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I couldn’t pretend to understand Sadie's fear of knowing she had to look over her shoulder for the next month.
But I had to believe what the prosecutor told me. He could bring her back in soon.
“Oh, my gosh.” Melanie dashed over to Sadie with open arms, but she stopped herself.
A tiny smile surfaced on Sadie’s mouth as she hugged Melanie, which I knew was a big step.
Sadie glanced at me as she pulled back from Melanie. “Thanks for coming back to tell me. I don’t know what I would have done if I'd returned to my apartment tonight and finally listened to the message.”
I scratched my chin and nodded. “Speaking of, I say we go grab what you need from your place and get you settled back at my house.”
Sadie narrowed her gaze on me. “At your place?”
“You can stay with me,” Melanie offered to Sadie.
My spine stiffened. I couldn’t keep an eye on things if she weren’t with me. Just the logistics of everything would be a nightmare.
“Although Zack and his brothers do this thing for a living, don’t you?” Melanie teased, eyeing me with a coy smile. The town knew Granite Peak Security was the region's top security and protection firm. “If he’s offering, I’d take him up on it. But again, my arms are always open.”
Sadie slowly brought her gaze to mine, and I saw her body tense slightly. “It probably is for the best.”
“Your job is still open here, too,” Melanie said softly. “I didn’t have the energy to post the job listing.”
“I don’t think that’s—” I stopped speaking when Sadie’s eyes narrowed on mine.
“What? Do you think I should just stay locked up at your house until the criminal is locked away again? Never step foot out your front door? Keep the shades drawn?”
And the pistols drawn, I wanted to add. But I knew that wasn’t reasonable, even if that was the only way to keep her one hundred percent safe.
Melanie’s gaze flicked from Sadie’s to mine. “I mean, I don’t need an answer right away. Why don’t you two get things settled and…”
Sadie folded her arms over her chest and shook her head. “Nope. I need some stability. Some normalcy. And I doubt she’d waste time trying to hunt me down clear across the country.”
I stared at Sadie, unsure whether she believed the words coming from her mouth.
Her cheeks reddened, and I knew she didn’t.
“We will keep you safe until Carmella’s put away. I promise you that,” I assured her. “But there will be things put in place for the next few weeks or months that you may not like.”
Sadie nodded slowly. “I understand.”
“And if there’s anything I can do…” Melanie’s eyes stayed on mine, and I nodded.
“Fine. Let’s get this over with.” Sadie let out a sigh. “I sent most of my belongings to my parents’ house already, so this shouldn’t take long.”
My mind flashed back to just six weeks ago when we were still together, and I’d picked her up from her shift here after I’d gotten back from a job in Idaho. Her eyes lit up when she saw me, and I pulled her into my arms, inhaling everything about her as if I’d been away for years. In actuality, it had only been two weeks.
Everything about that night was perfection. I took her to our favorite steak place at the lodge in town. We ate and drank until we could barely move, but we somehow managed to stay up late into the night, making love and promises that she never had any intention of fulfilling.
It was all hard to believe.
Two days later, she dumped me.
And now she was coming back to my house where everything fell apart. I clenched my fists and tried to push away the hurt and longing when I glanced at Sadie.
“You ready?” I asked more gruffly than I intended, but Sadie didn’t pick up on it.
She grabbed her purse and gave a flick of her wrist in Melanie’s direction. “I’ll be here bright and early tomorrow.”
