Page 89 of Back To Our Beginning

He gently sat down on the bed and I pushed my body against his warmth.

“I heard all of it,” he replied. “And yeah, you so easily could have died, Maddie.”

“I’m sorry.”

He barked out a half-hearted laugh. “Baby, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

Things were becoming clearer. “Oh. Yeah. What about Grizz and Bishop?”

“They’re in real trouble. You were kidnapped and taken across state lines. They’re going down.”

Beau looked savage. I could see a vein in his forehead pulsing. I needed to stop this.

“What about Lana?”

“This is her third strike, and it’s a big one. The D.A. told Roan that she’s going to be behind bars for at least twenty years, unless she takes a plea and turns state's evidence.”

I winced.

“Do you need more pain medicine?” Beau immediately asked.

“No. It’s not that. I feel sorry for Lana. She was so mixed up. She was so in love with Grizz that she was willing to work as a prostitute just to stay with him.” I wondered if she had it in her to testify against Grizz. What a mess.

Beau gave me a funny look. “Do you want some water?”

I nodded.

He held the straw for me as I took four long sips. I leaned back against my pillows. The water helped clear my head.

“Hey, wait a second,” I cried out. I didn’t give a shit that it hurt my head. “That bitch tried to kill you! She should get life in prison.”

Fuck! I twisted my shoulders, trying to relieve the pain I’d just caused. Note to self, no more yelling.

Beau’s lips twitched.

“The doctor said you might not remember everything that happened the night we rescued you.”

“Oh, I remember everything now just fine,” I assured him. I opened my mouth to thank him. To tell him just how damn much he meant to me, but instead I yawned. Then yawned again.

“Maddie, you need to sleep,” he murmured.

“Don’t want to.”

“It will help you heal faster.”

I felt sleep pulling me under.

“Are you going to be here when I wake up?”

“You can count on it.” The gentle kiss he whispered across my lips was sublime. When I closed my eyes, I drifted off to sleep and found myself in a meadow. Beau was there with me. Then I realized something.

Beau was always going to be there.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Seriously, Maddie. I don’t think this is a good idea. The doctors said for you to take it easy.” Maddie was in one of her sleep shirts, covered in giraffes. Standing in the middle of her bedroom, she held a bright blue folded towel against her chest as we discussed the merits of her taking a shower.

“It’s just a shower.”