Chapter 135

Sloane was the one who used to panic first. If Caleb so much as sniffled, she would grab tissues, apologies, and excuses and build a bridge for him to run back to safety. Today, she just stirred her coffee. Across the small café table, her son clung to her sleeve like a lifeline. His cheeks were thinner than she remembered, his eyes too big in his pale face. “Mom, I’m not doing this because Grandma told me to,” he blurted. “I came because I missed you.” He said it in a rush, like a memorized line. The wolf in her, the part that tasted lies in the air, that heard every stutter in a heartbeat, caught the almost. Almost truth, almost courage. Sloane gently slipped her arm out of his grip and folded her hands in her lap. “I know why you came, Caleb.” His gaze darted to the door. Through the glass, a black sedan idled at the curb, her ex-husband’s secretary leaning on it, pretending not to watch them. Caleb’s shoulders hunched. “I don’t sleep well without your stories,” he tried again, voic