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“I wanted them to not worry about me too much, and I didn't want to be treated any differently than normal, and I wanted to just hang out with my friends like nothing was wrong.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing for Samara?”
“I guess so.”
“Then you're doing enough.” He kissed the top of her head again. “Samara is strong, and she has Chloe and Tom working this case as hard as they can, and all of us working round the clock to keep her safe. With Asher’s birthday and our wedding, she has plenty to keep her busy and occupied. Just keep doing what you’re doing, I know she appreciates it.”
“I suppose you're right,” Ashley said with a sigh.
“You don’t have to sound so happy about it,” he teased.
Ashley huffed a small laugh. “Okay, you're right, we have to believe that everything will work out in the end just like it did for me. And if I hadn't lived through that hell then I never would have gotten you. Maybe you’re right. Maybe Samara and Michael will get the same happy ending that we did. It is Christmas time after all.”
“You ready to go to sleep then?” he asked. The quicker they turned off the light and went to sleep, the quicker it would be tomorrow and one day closer to their wedding.
“Nope.” Ashley lifted her head off his chest, a mischievous smile on her face.
“You want a snack?” His fiancée had a thing for late-night snacks. He couldn’t count the number of times in the last year that he had rolled over in bed in the early hours of the morning to find she wasn't there but down in the kitchen eating or preparing a snack.
“Nope,” Ashley said as her hand dipped under the covers.
“Oh,” he said as her fingers curled around him, and his body instantly responded. He reached down and snagged her hand,if she kept that up it was going to be a pretty one-sided event. Sawyer flipped her onto her back and crushed his mouth to hers, his hand moving between her legs and doing a little stroking of its own.
“No fair.” Ashley pouted playfully, squirming beneath him. “You wouldn’t let me touch you, but you get to touch me?”
“I guess we can settle on something that satisfies us both.” He laughed. Sawyer was just about to reach for the box of condoms in the nightstand drawer when he froze, thinking about what she’d said earlier. “Condom?”
Ashley didn't even hesitate. “I don’t think we need one.”
“I love you, Ash.”
“I love you, too.”
As he slid inside his soon-to-be wife, Sawyer couldn’t help but think that he was the luckiest guy in the world. In just four days he would be making this gorgeous woman his wife, and who knew, tonight they might be making a baby.
DECEMBER 22nd
9:06 A.M.
“How do you know which leaves to trim? Or what roots to cut?”
“Practice,” Samara answered as she handed Michael a terracotta pot and a bag of lava rock.
“Will I be able to grow bonsai trees as pretty as yours?”
She smiled despite herself, and the heavy weight of pressure that had been tied to her back when Chloe and Tom had told her that her stalker had killed and was going to keep on killing eased slightly. “Eventually you will.”
“Which one is your favorite?” Michael asked as he spread the lava rock over the bottom of the pot.
“The elm tree, it was the first one I grew, so it’s always been kind of special to me.”
“This one is definitely going to be my favorite.” He smiled at her as he set the lava rock down.
The smile was deceiving.
It was meant to pacify her, encourage her to hold it together, and not do anything rash like runoff and hand herself over to her stalker, which had been the point of their conversation last night. Samara had already known that Michael’s daughter had died many years ago. She had even known that although it was an accident it was at Michael’s hand, but she hadn't known all the details until last night.
He’d told her because he wanted to convince her that he had made bigger mistakes in his life than she had, but he was wrong.
