“Whatever the hell you’re thinking, stop,” Donovan said. “I don’t know what’s going through your head right now, but Eve, you can trust me. I realize that you don’t trust anyone. That much is evident. It’s also equally evident that you’re in some kind of trouble. You have nothing to fear from me. Or from Maren. We only want to help.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Eve whispered, glancing desperately in Cammie’s direction.
It was the wrong thing to do, and she cursed that she’d broadcast her fear for her sister to see.
Cammie immediately started crying. Not loudly. No. Cammie had learned to be quiet at all times. Big, silent tears rolled down her cheeks, and her thin shoulders shook. Tears pricked Eve’s eyelids as her heart broke into a thousand pieces.
She broke away from Donovan, and this time he let her go. She flew to the couch and knelt, pulling Cammie into her arms.
“Please don’t worry, darling,” Eve soothed. “He only wants to help. He wants to bring a doctor to see you and make you all better. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
Even as she said it, she knew that as soon as Travis got home from work, they’d pack their meager belongings and as much of the food that Donovan had brought as they could carry, and by the time Donovan showed up with his doctor tomorrow, they’d be long gone.
They were far too exposed here. First the woman who had hired Travis and now her brother. He wanted to bring in a doctor and God only knew who else. What if it was all a ruse? What if the cops showed up at her door tomorrow?
They needed anonymity. They needed a place where they would gain no notice. Where they’d be just another poor, struggling family among many.
There were shelters in larger cities. Maybe even Memphis, if they could get that far. There had to be a way for them to get the shelter they needed until Eve could pick up a steady enough job to bolster their finances. She and Trav could tag-team, where one would always be with Cammie while the other worked.
“What did he bring to eat?” Cammie whispered.
Her question nearly undid Eve.
“I brought lots of yummy things that my niece, who is about your age, assures me are the best things ever,” Donovan said cheerfully.
Eve yanked her head around to see that Donovan had followed them over.
“But I think perhaps we should take it easy on your stomach. At least until you’re feeling a little better. How does a grilled cheese, hot soup and a Sprite sound?”
Cammie’s eye brightened. “I love grilled cheese sandwiches.”
“Consider it done,” Donovan said, performing an exaggerated bow that elicited a giggle from Cammie.
Eve watched in wonder as Cammie relaxed under the force of nature that was Donovan Kelly. The man was too good to be true, and Eve had learned the hard way that what appeared to be too good was precisely that. A facade.
“Mind if I steal Eve a moment so she can help me whip up lunch?” Donovan asked.
Cammie slowly nodded, her hand automatically going to her mouth. She slid her thumb inside, a habit she’d only recently adopted. One that was a result of the stress they were all under.
Donovan nudged Eve’s elbow, guiding her away from the couch and back to the tiny kitchenette. He took over as if this were indeed his own kitchen. She stood stiffly, watching as he expertly put together the meal, even including a cupcake on a separate paper plate for Cammie’s dessert.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked in a low voice. “You don’t know me—us. Why would you go to this much trouble for complete strangers?”
His head whipped up and for the first time she caught a glint of anger in his green eyes.
“What would you have me do, Eve? Turn a blind eye to people who desperately need help? Or ignore the fact that you’re scared to death and are running from something or someone? Don’t look so stunned. It’s not hard to figure out. And if I can see it, don’t you think everyone else can? Only those others won’t be of no danger to you like I am. I get that you don’t trust anyone. Believe me, I get that. But I’m going to do everything in my power to change that. There are good people in the world. I’m trying to convince you that I’m one of them.”
“It could be dangerous for you,” she blurted.
It was as close to an acknowledgment of what he already knew as she was going to get.
Some of the anger dimmed from his eyes, and once again she saw that glimmer that told her she wasn’t just someone in need he was helping. And it befuddled her.
“How about you let me decide what I consider dangerous? You say I know nothing about you, but, Eve, you know nothing about me. Yet. And believe me when I say I am not going to let anything happen to you or Cammie and Travis.”
The hell of it was, in that moment, he spoke with so much conviction that she found herself believing him when she should be believing or trusting no one.
“Now here’s what I want you to do,” Donovan said as he pushed one of the two plates he’d prepared across the counter to her. “I want you to go sit with Cammie and eat. You’re as badly in need of a meal as she is.”
“And what are you going to do?” she asked quietly.
“I’m going to finish putting away the things I brought and make sure your refrigerator is stocked. And then I’m going to make a list of anything else you need so that when I come with Maren tomorrow, I’ll bring whatever then.”
CHAPTER 9
IT took everything Donovan had to walk out of Eve’s trailer and stroll to his truck like he’d just been on some neighborly errand for his mother. He was seething on the inside, and he couldn’t even pinpoint the exact target of his rage.