Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
I don’t say anything for a moment, trying to quell the churning inside of me, as well as to make sense of what I’m feeling. I don’t know this girl. And I’ve been doing my damndest to avoid getting to know anything about her. But seeing her sitting here, so small and shaken, has sent a powerful wave of emotion washing through me. I find myself wanting to protect her. To keep her safe. And to punish the person responsible for scaring her this badly. The thought of anybody laying a hand on her fills me with a dark, abiding rage I haven’t felt in a very long time.
“There was somebody out there, Eli,” she says, her voice trembling.
“I know,” I reply. “I found some footprints between the trees. Just like you said.”
She shakes her head. “I’m scared. I should probably just go back to the city before whoever it was comes back—”
“No,” I snap, harsher than I’d intended.
She recoils, and I grimace at the tone in my voice. But the idea of Emery leaving filled me with an inexplicable sense of dread almost as great as the thought of something happening to her. I don’t understand it. At all. All I do know is I don’t want her to go. She tucks a lock of her thick auburn hair behind her ear and levels her warm brown eyes on me, silently asking for an explanation for my outburst. I don’t have one.
“Did you get a look at the guy who was standing out there?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I didn’t. I couldn’t see much of anything. He e was in the shadows between the trees, so I couldn’t see him.”
I nod. Now that the adrenaline has stopped flowing so heavily and the excitement of the moment has passed, I can think clearly. Logically. And now that I am, I know who it is that was harassing Emery. There aren’t many people who live around here, and of those who do, none of them are the types who’d stalk her. It makes sense that it can really only be one person.
“You’re going to stay in my cabin tonight,” I tell her.
“What? Your cabin?”
“My cabin,” I tell her. “And I’ll handle this situation in the morning.”
“You know who it is?”
“Yeah. Pretty sure.”
“But—”
“Pack a bag,” I say. “We’re going.”
9
EMERY
Eli lets me into his cabin, then sets my bag down on a table beside the door. As terrified as I was by whoever was chasing me in the woods, the moment I step into his cabin, I feel myself relax. I feel calmer. I feel… safe. Something about this man, as gruff and imposing as he is, makes me feel protected. I don’t know why, given that I don’t even know him, but something about Eli makes me feel like nothing bad can happen to me.
His place isn’t large. There’s only one bedroom that I can see from where I’m standing. It’s a lot like the cabin I’m staying in, with a table in a dining nook set off a galley-style kitchen. There’s a living room with a sofa, a coffee table, and a desk under the window on the far side of the room. There isn’t much in the way of decorations or personality, and yet, the plain and unassuming feel of the place somehow just seems to fit him to a T.
On a bookshelf that stands near the desk, I see a couple of framed photos, so I wander over and pick one of them up. It’s a picture of a younger Eli with some other men. They’re soldiers, and it was obviously taken in a faraway land.
“You were in the Army?”
He somehow slipped up behind me without me even hearing him move. It’s unsettling that a man as large as Eli can move so quietly. He plucks the frame from my hands, a stern expression on his face, and carefully replaces it in the exact same position on the bookshelf.
“Marines,” he says.
“Where was that picture taken?”
“Afghanistan.”
“Oh,” I say. “You were in combat?”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“I’m a curious girl.”
“Apparently,” he says. “Anyway, you can have my room. I’ll ride the couch.”
“Oh, no. I couldn’t—”
“You can have my room. I’ve got the couch.”
He says it with such finality, all I can do is nod in acceptance. “Thank you,” I say. “And thank you for… everything.”
“You’re welcome.”
The man is a brick wall.
He obviously doesn’t like talking about himself or his past, and there was a time when I would have let it go. When I would have felt like I was prying and should just let it be. But it feels like a switch inside of me has been flipped. I’ve only been here a few days now, but I already feel like a completely different person. And this new person I am feels bolder. Feistier. I’m intrigued by Eli and want to know more about him.