Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 124341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Autumn let out another relieved breath when she glanced in her rearview mirror and saw that he was walking quickly to his car. His unending faith in her brought tears to her eyes. Thank you, God, for Bill.
***
Autumn used a poker to move one of the logs closer to the center of the blaze and then, satisfied, stood, returning the tool to its stand next to the stone fireplace.
Her shoulders lifted and fell as she released a breath that felt as if it’d been lodged in her throat for the last few hours, if not longer. For several moments, she stood staring into the crackling flames, allowing her mind to go blank. Relief. So much was made of emotions like joy and ecstasy, but no one gave enough credit to the moment after you feared the worst would happen and realized that you’d avoided disaster.
Sweet relief.
Even if she still wasn’t out of the woods just yet. Literally and figuratively.
And neither was he.
She turned, heading back to his bedside. She’d somehow managed to rouse him just enough that he’d helped her assist him down from the truck where she’d gotten a blanket beneath him and dragged him, inch by painful inch, inside the house. He hadn’t so much as stirred. Thank the good Lord there weren’t stairs at the fishing cottage, because she’d have had to leave him lying in the dirt. By the time Bill had arrived with the supplies, she’d had Sam stripped from the waist up and washed, his wounds cleaned with the few supplies in the first aid kit in the bathroom cabinet.
“We should call Ralph. He’ll know what to do. We can still explain this. If this man dies—”
“I’m not going to let him die.” Confident words for a girl who was scared to death. Yet she was going to do as her moonlight boy had asked her. She was committed. In her mind, there was no turning back now. Help me. Please get me out of here.
She’d met Bill’s worried gaze, tenderness engulfing her. We, he had said. We should. We can. Who would she have become had she been placed with someone else all those years ago? He’d believed in her from the very first day. A gift more priceless than a pirate chest of gold. Yet she had to do this without him.
“I need you to leave, Bill.”
His eyes had widened, and he shook his head. “No way—”
“Bill. I need to focus. I have to do this alone.”
“I’ll stay outside.”
“No,” she had told him, adding firmness to her tone. She was going to give this everything she had, but if the worst did happen, she didn’t want Bill involved. He had looked momentarily hurt but then sighed, and she could see that he was going to honor her request.
“He could hurt you,” Bill had said, a final try, but his assertion held little passion. Autumn had looked back at Sam, lying still and bloody and all but helpless on the bed Bill had helped her move from the bedroom into the main room and lift him onto.
“I’ll tie him to the bed.”
“Promise?”
No. “Yes.”
Still, he’d obviously been struggling. He was trusting her, but it was costing him to set aside his protective instincts. I love you, Bill.
“If anything goes wrong, you have to drive home.”
She’d nodded. “I will. I’m going to shut my phone off. I can’t risk it being pinged out here.” Just in case.
“I’ll bring you a burner phone,” he’d said before gathering her in his arms in a sudden bear hug and then letting go just as quickly. He’d exited the house, and a moment later, she had heard his car start up outside and the crunching of gravel as he drove away.
She’d taken in a large breath, and then before she could overthink things, she’d gathered her supplies. Thankfully she had some prescription pain medication for a patient whose chronic pain she managed. She’d be as sparing as possible and deal with any fallout from the missing doses later. But Sam needed it now if he was going to remain unconscious as she operated on him. So Autumn administered the medication, scrubbed her hands, and began the task of removing the bullets from his body.
He’d moaned and seemed to attempt to thrash, but he hadn’t come fully awake. She’d felt terrible for his pain but remained focused. There had been several bullets embedded in him after all. But they’d all come out clean, and as far as she could tell, there was no internal damage. A miracle. She’d frowned in confusion, however, when the bullets had come out bent, one nearly flattened. Something about Sam was very unusual—wrong even—and a deeper spike of worry caused an uncomfortable twinge inside.
The things she’d seen—and felt—inside his body would need to be explained.
Autumn had stitched his wounds, bandaged him, and then collapsed in the chair next to his bed. She’d closed her eyes and let the floodgates open, tears rolling. Adrenaline. She’d held her emotion back so she could get the job done, but it engulfed her then, draining and overwhelming. I did it. I did it. Once she had gotten hold of herself, she’d checked his vitals, made a cup of tea, and sat on the small deck, allowing the clean air to fill her lungs and soothe her soul.