Jennie sat upright in bed when she heard the crash.
Glass breaking. From somewhere downstairs. Someone was in the house.
She threw back the covers, reached for the baseball bat she kept under her bed, then opened her bedroom door as quietly as she could. Nothing moved in the hall. The only light shone from a nightlight in the bathroom. She padded soundlessly across the hardwood floor, pushed Ella's door open. Her daughter lay on her belly, arms over her head, dead to the world in deep sleep.
Her pulse pounded hard as she moved for the stairs. Two steps from the bottom, the wood creaked, and she froze. Her heart lurched into her throat. From the direction of the kitchen, she heard the sound of broken glass being scraped across the ground.
She swallowed hard, lifted the bat above her shoulder, and inched her way toward the kitchen. Kai had always talked about getting a gun. She'd told him he was stupid. But right now...now she wished she'd listened. She was five feet four, and even though she could swing a bat with the best of them, against a home invader, her measly DeMarini was nothing. She just hoped she got in one good shot that scared the bastard away before anything bad happened.
"Dammit."
She froze just outside the kitchen door at the sound of the voice. Shit, she needed to call the the cops. What the hell was she doing trying to handle this alone?
She took a step back just as the kitchen door pushed open. Without thinking, she lowered the bat and swung.
A muffled oof echoed to her ears, followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor. Hard. Adrenaline surging, she rushed into the kitchen, lifted the bat again, ready to strike out.
Jisoo held up a hand to block her.
"Don't even think about hitting me with that thing again!"
"Jisoo?"
"Who the hell did you think it was? The tooth fairy? " Jisoo gripped her stomach as she lay on the floor, her upper body twisted in on an odd angle against the island cabinets. "Dammit, I think you cracked a rib."
She let go of the bat. Oh, shit. Jisoo. Wood clattered against the floor. Stepping over to her, she dropped to her knees and lifted her face to hers. "What are you doing in my kitchen?"
"I was thirsty. Chinese food always leaves me thirsty in the middle of the night."
The Chinese takeout. Lisa's office. Roseanne asking Jisoo to stay with her and Ella tonight because she was worried about them. She'd been so freaked out when she'd awoken, she'd forgotten everything else.
"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry," Jennie said, helping her sit up. "How bad is it?"
"Bad enough. But my ego's bruised more than my body. I just got beat by a little lawyer."
Jisoo was cracking jokes. She couldn't be hurt that bad. Some of her anxiety eased. "I heard glass shatter. I thought someone was breaking in."
In the dim light she watched a nervous expression creep over Jisoo's face. "Yeah, that was me. I dropped a pitcher of lemonade trying to get to one of Ella's strawberry milk cartons in your fridge"
"You—" Jennie eased back onto her heels and laughed.
"Now you're laughing at me? Great"
"It's not you," she said between giggles. "It's this. All of it. This entire situation is completely nuts."
"Tell me about it" Jisoo rubbed her ribs. "Damn, you hit hard."
"Here, let me look at it."
Jisoo pushed her hands away when Jennie reached for the hem of her camisole. "What are you, a doctor now too? No way."
