“Your name is Drew?”

  “Yes,” he replies, keeping his distance.

  Landon told me he was the one to bring me to Mum and Dad’s. I only remember small parts, and he’s one of them—and it was his smell I remember the most. I have a lot to thank him for.

  I give him a small wave. “Hi. I’m Charlotte.”

  His lips twitch. “I know.”

  I force my top back out of my face, trying to keep myself covered. “It’s my cat, Katnip. She likes to play hide and seek.”

  He smiles and it makes the angles of his jaw sharper. “Do you want some help getting down?” he asks, just as another tear happens.

  I close my eyes as I whimper. “That would be really helpful.”

  He chuckles as he kicks the step ladder aside. He rests the back of my neck on his shoulder before I feel him reach for my leg, getting it out of the mess I got it in. “Turn a little.”

  I grip his shoulders for support, and with his help, I manage to turn, facing him. Seconds later, his warm hands are on my hips and he’s lifting me before lowering me to the ground.

  With my feet steadily on the floor, I straighten my bottoms, my face flaming when I realise I have my ‘Must be Tuesday’ knickers on and he would have seen them.

  I tilt my head up, way up, and say, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” he tells me, his gaze going to my T-shirt, his lips twitching.

  I glance down and inwardly groan. I have on my ‘Short girls; God only lets things grow until they’re perfect. Some of us didn’t take as long as others’ T-shirt.

  It’s funny when you’re short. I guess not so much when you’re seriously tall like him.

  “Hey, cutie.”

  I jerk, inhaling sharply. “Excuse me?” I blurt out, wondering if I heard him correctly.

  Does he think I’m cute?

  He’s not looking at me though. He’s no longer even standing in front of me. On his tiptoes, he pulls Katnip out of the tree. My lips part as she begins to purr, rubbing her nose into his hair.

  And he has a lot of hair.

  And tattoos.

  Even his knuckles and fingers have designs on. I bite my lip, wondering if everything is tattooed.

  “Cute cat,” he comments, and I blush, looking up from his crotch.

  “How did you do that?” I whisper.

  He freezes. “Do what?”

  “She’s purring.”

  “Um…”

  I wave him off. “It’s okay, we are still bonding.”

  I take her off of him and immediately, her claws dig into my skin. I ignore the pain, and cling onto her. I can’t take her back inside, not while the windows are still open. “You can go and take her inside.”

  I bite my lip, not wanting to be rude to him, because he saved me and my cat, but I can’t invite him inside. It’s my space again.

  “I’ll wait over there,” he tells me, pointing to my decking furniture.

  “Okay, I’ll be a minute,” I whisper, and quickly head in through the backdoor, pulling the window closed in there before heading upstairs and doing the same. I watch from my bedroom window as he pulls something out of his back pocket, placing it on the table before taking a seat.

  I catch a flicker of movement in Lily’s garden and my eyes widen when Jaxon jumps over the small gate and lands in mine.

  Sugar.

  Drew stands, his fists clenching, and I quickly deposit Katnip on my bed before racing down the stairs, grabbing the hoodie off the kitchen side before pushing out the backdoor.

  “Who are you?” Jaxon asks.

  “It should be me asking you that since you just snuck into the resident’s garden.”

  I quickly shove the hoodie on. “Jaxon, hi.”

  “Who is this guy?” he demands.

  “It’s Drew. He works with Landon. He, um…” My forehead creases as it occurs to me. “I actually don’t know why he’s here.”

  Drew smirks as he lifts the fluffy purse off the table. “I came to return this. I found it in my car.”

  I smile, but it drops when I realise why it was in there.

  “Thank you,” I whisper, taking it from him.

  “Are you okay with him? Do you want me to get Landon?”

  I shake my head. “I’m fine thank you, Jaxon.”

  He nods, giving one last look to Drew before jumping back onto his side of the garden, heading for his house.

  “He’s friendly.”

  I laugh. “He can be a little scary.”

  “Nice hoodie,” he comments.

  My eyes widen when I realise it’s his hoodie from that night. “You can have it back. I’m sorry.”

  He smiles. “Keep it.”

  I sag with relief. Because I was lying. I was willing to bribe him for it. It reaches past my knees if I don’t roll it up. I love it.

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t bring it sooner,” he tells me, pointing to the purse. “I only found it twenty minutes ago.”

  “Thank you. You didn’t need to do that,” I tell him, before glancing around, not knowing what to say. “I, um, I got everything replaced.”

  “That’s good.”

  I fiddle with sleeve of the hoodie. I’m not sure why he’s still here, but I have a feeling he wants to say something else.

  “Did you, um, want a drink or something?”

  He smiles. “No, but thank you,” he replies. “There’s, um, there’s actually something I’d like to talk to you about.”

  Really? “Talk to me about?”

  “Yes,” he answers and sits back down. I pull out a chair and take a seat, facing him. “My little sister, she was attacked a few years ago after walking home from school. She was saved before things escalated, and ever since then I’ve been wanting to build up a self-defence class.”

  My palms clam up and I fight back tears. “I’m sorry about your sister,” I whisper. “Is she okay?”

  “She has her bad days, but she’s a fighter. She’s actually fighting for the right to express herself in school.”

  I smile at that. It reminds me of Hayden. “My cousin Hayden was suspended for a week for trying to express her rights as a woman at school.”

  He chuckles. “Same as Nora. Now she’s writing a letter of apology that’s basically a letter telling them where they are going wrong.”

  “She sounds awesome.”

  “She is,” he replies. “She’s the reason I’m here. And you.”

  “I’m not sure what you want me to do,” I admit.

  “At the minute, the only women attending are one’s who want to keep in shape. That’s not what the class is about. My sister thinks I’m not getting the right clients because the women need assurance to attend. They need someone there who has lived through a trauma, someone who will make them feel safe and secure; to let them know it’s okay to be there.”

  “Are you teaching the class?”

  He smiles. “Yes. Landon scared the last class off.”

  My lips twitch at that. “It could be your height.”

  “My height?”

  “I don’t know a lot about victim support, but my mum does. She volunteers to help other women. She’s also a survivor and recently, she talked more about it to me and she said it wasn’t as much men who scared her, or women, but it was their presence and height. If she felt overpowered, she would withdraw into herself.”

  “Wait, isn’t your mum married to a Carter?”

  I nod whilst smiling. I knew he would make that leap of logic. Yes, the male Carter’s are well-known for their unique ‘presence’ and can certainly be intimidating when they need to be. They are a force to be reckoned with. And aren’t shy. “They healed her.”

  “I want my gym to be that for other survivors. I want them to be able to defend themselves or feel empowered by knowing that they can.”

  I fiddle with my sleeve as the backs of my eyes begin to burn. “I want to feel like that.”

  “Hey, you will again.”

  I shake my head as I look up. “I’ve never felt it to begin with. I’ve walked through life with my head in the clouds. I had a family who would die for me, kill for me. I never had to worry about anything. Until now. And it’s made me realise how weak and naive I truly am.”

  He sits back, crossing his ankle over his thigh. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s not your fault. I think deep down you already know that. I’m not going to pretend I know who you are and say you aren’t naïve.” He pauses when a choked sound rumbles in back of my throat. He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “But the girl I saw drive into the car park of my gym is not weak. I saw someone who was in pain yet didn’t want to disturb her cousin because he was with his girlfriend. I saw someone, so scared and in pain, worry more about her cat. I saw someone who had just escaped an assault and managed to get to safety.”

  I run my hands over my thighs, taking a deep breath. I can’t talk about this, not now, not with him. “I guess you are here to ask me to attend these classes?”

  “No, I want to train you to help me run them,” he declares, and for some reason, he sounds more surprised by his offer than me.

  “What?”

  He nods, like he’s silently agreeing to something in his head. “Yeah. I want to train you in self-defence. The women need to know they can trust me and you said so yourself, my height intimidates people.”

  “I’m not scared of your height,” I whisper.

  His lips tug up but he quickly masks it, keeping a straight face. “It’s not just about helping them, or helping me. It’s going to help you too.”

  “Landon already offered,” I admit, but I had said no.

  “And why did you say no?”

  “How do you know I said no?”

  He grins and it’s nice. He’s nice. “Because he’s family and knowing him, he asked too soon.”

  I tuck my hair behind my ears and his gaze follows the movement before he clears his throat, glancing away.

  “Can I think about it?”

  “Of course,” he tells me, and sits up, pulling out his wallet. He slides out a card and hands it to me. “My number is on that card if you change your mind. Or you can come Thursday at six as the gym closes early.”

  “Thank you, and for this,” I tell him, holding up my purse.

  He gets to his feet but pauses, glancing at the purse. “What is it meant to be?”

  A giggle slips free. “It’s a monster unicorn.”

  His lips twitch as his gaze locks onto mine. After a moment, he shakes his head and takes a step back. “Take care, Charlotte.”

  “You too,” I whisper, watching him walk away. My pulse picks up as I step forward, then freeze.

  You can do this.

  I try again, but my feet are glued to the ground.

  Just before he reaches the house, I yell, not knowing what else to do. “Wait!”

  He pauses and turns. “You okay?”

  “Thank you. Thank you for everything you did for me that night.”

  “Any time,” he replies, before heading off.

  The card creases in my hand as I take in deep breaths.

  I can do this.

  With that mantra in my head, I walk inside, ready to start baking the fourteenth batch of cakes.

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHARLOTTE

  Books are life.

  They are an escape, they are love, they are historic, and sometimes, a teacher without the voice.

  Every day I get to surround myself with every type of book and it always makes me feel blessed. Most people don’t get to live their dream when it comes to work. In today’s society, you can’t be choosey if you want to survive and make a decent living. I’m lucky to have a head start. I wouldn’t own this place if it weren’t for the help of my family, and every day I cherish it that little bit more.

  Carter’s Library is my favourite place to be.

  Being back after such a long period of time feels comforting yet disconcerting at the same time. I’m not sure what I was expecting in coming back, but it’s like something has shifted inside of me. It seems to be another thing that thrives without me, just like everything else in my life. I shake those dark thoughts away. I’m not going back there. After the hospital, I had a lot of them, and I didn’t like how they made me feel.

  I head over to the reception desk. Marlene, a new girl I hired a few months ago, smacks her lips as she chews on her gum whilst filing her nails.

  A heavy sigh slips free. “Marlene, did you go over next month’s schedule like I asked?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And?”

  She looks up with a bored expression. “And what?”

  “Marlene,” I call out when she goes back to her nails. “How many bookings do we have?”

  I rely on those bookings, and although Rita ran things while I was gone, there was only so much she could do.

  “It’s all on the computer.”

  She goes back to her nails, leaving me standing there gawking at her. I grab a trolley filled with returns and leave her to it. One day, I’ll find someone to work here who will actually love it as much as me. Rita is amazing, but she isn’t good with the kids. In fact, I’m pretty sure she despises them.

  “Hey, Charlotte, you’re back.”

  I turn at the sound of one of our regulars. “Rose— oh my God, it’s so good to see you,” I greet, pulling her in for a hug.

  We bonded over our love for books. She is obsessed with historical romance novels, just like me.

  “And you,” she tells me when I pull back. “You’ve been gone a while.”

  My expression drops but I force my smile in place. “Yeah, I, um, I had some family stuff going on.”

  “Nothing serious I hope?”

  I shake my head. “No. Nothing serious,” I lie.

  “Well, I’m so glad you’re back. The new chick didn’t even know where the historical romance section was, let alone recommend a book.”

  “I’m sorry.” I grimace. “She’s still getting used to her new role.”

  “She didn’t even know who you were.”

  “It’s a work in progress,” I tell her, then clear my throat. “Follow me. I’ve actually got the perfect book for you.”

  “How are you anyway? Still with your boyfriend?” she asks, keeping in step with me.

  I nearly trip over my feet. I grip the bookstand, coming to a stop at the end of the aisle. “No, we, um, we broke up.”

  It hurts. It hurts so much because he was never mine to break up with. None of it was real. It was just a ploy.

  And he ruined my first time. My nightmares have been focussed on that night. Not him hitting me, not him yelling, not even him admitting he was married. It was him not stopping, him taking something beautiful away from me.

  She reaches out, rubbing my arm. “I’m sorry. I know you really liked him.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “I’ve had my fair share of breakups, so if you ever need a lending ear, I’m all yours.”

  “Thank you, but it’s really okay,” I whisper, really not wanting to talk about it.

  I’m afraid I’ll break down and cry. And I hate crying.

  “How about your cat? Has he stopped scratching you?”

  I relax, happy with the subject change. Then excitedly share the good news. “He purred the other day.”

  Not because of me but that’s okay.

  “That’s great news.”

  I beam at her, and reach for the book I was searching for. “It is,” I reply, then hand her the book. “Read this one. The author sent us a bunch of copies and it’s been a great hit.”

  She turns the book over, glancing at the back. I’m not a fan of reading blurbs. Not all the time anyway.

  “Thank you. This looks awesome.”

  “It is,” I assure her, having already read it.

  “Yo, Farley, you’ve got a visitor.”

  I force a smile as I turn to Rose. “I’ve been summoned.”

  “I guess she forgot your name again.”

  “It’s a work in progress,” I repeat, then point to the book. “Enjoy.”

  “I’m going to finish browsing, but next time, we need to have a coffee and a catch-up.”

  “Definitely,” I tell her, then head out of the stacks. I stroll toward the front, surprised to see Paisley waiting for me. “Hey, is everything okay?”

  Her shoulders drop when she sees me. “Can we talk?”

  “Of course,” I tell her. “We can go into the back. No one sits there.”

  “I thought you had an office.”

  I give Marlene a quick glance and shrug. “It’s not away from prying ears.”

  “Ah,” she murmurs and then follows me to the back. This is where we have the kids come in and study.

  I’m the first to take a seat and Paisley follows, reaching for the cushion and cuddling it to her chest. “I’m sorry to turn up on your first day of work.”

  “It’s fine, it’s lovely to see you again. But what has brought you here?”

  She ducks her head, playing with some lint on her jeans. “I’m worried about Landon.”

  I go on alert, sitting up straighter. “Is he okay? Did something happen?”

  “No, it’s—” she stops, confliction written over her face. I’m about to ask what’s going on when she suddenly stands. “It’s fine. Forget it. I shouldn’t have come.”

  I grab her wrist, pulling her back down. “No, tell me what’s going on.”

  When I see the tears in her eyes, dread hits my stomach. “Forget it, please. It was wrong of me to come and talk to you about this. You’ve got a lot going on.”

  “Please,” I plead.

  She wrings her fingers together. “He’s not himself. He’s been staying out late and leaving really early. I barely see him.”

  “Because of me,” I whisper, slumping in my chair.

  “No, because of me. I think he blames me for what happened.”

  “Why on earth would he do that?”

  “Because if it weren’t for me, he’d have been there for you. He could have prevented this.”

  I shake my head, reaching for her hand. “No, Paisley. What Scott did is no one’s fault but my own. No one could have stopped it from happening.”

  She wipes under her eyes. “I’m sorry. I had a whole conversation played out in my head but now that I’m here, I feel rude for bringing it up. I know you are still recovering.”