my heart is trying to punch its way out.

“Come on,” I mutter, needing to say something. “It’s one stupid quiz.”

She shakes her head against my chest. “I tried so hard.”

“I know.”

“You don’t know.”

“Okay,” I say. “I don’t know.”

A shaky laugh-sob escapes her. Good. That’s better.

She stays pressed against me for a long moment before slowly pulling back. “Sorry,” she says, wiping under her eyes with the heel of her hand. Her cheeks are flushed, her voice thick. “You didn’t consent to that.”

For half a second my brain offers up something stupid—you can do whatever you want to me, woman—but I catch it in time.

I clear my throat and pat my back pocket, mostly because I need something to do with my hands, and remember the flyer.

“Got something that might make you feel better,” I say, pulling out the crumpled bake sale flyer and handing it to her. “School thing.”

She takes it slowly. “Alton Hills Elementary Bake Sale,” she reads.

“Thought you could help with the baking stuff.”

She lets out a watery laugh. “You want me to do the work?”

“I didn’t think of it like that.”

“How did you think of it?”

I shrug. “Women like baking.”

She stares at me. “Do we?”

“Pretty sure.”

“Based on what?” she asks.

I come up empty. Another laugh escapes her.

“I do like baking,” she says, wiping under her eye. “I can help.” She folds the flyer carefully and glances up at me. “How did you get roped into this?”

“Someone told me I should be more involved with the school, so I was trying to do that.”

Her expression softens. “You actually listened to me?”

Then she smiles. The one that lights up her whole face and makes her eyes go soft at the corners. For a second, everything else goes blurry around it.