Page 43 of The Secret of Emerald Cottage

Chapter Twenty-Five

You’re going to die.

“Noooo … help me, please!” Molly flailed in her bed, head thrashing back and forth on her pillow while she fought for her next breath of air, throat closing up as she tried to scream. God, help me, please …

“Molly!”

She gasped as her lids shot up, eyes burning while she stared up at Brec, her breathing as erratic as her pulse.

He quickly stepped back with hands in the air, gaze as wide as hers. “I didn’t kiss you, I swear!”

She just blinked at him, missing the humor while she continued to pant.

“You were having a nightmare,” he whispered, bending to knead her shoulder, “but it’s over, Mol, so everything’s going to be fine.”

She swallowed hard and gulped for air because as calm and gentle as Brec’s words were, she knew they weren’t true.

Not after one of those dreams.

He squatted beside her bed, continuing to rub her shoulder with one hand while he lightly grazed her arm with the other. “Do you want me to brew you some chamomile?” he asked, the moonlight streaming through her window illuminating the same tender look she’d seen many times before.

“No, no …” Chest still heaving, she shimmied up into a sitting position, resting against the headboard as she splayed a hand to her chest. “I just need to catch my breath.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“No. Yes. Oh, I don’t know.” Frustration laced her tone as she closed her eyes, massaging her temple while she concentrated on calming the wild racing of her heart, finally opening them with a dazed look.

He stood and studied her, brow buckling and muscular arms folded loosely over his navy J. Crew T-shirt with one leg slack in blue plaid boxers. “You were lashing about and crying for help in your sleep, Beauty.”

“I was?” She blinked, followed by a shaky sigh. “I guess I was.”

He nodded. “Mm-huh. And quite loudly, I might add. If I hadn’t happened by on my way to the loo, heaven knows how long that torture might have gone on.”

“Torture is right,” she whispered, peeking up with a gulp. “Someone was trying to kill me.”

It was his turn to blink. Mouth tightening, he quietly turned to shuffle her comfy reading recliner over next to her bed, then sat, hunched on the edge with hands clasped. “You might as well tell me, Princess, because neither of us are going to get a wink of sleep if you don’t.”

She released one, long cleansing sigh that loosened some of the tension in her chest, confirming that confiding in Brec was the right thing to do.

“I was jogging around the lake like we do sometimes, you know? You, Cat, and me? Only this time I was by myself when I ran into this guy, who was running too.”

“Who was he?”

She shook her head, eyes glazing into a distant stare as she tried to remember every detail. “I don’t know. Never seen him before, but he seemed friendly enough, slowing down to nod and say hello before he passed by.”

“What did he look like?” Brec asked, and Molly wasn’t a bit surprised she could recall every vivid detail because that’s how these dreams usually worked—almost lifelike and real.

Until they were.

“He had blond hair, brown eyes, and a nice smile and actually seemed familiar, which is odd. And something else that was strange was he was jogging, yes, but instead of jogging attire, he was dressed in a white linen jacket with a powder-blue T-shirt and acid-washed jeans.”

Brec squinted. “You mean like the retro Miami Vice style that was so big last year?”

“Yeah, just like that, only I remember something flashing like fire when he passed by—”

“Fire?” Brec’s brow buckled. “What do you mean, like real fire?”

She shook her head. “No, more like the sun reflecting off something, you know? A piece of jewelry, a button, I don’t know. But when I looked back, he was gone, so I couldn’t be sure. And then in a flash like dreams do, the next thing I know he’s swimming to the shore on the other side of Miss Lilly’s cove in cut-offs, getting out to dry himself off with a towel. Only when he turned around, he was reaching out to me, calling for help. I start to panic and run to where he was, but then he’s back in the lake drowning, crying, “Help me, help me, please!”