Chapter 28: Evie

28

EVIE

Three Weeks Later

W ith the exception of Ranger, we were all still staying at the house on the farm. Byte was walking without crutches, Edge seemed almost back to normal, and Irene only had minimal limitations with her arm. Meanwhile, my incisions and broken ribs had healed, but I was still moving around slower than a sloth and getting exhausted with minimal activity. It was frustrating, but I was trying to take it in stride. Irene had plenty of administrative things I could do while sitting in front of a computer.

I looked up from the laptop when I heard her enter the kitchen. "Are you ready for today?" I asked.

She sighed as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Are you having second thoughts?"

"No, not at all. I'm just dreading packing up all of my shit. And then unpacking it. There's a reason I haven't moved in years—because I hate it."

I laughed. "I know what you mean. I'm not a fan of it either."

"Neither of you will have to do anything other than supervise," Edge said.

I raised my hands in surrender. "You don't have to worry about me. I don't have much to move anyway."

"Are you two ready to go?" Edge asked. "Ink will be here to pick us up soon."

"I am. I just need to pour some coffee into a travel mug. Irene, do you want one?"

"Have I ever said no to coffee?"

"Got it. Three coffees to go."

When Ink arrived a few minutes later, we were standing on the front porch waiting for him.

"Am I late?" he asked as we got into his truck.

"No, we were just ready to leave ahead of time. We must be getting better if we're moving faster. Well, they are anyway," I said.

"You're doing great. Patch even said you were doing better than he expected," Edge reminded me.

Smiling, I gently squeezed his hand. "I know."

When we arrived at Irene's, Ink dropped her off at her house before continuing to the trailer. While Ink unloaded the boxes and packing supplies, I went inside for the first time since the shooting. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but everything looked the same as it always did. However, it didn't feel like home anymore.

"Where do you want to start?" Edge asked.

"I guess we can start in the bedroom and work our way to the front."

Since most of my clothes were already in Croftridge, I really had little to pack. We finished in less than two hours. It was almost embarrassing.

"What about the furniture?" Ink asked.

"It all belongs to Irene. I don't know what she wants to do with it. We'll have to ask her."

Once the truck was loaded, we went up to Irene's house to help pack. There were several vehicles parked in her driveway, including a moving truck. As we were walking up to the door, Falcon and Mason came out carrying a sofa. I peeked inside the back of the moving truck to find it was almost halfway full.

"Holy crap. They've got a lot done."

Edge chuckled. "Moving isn't so bad when you have a lot of help."

He wasn't wrong. Several hours later, Irene's house was empty, and we were headed back to Croftridge.

"While we were at Irene's house, Byte told me he hasn't been able to find anything concerning regarding your family," Edge said. "As far as he could tell, Muzzle didn't have any other children. Snarl has a four-year-old daughter, but he wasn't involved in her life. The child's mother got married two years ago and moved to a different state."

"What about my mother and stepfather?"

"Like you said, they're pretty boring. He said everything seemed to be in order with them."

I exhaled in relief. "Thank you. I guess knowledge is power."

He laughed. "Good one."

When we arrived at the farm, Ink turned into Edge's driveway while everyone else continued driving to Irene's house, which wasn't far from Edge's house.

I didn't think much of it and got out when Ink and Edge did.

"Where do you want the boxes?" Ink asked.

"You can stack them along the back wall in the living room," Edge said.

"What is going on?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are we unloading my stuff here?"

"Because you're moving here," Edge said slowly.

"Yes, to Irene's house."

"When did you change your mind?"

"Change my mind about what?" He wasn't making any sense, and I wasn't sure which one of us was confused.

"Moving in with me."

"What? When did we even talk about moving in together?"

"What did you think I meant when I said I wanted you in Croftridge?"

"I thought you meant you wanted me to live in Croftridge, as in the same city, not the same house."

"Oh." He quickly hid his disappointment, but not before I saw it. "I thought you agreed too easily. It's okay. I'll get Ink to bring your stuff back out, and we'll take it to Irene's place."

"Wait!" I blurted before I had a chance to think about what I was doing. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, but this isn't about me. It's about you. Are you sure? And it's okay if you're not."

Surprisingly, I didn't need to think about it. I didn't have any feelings of trepidation regarding Edge. "Yes, I'm sure."

He fisted my shirt and pulled me to him, covering my lips with his. When he broke the kiss, he rested his forehead against mine. "I love you," he said softly.

"I love you, too."