Chapter 49

Evie stirs again when Brody’s car door shuts, but she doesn’t wake, so Gavin has to carry her upstairs when he gets home. She always sleeps in his bed when she visits, so he tucks her in and retires to the couch. It’s getting late, and he has an early day tomorrow—Mondays in the summer he drops her off at daycare before heading into the office. Because he knows he needs to get to sleep, he’s sure he’ll be up half the night.

But he’s more worn out from the beach and the drive than he thought, because one moment he’s stretching out on the couch, and the next, he’s blinking awake to the sound of early morning cartoons. “Hi, Daddy!” Evie says brightly from where she sits at the coffee table, a bowl of cereal in front of her.

He rubs his eyes and glances at his watch. “What time is it?”

Evie answers by saying, “Mommy called. I told her you were sleeping.”

Shit. Marian?“What’d she want?” he asks, though for the life of him, he can’t imagine.