Unbreak My Heart (Strawberry Inn Book #4)

Chapter 27

DALTON

It was just past noon when Eva, Elizabeth, and I made it back to the apartment complex. I was glad that Nathan decided to call it quits for the day. Eva was getting restless and Elizabeth’s heart seemed to break the more she learned about her dad. At least he was behind bars right now and wasn’t a threat. The lawyers from the state were going to meet with the police to decide on charges and his arraignment. I wanted to be there to see him in court, even if Elizabeth didn’t want to be there. He needed to know that he messed with the wrong women because they had me now.

After yesterday, I wasn’t sure if Elizabeth was going to want me to join her in her apartment. We may have cleared the air a bit, but I still wanted to give her space if she needed it. I was pleasantly surprised when she brought the topic up first. “Can we go to your place?”

“Yeah, of course.” I turned around to talk to Eva who was in the backseat, “What do you want for lunch, kiddo? That chocolate bar at the police station didn’t count.” I winked at her and Eva giggled. Even though the last two days had been stressful, she was still smiling.

“Do you have chicken nuggets?”

“Do I have chicken nuggets?” I replied dramatically. Elizabeth laughed and I turned to her, “Can you believe she’s asking if I have chicken nuggets?”

“After all these months, you think she would know.”

“Is that a yes then?” Eva grinned.

“Of course, it is a yes, Eva. Tell ya what, I’ll make you and Katie some chicken nuggets and I can probably make a mean tuna fish sandwich for your mom and me.”

Eva upturned her nose, “Eww, tuna fish!”

Elizabeth rested her hand on my shoulder, “She may not be a fan of tuna fish, but you know I am. Can you take her with you? I just want to stop by our place and pick up a couple of things.”

“Is everything okay?”

She nodded, “It’s fine, I just wanted to get out of these clothes and maybe bring over some ingredients to make dinner later. That is if you’re okay with us sticking around until dinner.”

“You know I’m okay with you sticking around as long as you want to.”

Elizabeth took a right to go to their apartment and I took Eva with me and we headed left and up the stairs to my place. I originally called Angela to see if she could watch Katie, but she had a few meetings this morning so she sent a text while we were still on the phone and before we hung up she received word from Emory that she wouldn’t mind coming over. She was nearing the end of her pregnancy and was working from home rather than the office at the vineyard. She said it was easy enough for her to bring her laptop with her so we could take as much or as little time as we needed. Emory was the wild card when it came to the gals in our little friend’s group, but Katie loved her because she was by far the funniest. I still can’t believe I went so many years without a support system. I don’t know what I would do without them now.

“Eva!” Katie jumped off the couch and almost tackled Eva at the front entrance. I forgot that she hadn’t seen her since lunch recess the day before. She knew her best friend was safe, but she needed to see for herself. The two girls hugged so tightly you would have thought it was weeks since they’d seen each other.

“Did everything go okay?” Emory asked from the couch, starting to hoist herself up.

“You don’t need to get up, Emory, geez don’t hurt yourself.”