AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Owen skimmed the tips of his fingers against the shallow gashes and shrugged. “Just a few nicks from the debris in the river. I’m fine.”
Moisture filled her eyes. “You saved my life.”
Owen lifted their joined hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “I thought I’d lost you. I’ve never been so damn scared in my life.”
Marie sprang up from the pillow and winced. Her muscles pulled and tightened, and pain stabbed into her ribs. “Renee? Is she okay? Is Bill dead?”
“Your sister’s here—she’s fine.” Owen tilted his head toward a reclining chair on the other side of the bed. “You need to relax. You’re pretty banged up.”
Marie swiveled her stiff neck in the opposite direction.
Renee laid curled in a ball in what had to be the most uncomfortable sleeping chair known to man. The top of the chair lay flat, almost to the tiled floor, barely wide enough to fit her sister’s slim frame. Soft snores floated from her slightly opened mouth, and the mark on her eye was like a punch in the gut.
Closing her eyes, Marie sank back against the semi-raised bed. “He hurt her. I should have done more to protect her.”
“You sacrificed yourself,” Owen said. “And now you’re both safe. Bill can’t hurt you anymore. Divers went down to the submerged car at daybreak. He didn’t survive the crash.”
Relief seeped into her pores, followed by a pinch of guilt for feeling even an ounce of joy at someone else’s death. She inhaled a deep breath and opened her eyes again. “My memory from after the crash is a bit hazy. Did I tell you what Bill said about Patricia?”
Owen tightened his jaw and nodded. “Some, but it was enough to secure a warrant last night. What we found, as well as Damon Silas’ statement, put her behind bars.”
Marie tilted her head and knit together her brows. “He woke up?”
“In the middle of the night. I was here,” he glanced away, and a light blush dusted his cheeks. “I talked to him. He was the one who was suspicious of Patricia when more and more supplies went missing from his classroom, and she brushed it off. Eddy also slipped information around him, and Damon started putting the pieces together. He mentioned it to Erica, who dove in headfirst to figure it all out. He feels guilty about her death. Her murder will eat him up for a while.”
“It’s not his fault. He didn’t kill her.” But Marie understood heaping on guilt based on other people’s actions. Healing would come for Damon—it would just take some time.
A beat of silence pulsed between them, the reminder of her heartbeat echoing through the room, as Marie moved the pads of her fingers against Owen’s hand.
His strong, steady hand.
A million thoughts raged through her mind, but she couldn’t think of one word to say. The nightmare was over. Bill would never hurt her or her family again. So, why did a heavy weight of sadness press against her lungs, making it hard to breathe?
Because she didn’t want to leave but had no real reason to stay.
Logic warred with emotion. She’d fallen in love with Owen, but it was too soon. Too soon to tell him and uproot her life to move to Water’s Edge and hope he’d feel the same way about her one day. Especially when her mom and sister needed her.
Mom.
“Did Renee call our mom?” She couldn’t help the bite of anger that lingered from her last conversation with her mom.
“Yes. Wanda wanted to come to the hospital last night, but she didn’t have a way to get here.”
Marie tensed. “I don’t know how much more of her excuses I can handle.”
For a minute she’d believed her mom had really cared about what happened to her and Renee. Disappointment crushed her windpipe. She couldn’t even show up.
Owen ran a hand through his hair. “You need to talk to her.”
Marie raised her brows. His uneasy tone didn’t sit well with her. If her mom had gotten in trouble, or he’d found out she was using again, he’d tell her. Something else was going on, but she didn’t have the strength to care. “Why?”
He shot her a half-smile. “Trust me.”
Confusion engulfed her already muddled mind, but she didn’t want to waste her draining energy thinking about her mom. Instead, she kept her gaze locked on his and hoped to find the answers she searched for—as if he would read her thoughts and profess his own feelings and intentions.
She sighed. “So, what do we do now?”
The heavy thump of a cane carried into the room, and Lewis leaned against the doorframe, Katherine behind him. “Good to see you awake, girl.”
