10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

W ill put his hands out in front of himself. "Zara! It's me!" He shielded his face from the bright beam of light pointed directly at his eyes and was able to see her.

She pulled her hand away from her gun. "Will?"

"Yeah, It's me."

She lowered the flashlight. "Sorry."

"I got out of my car because I heard you scream. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"What are you doing wandering around outside?"

"What are you doing outside of my apartment?"

"I … I was debating calling you. I couldn't bring myself to even go home with how we left things. I don't like it, Zara. I may not always be the best at follow-through, but I'm not leaving you high and dry. I want us to work. I want to be with you for better or worse. Maybe I'm jumping the gun here, but I'm not giving up so easily."

"Will." She seemed to deflate.

"Please, Zara. Don't push me away." He took a cautious step closer.

"I can't even process right now. Miley called and needs me to come over."

Will didn't like the idea of her randomly going over there by herself. "I can take you. You probably shouldn't go over there alone in the middle of the night. I can wait outside." He hoped she could sense his care and concern and didn't think he was being overbearing.

She nodded. "That would probably be good. You can keep an eye out for Brett then too."

"Exactly."

"I'm not trying to ignore what you said, but can we talk about us later?"

"When you're ready."

Her face scrunched and distorted. He had enough sisters to know that it was an attempt to keep tears from escaping.

He closed the space between them and pinched the bill of the baseball cap and jostled it. "Nice hat. I was wondering where I'd left it."

She touched it. "Yeah. I don't actually want us to be over, but … I don't know. I'm scared, I guess. I'm not an easy person to deal with."

"No one is." He rested his hand on her shoulder. "We'll talk later, maybe when we aren't both so tired. And Miley."

"We need to go to her."

Will wished he could pull Zara into his arms. But things had shifted because of their argument, and he knew that he couldn't simply hug Zara's fear away.

She went inside and deposited her flashlight and retrieved her purse.

He went in with her. The air wasn't much cooler than outside. "Why is it so warm in here?"

"Air is out, and I can't figure out why. That's the reason I was outside." She swung her purse over her shoulder. "Ready."

"Want me to look at it?"

"When we get back. Miley sounded a little distraught, so I don't want her to wait."

They walked out the door, but Zara didn't set the alarm. "Don't forget the alarm."

"Oh right." She spun around and punched in the code. "Serious learning curve. I can't seem to get the habit down."

"Habits take a long time."

"The good ones. I don't know about you, but the bad habits seem to come easily."

"Very true." He opened the door to his truck, and she slid in.

He went around, breathing slowly and praying as he went. God, help me know what to say and what to do to win Zara's heart. Help her open up about her fears and past hurts so we can work through them.

Zara walked up the steps to Miley's single-wide. Will had been quiet the whole four minutes of the drive. She wasn't sure if that was a blessing or not. After being so excited about their relationship, now she just felt disoriented.

She knocked on the screen door, but there was no answer. She opened the screen and knocked on the other door. Still nothing.

Once more she knocked. If Miley didn't answer this time, Zara planned to call her.

But the door opened slowly, and Corbin appeared.

"Hey, buddy. Where's your momma?"

Corbin pointed to the end of the trailer where the master bedroom was located.

"Is she okay?"

He shrugged.

"Is it okay if I come inside?"

The boy nodded and reached out for Zara's hand. He led her across the living room and kitchen, down a little hallway, and into the master bedroom.

Miley wasn't there.

Zara's anxiety went from mild to severe in a millisecond. What was wrong?

A glance around the room answered her question.

A large, heavy dresser had been shoved in front of the closet door.

"Miley?"

"Zara?" Miley's voice came from inside the closet. "Can you get me out of here?" There was a touch of terror in her voice.

"Of course." Zara was fit and strong. She skirted the front of the dresser and tried to shove the end of it. It wouldn't budge. She couldn't get between it enough to give it the leverage she needed to compensate for how heavy the piece was.

She tried another angle. The dresser moved a bit, but it was not enough.

She needed more muscle.

Will.

"I can't get it, Miley. It's too heavy. My friend, Officer Will Cooper drove me over here. I'm going to see if he can come help. Is that okay?"

"Please!"

After stepping into the hall, Zara took her phone from her pocket and dialed Will's number.

He answered immediately. "What's wrong?"

"Miley is trapped in the closet, the dresser is shoved in front of it, and it's too heavy to move. Can you come help me?"

"I'll be right in."

"Zara?" Miley's fear seemed to be amping up.

Zara jogged back into the room. "I'm right here." She turned to the four-year-old. "Can you go let Officer Will in?"

He nodded and darted out of the room.

Zara reached across the dresser and pressed her hand against the slotted wood doors. "I'm right here."

Miley's hand pressed against the other side.

Zara's heart raced, and she tried to force her mind not to fall into the dark hole that loomed. Focus on Miley, not on where Miley is.

Will followed Corbin into the room. Will's eyebrows furrowed briefly when he met Zara's eyes. But he didn't question her; they simply got to work moving the dresser.

Not only was it heavy, but the shaggy carpet gave so much resistance that the two of them could barely move it. How on earth had Brett moved this himself? Sure, he was big and strong, but Will wasn't exactly a weakling.

Three minutes later, they had the dresser moved enough they could open the bifold doors. Miley emerged and fell into Zara's arms.

"Are you okay?" Zara held Miley back so she could look into her face.

"Yeah, I didn't know how long I'd be stuck in there, and I was so worried about Corbin." She turned to her son and opened her arms.

The boy ran to his mom and buried his head against her chest.

"What happened?" Will's voice was kind and gentle.

"We had a fight, not about anything important, but he shoved me in the closet. When he reached for me, I thought he was going to hit me again, but he didn't. Although I think he wanted to, he controlled himself."

Zara rubbed Miley's arm. "I'm glad he didn't hit you, but locking you in a closet is also abuse."

"No, it's fine. I shouldn't have argued with him. I didn't mean to upset him. I would have called sooner, but I didn't have my cell phone. Corbin brought it to me and slid it under the door."

The boy lifted his head. "I had to go potty."

"Good job helping your momma." Zara wished she could save these two from the abuse, but there was only so much one could say.

He leaned back into his mother. The little guy was tired.

Zara said, "We should let you get him back to bed. Are you gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine. Thank you for coming. I didn't know who else to call, but you already know how Brett can be. He says he really is trying to change."

"Change is hard. Trust me, I know."

They walked into the living room, and before they went out the door, Zara gripped Miley's arm again. "Seriously, don't hesitate to call if you need anything. I'm only five minutes down the road."

"Thank you."

Will opened the door, and she followed him out.

She stayed half a step behind him. It felt too weird to walk beside him. But she needed him. She felt like she was going to be crushed, and like she couldn't move the dresser on her own, she couldn't lift the lid on her emotions either.

He slowed for her to catch up and bumped her arm with his. "Are you okay?"

"No." She coughed.

He mumbled something she couldn't understand, but before she could ask him, he put his arm across her shoulders and pulled her close.

She nearly collapsed against him. The weight of so many things threatened to smother her.

"Talk to me. There's more going on than our spat. You looked like you would nearly panic because she was trapped."

She sniffed. "You read that right."

They reached his pickup, and he gripped her shoulders and turned her to face him. "Tell me more."

"Will, we said we'd wait."

"It's connected?"

"One hundred percent." She fought letting it all explode all over him. She really wanted to talk about this stuff when she could be more levelheaded.

"I know we said we needed to sleep before we talked, but I don't know if it can wait."

"But …"

He let go of her and opened the truck door. "Please. I'm not going to be able to sleep until I'm honest with you."

Her curiosity spiked. If it wasn't only her unloading, maybe she could share.

"Let's go back to your place first though."

She nodded and slid into the truck.

He got in, and instead of sitting in the passenger's seat, she slid to the middle.

His eyes narrowed as he considered her. "You know, you're a touch confusing."

She deflated and looked away.

His fingers came under her chin and lifted her face, but he didn't say anything, not until she met his gaze.

"It's okay." He wrapped his arm around her and drove.

She leaned against him and fought to keep the floodgates firmly in place, but they shook and began to leak.