The Mate Next Door

Evander POV

I carefully set a neatly cut peanut butter and jelly sandwich onto the small plastic plate right in front of Nola. My three-year-old daughter bounced her little legs in the chair, a bright grin spreading across her face.

"Evan."

Taryn called out my name from the doorway. Her voice shook with a nervous edge. When I turned to look at her, she stepped out of the hallway shadows and int