Chapter Five: The Woman Who Waited
1311 Words
Gavin’s expression hardened the moment his boots touched the concrete.
“What are you doing here?”
Not *Are you okay?*
Not *I’m glad you came.*
The question sounded like an accusation.
I folded my arms. “You weren’t answering.”
“I was on a call.”
“I know that now.”
His eyes moved to Cole.
“What did you say to her?”
Cole picked up the equipment he had been cleaning. “Nothing she wanted to hear.”
“This doesn’t involve you.”
“You brought it into the station.”
“I told you to stay out of it.”
“And I told you to stop using this place to meet her.”
The other firefighters began unloading equipment from the engine. None of them looked directly at us, but everyone was listening.
Gavin noticed too.
He stepped closer and lowered his voice.
“Harper, wait outside.”
I stared at him.
Again.
The same command. The same attempt to move me somewhere no one had to see me.
“No.”
His eyebrows lifted. “What?”
“I’m not going to the car so you can decide which version of the truth to give me.”
“This isn’t the place.”
“It never is.”
Cole leaned against the workbench, watching us with an expression that made me want to slap him.
Not amusement.
Judgment.
As though every second I stayed only proved what he already believed about me.
Gavin caught my elbow.
“Outside. Now.”
I pulled free.
“Don’t touch me like that.”
His hand dropped immediately.
A firefighter near the engine glanced over. Gavin forced a smile in his direction, then looked back at me.
“Please.”
The word was softer, but the anger underneath it remained.
I walked outside because I refused to give the entire station more to whisper about.
Gavin followed me into the parking lot.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
“I came to talk to you.”
“At my job?”
“You invited me here yesterday.”
“That was different.”
“Why? Because yesterday no one knew I had discovered your children?”
His face tightened.
“I told you we would talk after my shift.”
“You sent me three messages and ignored everything I asked.”
“I was working.”
“You had time to tell me not to let someone destroy us.”
“Because that’s exactly what they’re trying to do.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Cole says it wasn’t him.”
Gavin gave a humorless laugh. “And you believed him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You met him twice, and suddenly his word matters more than mine?”
“That isn’t what I said.”
“You came here looking for answers from him.”
“I came here looking for you.”
“Then why were you standing alone with him?”
The question stopped me.
There was something ugly in his tone.
Something almost jealous.
“Are you serious?”
“I know Cole.”
“So?”
“So he likes being the hero. He finds damaged things and decides he’s the only person qualified to save them.”
My stomach tightened at the word *damaged*.
“I don’t need him to save me.”
“I know.” Gavin stepped closer. “But he doesn’t.”
“You think Cole wants me?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
It hurt, even though I didn’t understand why.
Gavin saw my expression.
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“What did you mean?”
“He hates what we’re doing. He’ll use anything he can to make you walk away.”
“Maybe he doesn’t have to use anything.”
Gavin’s face went still.
I forced myself to continue.
“Tell Natalie about me.”
“We already discussed this.”
“No. You explained why you wouldn’t do it, and I stayed quiet.”
“I’m trying to avoid destroying my children’s lives.”
“You’re already lying to their mother.”
“That doesn’t mean I need to make it worse tonight.”
“Then when?”
“I don’t know.”
“Give me a date.”
“Harper.”
“A week? A month? Before Sophie’s next birthday?”
His eyes flashed at the mention of his daughter.
“You don’t get to use my children against me.”
“I’m not using them.”
“You met them through one photograph.”
“Because you hid them from me.”
A car pulled into the lot.
Gavin stepped away immediately.
The movement was instinctive.
Fast enough to make my chest ache.
The driver was an older woman dropping off food for one of the firefighters. She barely glanced at us before walking toward the station.
Still, Gavin had moved as though being seen beside me was dangerous.
I laughed quietly.
“What?”
“You say I’m not a secret you’re ashamed of, but every time someone appears, you stop standing near me.”
“That woman knows Natalie.”
“Of course she does.”
“Harper, be reasonable.”
Reasonable.
The word adults used when they wanted me to accept whatever was easiest for them.
Be reasonable, Harper. This family can’t keep you.
Be reasonable. Your belongings are already packed.
Be reasonable. It’s better not to get attached.
“I’m tired of being reasonable.”
Gavin reached for me again.
This time, I stepped back before he could touch me.
“I need a few days.”
His expression sharpened. “For what?”
“To think.”
“About ending this?”
“Yes.”
The word left my mouth before I could take it back.
Gavin stared at me.
Fear moved across his face, but it quickly became tenderness.
He knew which expression worked better.
“You don’t mean that.”
“You don’t know what I mean.”
“I know you love me.”
“That doesn’t make this right.”
“No. It makes it worth fixing.”
He took my face between his hands.
For a second, I let him.
Then I heard the station door open behind us.
Cole walked outside carrying a black duffel bag.
His gaze landed on Gavin’s hands against my face.
The contempt returned.
I pushed Gavin away.
Cole said nothing as he crossed the parking lot.
Gavin watched him.
“See?” he murmured. “He wants you ashamed.”
I looked at Cole’s back.
He didn’t turn around.
“He doesn’t have to try very hard.”
Gavin caught my wrist before I could leave.
“Come to the apartment with me tonight.”
“What apartment?”
“The one I showed you.”
My heart stopped.
“You signed the lease?”
“Not yet. The manager said I could see it again.”
“Why?”
“So you can understand that I’m serious.”
I wanted to say no.
I wanted proof more.
“Tonight?”
“After my shift.”
I looked toward the station.
Cole had reached his truck. Before opening the door, he glanced back at us.
His eyes moved to Gavin’s hand around my wrist.
Then to my face.
He still didn’t intervene.
He simply looked away and got inside.
For some reason, that angered me more than his insults.
Gavin loosened his grip.
“Eight o’clock,” he said. “I’ll pick you up.”
I nodded.
Not because I trusted him.
Because I needed to see whether the future he kept promising had walls—
or whether it was only another empty room he would never let me enter.
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