“I’m not so old that I don’t know what’s what,” she scolded. “A man and a woman alone together is just asking for trouble. Think about how this looks. You’re just so impulsive, Kaylee. I don’t want you to do something else you’ll regret.”

Kay hadn’t had the mental energy to reassure her mother. Their car had just been blown up. Something her mom didn’t seem to be taking all that seriously if her only concern was whether Kay was running off to “shack up” with some man.

No matter what she did, her mother would always assume the worst. She shivered and pulled her coat closer. In her mother’s eyes, her life was defined by her mistakes. She’d trusted the wrong man and ended up pregnant and unmarried. In Henrietta’s world, that was something shameful. Something to be hidden. Nothing she could do now would ever make up for embarrassing her mother in front of her conservative church friends.

It was a chilling thought to realize that she’d never be good enough.

“Are you cold?” Eli turned up the heat and pointed the air vent in her direction.

“I’m okay,” she whispered. Hope had been restless the first hour of the trip, whimpering and crying the entire time. She’d finally settled for banging her teething ring against the side of her car seat. Kay was afraid to talk too loud and attract the baby’s attention again. Her head was still ringing from the past hour of crying.

“Who knew about your date tonight?” Eli took her hint and lowered his voice to a near whisper as well.

“No one, really. Danny, of course. I told Sasha and I also e-mailed Mara and Ridley about it, too.” She fell silent. It wasn’t hard to understand why he was asking the question. It would have taken some planning to put an explosive under their car in the short time they were in the restaurant. Someone had to have known where they’d be and planned ahead.

Only she hadn’t even known about her date until today. It had been a last-minute thing, after all.

“Danny asked me to dinner over e-mail today. It wasn’t something we’d planned in advance. What if I hadn’t gone tonight? Would they have blown up my apartment, instead?”

“It’s possible.” Despite his harsh words, Eli’s face was gentle as he turned to her. “I’m sorry, Kay.”

Tears welled in her eyes. She’d initially balked at the idea of going into hiding. It was so drastic, to just up and leave her job, family, and friends.

But Eli’s argument had been simple yet persuasive. If she stayed, her family and friends would be in the crosshairs.

Leaving was safer for them.

Kay turned her face to the window, watching the faint shadows of the trees pass by in the darkness. She wasn’t entirely sure where they were, just that they were on Interstate 95 on the way to Eli’s house in Northern Virginia. With every mile they traveled, they drove farther away from all the things she knew and cared about.

Just a few days ago, her biggest worry was finishing her album and saving enough money to start a college fund for Hope. There were days when she’d grown frustrated, of course, but she had so many things in her life that kept her grounded. Her daughter, her friends and family. Her songwriting. Now she had no idea what she was. Rootless. Homeless. With one act, some faceless person had taken away her foundation.

She’d been working on lyrics in the car on the way to the restaurant earlier. All she could think about was that notepad, blown to ash and scattered to the wind.

Just like the rest of her life.

CHAPTER TEN

WHEN THEY PULLED up to the single-story bungalow with blue shutters, Kay’s first thought was that Eli was stopping at a friend’s house. It wasn’t until he grabbed their bags and then pulled out his keys that she figured out where they were.

It had to be Eli’s house.

She carefully unhooked Hope’s car seat from its base and followed him, eager to see the inside. When she’d imagined Eli at his place, she’d expected something more modern. A cool condo or one of the newer-construction homes that all looked the same with perfectly square lawns. This little house looked homey and inviting. It looked like a family with a toddler and a dog should live there, not a bachelor.

Then Kay realized with a chill that perhaps Eli’d had a family at one time. She’d never asked him if he’d been married or engaged before.

After opening the door, Eli keyed something into a security panel next to the door. Then he motioned for Kay to follow him inside. “Home sweet home. Make yourself comfortable.”

Kay set the baby carrier next to the stairs and shrugged out of her coat. Eli took it and hung it on the banister. After whimpering in the car for the first hour of the trip, Hope was finally sound asleep, so Kay wasn’t in any hurry to disturb her just yet.

“So this is your house.”

Eli grunted a reply and walked off, leaving her by herself. Kay huffed out a breath. Then she pulled out her cell phone to call Sasha. If she didn’t let her friend know she was out of town, she might come by the house or her job. She didn’t want her to worry. After a quick conversation, she hung up and looked around.

If Eli wasn’t going to offer her a tour, she would just be nosy and show herself around.

The dining room had a simple table and chairs but no mirror on the wall or decorations of any kind. There was a small living room on the other side of the stairs, similarly barren of furniture and decorations. It smelled like it had been recently painted. She turned around and followed the sound of Eli’s voice until she found him in a bright, modern kitchen. Kay perked up at the sight. The surfaces gleamed and the appliances looked brand new.