Chapter Three

Evelyn

I didn't know what to think. I guess somewhere deep inside me that I'd never acknowledged existed, I knew Danny had something going on. Granted, I wasn't expecting this. But it actually made sense in a way.

"Danny moved in with me right before I found out I was pregnant with Luke," I murmured. I wasn't certain who I was talking to. Musing to myself out loud, I guess. We were in Knox's truck, headed to Mr. Knoxville's house. I'd never known he'd had an actual house. Why was he living in that apartment if he had a perfectly good house? "I guess I just got so used to him being with me I never wondered why we hadn't gotten married." I sniffed. "I mean, I guess I should have known. Looking back, he was only home about half the week. Sometimes longer. Sometimes he'd be gone for a couple weeks or more at a time. You know. For work." I sounded like I was in shock. I suppose I was.

"Honey, there's gonna be plenty of time to sort this all out." Mr. Knoxville gripped my shoulder from where he sat in the back seat. Grover. I had to start thinking of him as Grover. If I pissed him off, he might not let me stay with him, and I had nowhere else to go. What if he decided he wanted to take my children? I mean, they were his grandchildren, and he was the one who could give them a roof over their heads and a safe place to stay.

"No one's gonna take your children, Evelyn."

"Not on your life!"

Both men spoke over top of each other. Vehemently.

Had I said that out loud?

"Mom?" Aneshya sounded confused and scared. I knew Luke was angry. Me? I didn't know what to do. What to think.

"She's in shock." Knox reached over and took my hand, gripping it tightly. He'd put me in the front seat with him. Even fastened my seat belt for me.

"Just get us home," Grover ordered. "She needs to clean up and then rest. She'll feel much better then."

"Who's gonna try to take us from Mommy?"

"No one, Aneshya. I won't let anyone take us from Mom. Don't worry." Luke sounded confident and determined.

I needed to pull myself together. I was scaring my children. Hell, I was scaring myself.

"I will never let anyone take you away from your mother, Aneshya." I thought that came from Knox. When I looked over at him, his free hand gripped the wheel. His jaw was clenched. He still had my hand firmly in his. For some reason, even though he was talking to my daughter, I believed Knox. It settled me when I had no reason to believe him. I didn't know this man.

But he'd saved us. He'd saved us, then took care of us.

"Just relax. You'll feel better when you've rested and had time to process."

I snorted a laugh. "Yeah. Process. This is all… too damned much!"

"I know." Grover muttered. "We're almost home, honey."

"How could he do this? How could I not know he had another woman?"

"Not your fault, honey. I'm his father and I didn't know either."

"I knew." Luke's muttered confession startled me. I looked back at him, my mouth open in shock.

"What?"

"I saw him. With her. She lives in the penthouse." Luke turned to face the window. "A month ago."

That made sense. That was about the time Luke started calling his father Danny. It was also when he became super protective of both me and his sister. He'd been leaning that way, but something pushed him over the top.

Knox pulled into the driveway of a ranch-style home. It had an upstairs, but Grover said that was mostly attic space. It was surprisingly well-kept considering no one had lived here for several years, if I'd understood Grover right. It didn't exactly look lived in, at least from the outside, but the yard was well-kept as was the outside of the house. There were no special touches, though. No flowers in the yard. No outside furniture on the porch. No trash bins.

"I haven't been here in years," Grover murmured. "Still looks like the last day I saw it." He took in a shuddering breath. "I paid someone to keep the place up because I just couldn't. Funny. Until this moment, I hadn't realized I haven't gotten a bill from the guy I hired. I… tried to push the place out of my mind. Too damned many memories."

"I made sure your guy kept the place up." Knox turned off the engine. "Kept the yard mowed and made sure the place wasn't looted or had squatters living there, but the inside is pretty bare." About that time, a moving van pulled up along with another big F-150 like Knox's, only this one was white where Knox's was black. "Which we're fixing to remedy now."

He opened the door and everyone else followed. I fumbled with my seat belt, finally getting it undone when Knox opened my door.

"Out you get, little one."

When he pulled me into his arms to carry me, I tried to protest. "I'm OK to walk." It was more a reflex than something I truly thought I was capable of doing. I was used to shrugging off my weaknesses and simply powering through.

"Yeah? Maybe I'm not ready to let you walk." Knox cradled me against him. God, it felt good! This man, someone I didn't know, made me feel safe and more cared for than Danny had the entire thirteen years we'd been together. Tears were very, very close. Though not for the reasons I expected. They were more for the tenderness being shown to me by everyone involved than Danny's betrayal. Which told me everything I needed to know about my relationship with Danny.

"Don't do this." I whispered my plea, half hoping he hadn't heard me. The other half knew letting him care for me was a really bad idea.

"Don't do what?" Knox carried me inside the house like I weighed nothing. It was like something out of a fairy tale. Except that his face was an emotionless mask and he didn't look at me.

"Take care of me. I'll get used to it and…"

He just grunted and carried me to the bathroom. "Your room and the kids' both attach to this bathroom." He pointed out two doors on either side. "Go ahead and get in the shower. I'll bring you a change of clothes and some towels."

"I don't have any clothes." I whispered. "The fire…"

"I've got that taken care of. If you can give me a couple minutes, I'll bring in your toiletries. Then you can get the soot and smoke off you. By that time, I should have a bed set up for you and you can lie down."

"But the children --"

"-- are doing the same thing." Knox set me on the vanity before gripping my shoulders in a firm but gentle grip. "I'll look after the kids and my dad. Though, I think Luke has both of them under control. He's a very protective kid."

"He's always been like that, but the last month? Yeah. When he said he'd seen Danny with that woman a month ago, I realized that's when he started to really assume the role of man of the house."

"Yeah. I get that." He sighed, looking away. "Look. You're safe. I'll take care of everything."

"I don't know you." I had no idea why I was protesting when I really needed someone to take over, even if it was just for a few hours so I could process. Honestly, though, I wasn't sure much was going to change. Other than Danny would no longer make his occasional appearance.

"No. But I helped get you out of a burning building. Give me the benefit of the doubt. I'm not gonna hurt you, Evelyn." He sounded so sincere I wanted to believe him. I was so confused right now! All I wanted to do was huddle in the corner with my children and lick my wounds for a few hours.

"There are other ways of hurting someone than just physically," I whispered.

"I know. Ain't gonna do that either." He held my gaze for long moments. Then he gave me a crisp nod and helped me off the counter to my feet. "I'll be right back. You can clean up, and I'll get us all some supper." I'd been in the middle of fixing lunch when the fire alarm had started blaring. I suppose it was time for supper.

There was nothing else to say or do. I just nodded, knowing he was right. Besides, I'd be more able to process and think once I was clean, full, and rested. I would figure out what to do from here on. Right now, I wanted to shut down. Let someone else take control. After that, I'd start evaluating the pieces of my life and how to proceed.