“I’m—” Lennon’s voice died as a tremor wracked her body. Her knees buckled.
I caught her, then hefted her into my arms bride style. “Easy there. You’re okay.”
“I thought…” She buried her face against my chest. “I thought you had gotten blown up.”
“Nah. It wasn’t a very good bomb.”
She choked out a sound that was half laugh, half sob. “I have never been so scared in my life as I was in that moment. Don’t ever do that.”
“What? Get blown up by your psycho kidnapper?” I joked because if I didn’t, I would sit my ass right down in this forest and fall apart. I’d almost lost her.
Later.
Later I could fall apart. Right now it was Lennon’s turn. I needed to be the one to hold her together.
“Don’t ever die on me, Jeremiah. I mean it. Promise me.”
My shirt felt wet. I looked down and saw tears streaming down her face. My girl who had never met an emotion she didn’t want to bury six feet under wascrying. “I’m not going anywhere, Lennon. I can promise you that.”
Liam approached. “Sheriff is on his way. Another twenty minutes—” He broke off, frowning. “Lennon, what the fuck happened to your feet?”
43
LENNON
Three WeeksLater
I kickedmy shoes off with a groan that was half agony, half relief, and flopped on the sofa with a tired but happy sigh. A mobster and stalker couldn’t take me down, but my mad dash through the woods had resulted in three stitches, a staph infection, and a strained tendon. Doctors had ordered me off my feet for three weeks, which meant that Jeremiah’s fulltime job was carrying me around. Neither of us were complaining.
But now I was finally cleared to use my feet again. Today had been my first day back in the kitchen. It hadbeen weird, being there. Memories of Cecily were everywhere. I kept turning our conversations over in my mind, looking for clues. Amos was shaken to his core. He loved Cecily—still did. He’d visited her twice at the in-patient facility where she would be for at least the next year. She was doing okay, considering. I wished I could see her, talk to her, scream at her, hug her. But her doctors said seeing me could set her treatment back. Maybe someday.
Jeremiah entered the apartment smelling like hay and sunshine. He noted my shoes by the door and me on the couch and shook his head. “I told you to ease into it. Don’t do a full shift.”
“I’m fine. A little sore, that’s all.” I tilted my face up for a kiss. “How is your day going?”
“Busy. Do you still have your key to the Orion cabin? Someone booked it for August.” He dropped his phone on the coffee table, swiped the bottle of lotion, and sat on the couch, pulling my feet into his lap.
I tensed even though his hands felt like magic on my tight, aching feet. We were at the end of July—the end of my reservation. We hadn’t talked about what came next. I’d started putting feelers out, figuring out options. Leaving Mercy River wasnotan option. But other than that…Hell. I didn’t have a clue. I’d thought maybe I could extend my reservation. Kick the question down the road for another month. But with all the cabinsbooked for the rest of summer, that wasn’t an option, after all.
“Why are you grimacing like that? Too much pressure?”
“Waytoo much pressure.” I flopped my head back on the armrest and contemplated the ceiling. His hands gentled and I craned my neck to look at him. “No, not my feet. I mean…” My voice trailed off.
I didn’t know how to tell him all the fears running through my mind. A relationship started in a pressure cooker was bound to explode, right? Jeremiah was so precious to me. We needed to do this right. I had never had a relationship like this before, but I was pretty sure couples who moved too fast didn’t last long. I’d watched my mom move boyfriend after boyfriend into our small trailer, and none of them had lasted more than a year.
Jeremiah raised his eyebrows at me, waiting for me to continue. His phone buzzed on the table and he kept watching me while he answered it. Then his whole demeanor tightened as he gave the phone his full attention. A loud, muffled voice pricked my attention. Whoever was on the other end of that call was frustrated…and familiar.
My breath caught. I lunged forward, snatching the phone from Jeremiah’s hand.
“Hector?” I asked breathlessly.
“Lennon.” He heaved a sigh. “Jesus, honey, you gaveme a scare. I’ve been calling you every day for three weeks. Benny was about to send the cavalry for you.”
“Benny?” I croaked. “He’s alive?”
“Of course he’s alive. You would know that if you returned any of my calls.”
I blinked. The phone Hector had given me was in the nightstand. Dead, probably. I hadn’t checked it since I’d been kidnapped. Thinking about Benny hurt too much.
