“Really?”
“Yeah.” Didn’t she know he’d do anything for her?
She made an excited high-pitched sound. “Thank you.”
“I love you, Callie.”
“I love you more.”
“Not possible.”
Lock’s chest contracted as he forced the memory away. How often had he remembered that conversation? Sometimes it made him smile. Other times it dragged him so deep into his grief andloss that he had to push it down. Forget about it just for a little while.
Six weeks after that call, Hollie had been killed. Then Winnie and Remi. And just after that, he’d lost Callie. And with her, he’d lost a huge part of himself.
He was just taking his tool belt off his waist when a car engine sounded behind him. He turned to see Callie in her blue Kia, pulling into the driveway.
What the hell? How did she know he was here?
When she climbed out, she didn’t say anything. Not immediately. Hell, she barely looked at him at first. She scanned the front of the house, her chest rising and falling with fast breaths, eyes wide with disbelief before landing on Lock.
“It’s true,” she whispered. “You bought our house.”
He dropped the tool belt to the ground and stepped toward her. “How did you—”
“Kayden and Jace. I overheard them talking about it.” Tears filled her eyes. “When?”
“The same day you told me you wanted it. Called the agent the second we hung up.”
Her chest moved faster. “You didn’t sell it when I left. Why?”
“Because it was always supposed to be you and me. Even when I couldn’t find you, I had faith that we would work our way back to each other. That it was always going to be us in the end.”
A tear rolled down her cheek.
He took another step forward. “I screwed up. I should have found a way to tell you the truth. I should have found a way to be there for you when you needed me.”
“I should have stayed,” she whispered. “But it hurt, Lock. Losing you hurt so much, then losing him… I didn’t know how to deal with the pain. And I guess, a part of me wanted to blame you and us and our love, because it was easier. And holding on to that blame…it felt safe. Safer than admitting that somethingreally awful happened for no reason. Safer than saying out loud that such painful things can happen, and no one can tell you why.”
“Callie—”
“Hiding from you, from us, protected me for a while…but I can’t hide anymore, Lock. I love you.”
The house, the mountains, it all faded beneath her words repeating in his head, rolling around, pushing everything else aside. “You love me?”
“I’vealwaysloved you. I’m sorry I ran.”
He closed the distance between them and cupped her cheek. “It’s you and me, Callie. It’s always been you and me.”
Then his mouth crashed to hers.
CHAPTER 17
Everywhere…Lock was everywhere. Against her lips. Pressed to her body. It was intoxicating. And it was also everything she’d craved for so long.
She buried her fingers in his hair, the strands soft.
God, how did this man still feel like home after two years apart?
