Page 133 of Mended Fences

“He put her in a car seat.”

“I know.” I looked down at her, tiny and pink and impossibly safe. “He was a psychopath, but he saved her without even meaning to.”

Chase’s eyes fluttered shut again, a tear slipping down his temple.

“We’re okay,” he whispered hoarsely. “We’re all okay.”

I bent down, kissed his forehead, and held our daughter a little tighter.

“Yes,” I whispered. “We are.”

Chapter Fifty-Two

CHASE

Now, May 2025

Home.

When I was chasing down a madman driving an SUV with my stolen baby inside, I hadn’t been sure I’d make it back here. But here I was, slouched in our living room recliner like some wounded old man, shoulder strapped up like a goddamn marionette, while Mom buzzed around the house like we were all one bad sneeze away from catastrophe.

“You need more water,” she announced, refilling the glass on the end table before I could stop her. “And don’t forget your antibiotics. They said with the amount of blood loss?—”

“I’m literally looking at the pill bottle, Mom.”

“Don’t sass me, Chase Everton.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

From the couch, Elena snorted. She was curled up with Luci,who was contentedly gnawing on the ear of a stuffed sloth like she hadn’t recently been through an abduction and a car crash.

Babies. Built-in resilience. Or maybe she just knew she was safe.

Elena looked tired but steady. That specific kind of exhaustion only people who’d seen too much and survived it could wear with grace. Her head was still bandaged, bruising at her hairline fading from deep purple to yellow. Her eyes were bright, though. Sharp. Watching me.

Always watching me.

I still had nightmares. I still woke up sweating, gasping, hearing the gunshot again. Seeing her crumple.

But then I’d look to my side and find her there. Breathing. Solid. Holding my hand.

That’s how I knew I was okay.

“You comfortable?” Elena asked.

“I mean, if you overlook the fact that my bones feel like cooked spaghetti and my mother just threatened to hydrate me into a coma? Yeah. Peachy.”

Mom gave me a pointed look as she passed through again with a folded blanket and a tray of cut fruit. “You’re welcome,” she muttered.

“Love you, too.”

Tessa and Elliot had dropped off a vat of soup earlier. The look in Tessa’s eyes said she was one bad update away from burning down the entire town. She’d whispered to Luci,“Next time you scream, I’m coming with a bat,”before kissing her forehead and heading back out.

My family. Messy. Loud. Fierce.

Mine.

I reached for Luci as Elena scooted closer, and with some careful rearranging and a lot of awkward one-armed fumbling, my daughter was tucked against my chest.