Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries #5)(28)

She couldn’t see the screen of the computer because he was sitting in profile, but it looked like he was . . .

Yes . . . he was signing the word for safe.

As she watched, confused, he then signed, You’re safe. Then he clicked on something on the laptop in front of him and did it again. And again.

Then he signed, My name is Ball. You’re safe.

His signs were slow and hesitant, but when she realized what he was doing, Everly’s knees threatened to buckle.

She must’ve made some sort of noise, or maybe Ball just sensed he wasn’t alone anymore, because he turned his head and saw her standing there.

“Hey,” he said softly.

“What are you doing?” she asked, even though it was obvious.

Ball shrugged and gestured to his computer. “There are a ton of videos on the internet on how to do sign language, but it’s not as easy as it looks.”

He sounded discouraged, and Everly hated that for him. “You were doing a good job.”

“I suck. It’s okay, you can say it.”

“You don’t. Like you said, it’s not as easy as it looks. And I knew what you were saying—and so will Elise.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” he admitted. “I searched Elise’s computer for a while. Then I started working on a website I’m designing, just to keep busy, hoping Rex would call and have more information about her phone. But I kept thinking about your sister. I couldn’t stop. I thought about what would happen if we had to bust a house that she’s being kept in or something. How I might scare her because she wouldn’t be able to hear me. So I thought if I learned a few things, it might keep her calm until you could get to her.”

Everly wanted to cry. In her entire life, that was probably the most amazing thing a man had ever done for her. “If you really want to learn, I’ll help you.”

“Yeah?” Ball asked, looking at her once more.

“Yeah.”

“Thanks. What are you doing up? You were sleeping soundly when I checked.”

It was such a strange conversation. One that two lovers might have. Or a husband and wife. Everly forced the thought from her head. She did like that he’d checked on her, though. It was . . . nice. She shrugged. “I just woke up.”

Ball closed the laptop and stood. He came toward her. She looked up at him when he stopped right in front her. Neither moved. Everly couldn’t even breathe.

“Come on, there’s still time to get a few more hours of sleep before we’ll need to be up and at ’em again.”

Ball reached out, and for a second Everly thought he was going to hug her, but his hand rested lightly on her lower back, and he turned her. She walked ahead of him, back toward the room they were using.

He kept his hand on her until she reached the side of the bed. “Climb in,” he said softly.

She did, scooting across the mattress until she was on her side again. Not surprised when he followed a minute later and wrapped an arm around her waist, Everly relaxed into him.

After a couple of minutes, she said, “When I woke up, I was worried because you hadn’t come to bed. For a second I thought maybe you found out something bad about Elise and didn’t want to tell me.”

“I told you I wouldn’t do that.”

“I know. But I’ve been lied to before, Ball. Lots of times.”

“You’re a cop. I get it.”

She shook her head. “Yeah, but that’s not what I mean.” She felt him stiffen slightly behind her. Everly hadn’t told anyone this story before, but after what she’d just seen—Ball trying to learn sign language to soothe a scared teenager—she felt like he deserved her honesty.

“My mom lied to me all the time. All the time. From as far back as I can remember, she’d lie straight to my face and not even care.”

“I’m so sorry,” Ball said. Everly’s arms had been tucked up against her chest, and Ball moved the hand around her waist to cover her clenched fists. “What’d she lie about?”

“Everything. That we didn’t have any money for food. What time she’d be home. That she’d be there to pick me up after school. That her current boyfriend wouldn’t hurt me . . .”

She felt Ball’s hand tighten over her fists at that one, but he didn’t interrupt.

“She told me Me-Maw and Pop didn’t want me living with them when I asked about it once. I believed her for over a year before I outright asked Me-Maw if it was true. She cried and told me that of course it wasn’t true. If I wanted to live with them, they were one hundred percent all right with that. They knew how their daughter was. They knew she wasn’t taking care of me. But they also knew if they tried to take me from her, she’d dig in her heels and probably treat me even worse.”

“Damn,” Ball said.

“Yeah. She continued to lie even after I moved out. She’d tell me how much she missed me and how hard she was trying to clean herself up so I could come back. By then, I’d pretty much stopped believing anything she said. I got so cynical, it took me a long time before I trusted anyone ever again. But you know what the worst thing was?”

“What?”

“She swore that she was being careful. That she wasn’t going to accidentally get pregnant again. Stupid me, I believed her. But one night, when I was about nineteen, I went to visit her and found her on the floor of her shithole house, bleeding between the legs. My mom had used drugs in the past to purposely miscarry, and I thought she’d done it again. She’d get pregnant, then take some stupid cocktail of pills that someone had told her would abort the fetus. I decided then and there I was never talking to her again.”