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It's a long time before her tears quiet into ragged breaths and soft little hiccups. Now that the storm is over, I don’t feel quite as helpless and the little sounds she makes are sweet and precious to me.
She takes a steadying breath before she asks how it is that I finally found her. I tell her the truth. There is so much sadness in her voice when she explains that we had only missed each other by days when I found her stuffed unicorn. She tucks herself more tightly against my chest with a sigh and drifts off to sleep.
It’s still not too late, but we have both had an exhausting day. Settling her against the flat pillows, I get up, making certain that the door is still secure before laying down and gathering her against me and pulling the covers over us.
For the first time in years I sleep without the nightmares.
Pale sunlight brightens the room, waking me up, and I lay there for long moments savoring the heat of Faye’s body pressed against me. One small hand is fisted in the front of my shirt, the other is wrapped around me gripping my back. Even in slumber she holds on like she is afraid to let me go. Soon she will realize I’m not going to let her get very far away from me ever again.
“Faye,” I whisper in her ear. “Sweetpea, we need to get up. It’s time to go home.”
She murmurs sleepily, and I feel her grip on me loosen a little.
“You’re really here? It wasn’t a dream?” she whispers, pulling back. Her amber eyes flutter open and focus on mine. She still looks exhausted, and the deep purple of the dark shadows beneath her eyes is even more evident in the light of day.
“Yeah. I finally found you,” I tell her, smiling, “and you aren't leaving my side ever again. Especially not until we make contact with the other people looking for you.”
“You know who killed my mom?” she asks, coming fully awake and sitting up in the lumpy bed, looking intently at me. “There actually is someone looking for me?”
“Yeah—at least I have a pretty good idea of who it is. Turns out Brad was in pretty deep with the mafia. He was their lawyer, and helped launder money for them. He was also double dealing and had made a deal to sell their secrets to a rival family or the government—I couldn’t find out which o
ne. Your mom knew too much, so they murdered her too.” I’m not going to keep things secret from her. It’s important that she knows what the situation is so that she stays safe.
She nods her head, acknowledging my words, but doesn’t say anything in response. She slides off the bed and crosses to the bathroom silently. I hear the door lock behind her, and the water in the shower comes on. It isn’t long before I can hear the muffled sounds of her sobs through the door. I’m not the type of man who hesitates, ever, but right now I’m not sure how to proceed. Navigating a tearful, frightened young woman is completely new for me. Even if I were to force my way into the bathroom, I still wouldn’t know what to do with her.
I’m totally out of my element. Give me a hand-to-hand fight, or a fire-fight, and I wouldn’t have even a second of hesitation. I would blow through anything in my way… including this door with its pathetic little lock. Instead, I tap on the hollow wood.
“Sweetpea, you okay in there?” I know she's not, but like I said, more than a little out of my element…
The sounds of sobbing stop and I hear her sniffle. I can’t help but smile as I remember her doing that when she was little. I used to hand her a tissue or wipe her face with the hem of my t-shirt, but that isn’t going to fix this. I really just want to get my arms back around her until she feels better. Her voice is husky from crying, and the running water muffles her words.
“Yeah, I just need a few more minutes.”
I don’t like it, but I sit down on the bed to give her the space that she needs, tapping my foot while I wait.
“Travis?” she calls. “Will you hand me my backpack?” Her face peeks around the door as her damp arm pops out, pointing at her bag in the corner.
I can’t help but laugh a little when I take in the bag, which is an old one of mine.
Picking it up, I cross the room and hand it to her. She smiles up at me as she takes the bag. A threadbare white towel wrapped around her head hides her hair. She looks so young and innocent that the fatigue on her thin face seems that much more obscene to me.
“Hurry up, Sweetpea, I’m starving,” I call out through the door, catching a glimpse of pale legs and her cute little ass as she wiggles into a worn pair of jeans and pulls a tank top over her head.
Her ribs are visible, and the sight halts the sudden surge of desire running through my veins. Helping her into my jacket I wrap an arm around her shoulders and take the bag from her hand, leading her out the door to my truck. It’s untouched, which means I don’t have to hunt anyone down today.
After I help her up into the cab I glance back toward the lobby windows. The old clerk is still at his post and lifts a hand in a brief wave. I nod my thanks and open my door. I expect to be hearing from him, so I will have Becca start figuring out what he can do for us.
Faye
No longer being alone is the most wonderful feeling in the world! Seeing the man that Travis has grown into amazes me in an entirely different way. He is even bigger and broader than I imagined. Even bigger than he was in the photo I still have tucked in my backpack. He must work out a lot. His hair is a darker blonde than I remember, shaved short on the sides and a little shaggy on top. It’s sexy. His eyes are the same bright blue, making my heart flutter. His face is all hard planes and angles, accentuated by rich golden stubble. Ridiculously thick, dark lashes provide the only softness in his face.
He has me tucked me under his arm, pressed against his side. I’m trying to not be obvious as I check him out while helps me up into the seat of his lifted pickup. He walks around the front to the driver’s side door with a short lift of a hand toward the sweet elderly man at the counter. I’m going to have to ask about that. Before I know it we are on the road and heading back toward Spokane.
It’s difficult to believe that we have been living in the same city for the past two years. He could have easily picked any other city to build his business in. I shudder to think about what would have happened if he had decided to settle elsewhere. As much as I like to say that I have been doing fine, I know the truth. I have just barely been surviving. Living in one small room filled with thrift store finds, without any real friends. Never really having enough to eat. I’m happy to have been found.
We drive in silence for a while, wrapped up in our own thoughts, I guess. After a while Travis breaks the silence, telling me about his business and his friend Blake. The one I hit in the knee with my bat. I felt terrible about it before I knew who he was, but knowing it was Travis’ friend and business partner? Well, that makes me feel even worse about it.
If I had just given him a chance, all of this running and fear could have been avoided.
