Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 120186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
I turned around and threw it in his face. Not like I would thank him or anything, but I didn’t have to be cruel about it. I didn’t think I was that cruel a person.
I also didn’t think I was capable of murder. I guess I’m wrong about a lot of things.
Once my hair is dry, I turn off the dryer and set it aside.
One of the floorboards out in the hall creaks, and my heart lodges itself in my throat. There’s a footstep. Like someone in heavy boots is out there.
He came back.
It’s like the sun peeling from behind a wall of storm clouds. My life is full of light again. I’ll make it up to him. I’m broken without him.
“Kade?” My body is moving before I make the choice to run to him, tearing through my room and out into the hallway. “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have—”
I stop suddenly enough that I almost fall over. It’s not him in the middle of the hallway, outside my bedroom door. It’s not Mom, either.
Standing in front of me is someone in a Stetson hat with the brim pulled low over his eyes. “Buck?” I whisper, blinking hard and taking a step back. “I-I mean—”
He gives me a sheepish grin. “Miss Allie.”
“I don’t understand. What are you doing here?” But somewhere in the back of my mind, where my pulse now pounds a frantic rhythm inside my skull, something is starting to come together. Something I don’t want to believe.
“I thought he would never leave,” he murmurs, smiling. “I waited to make sure he wasn’t coming back.”
“I… I don’t understand.” I back away another step. Another. This is wrong, it’s all wrong, and all I can think to do is get away from him. Get behind the door and lock it and make sure he can’t get through because the look in his eyes is making me cold and queasy.
“There’ll be plenty of time to explain everything.”
He reaches into his pocket. And he pulls out a rag.
I turn on my heel, a scream lodged in my throat, but there’s no chance to let it out before he’s on me. His arm is a steel bar across my chest, holding me against him so he can clamp the rag over my mouth and nose.
Don’t breathe! I hold my breath, jamming my elbows into his ribs and stomping on his feet, but it’s not long before my lungs demand air. I can’t help it. I inhale.
And the world goes dark.
“I didn’t want to have to do it that way. I hope you understand it’s not what I had planned.”
Jesus Christ, my head is killing me. I feel every heartbeat throbbing inside my skull, and over it is the sound of a deep voice close to my ear. “It was the only way. I couldn’t wait another minute. They couldn’t keep us apart, though. None of them could.”
Buck. Nothing makes sense, but I remember Buck being in the house. How did he get in? The fucking root cellar I never blocked off in case Kade ever came back. The rag over my face. His voice is soft and gentle and way too familiar. Intimate, when there’s no reason to be.
Something cold and wet touches my forehead, and I flinch away from the sensation before I can think to stay still. Now he knows I’m awake. I hear the happiness in his voice. “There she is. Coming back to me.”
As he speaks, he strokes my forehead with the cloth. I’m lying down. It’s soft enough, and there’s a pillow under my head, not that it does anything to ease the ache. He chloroformed me, didn’t he? That had to be it. How long was I unconscious for?
“You just rest now.” He sighs, gently stroking my hair. His touch is repulsive, but instinct screams at me to stay still and take it. “Everything is gonna be all right now. You’ll never have to worry about anythin’ ever again. I fixed it. I fixed it all.”
I can’t hide from this. I can’t keep my eyes closed forever. As much as I don’t want to see him or anything about where I am, I force my eyes open.
And I wish I hadn’t. Holy shit. The bed. It looks just like mine. I’m not in my bedroom, but I’m in my bed. The nightstand is the same, too. The curtains on the window, the dresser. It’s even in the same spot. He’s recreated my bedroom exactly, just in a different location.
“Do you like it?” he asks, sounding kind of shy and nervous while running a hand over his close-cropped hair. His hat sits near my feet. “I tried to make it just the same so you would be comfortable. That’s all I want. For you to have everything you need.”