“Kay.”
“Do you have any questions?”
He shook his head just enough to answer.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Scarlett said. “When I talk to you, I want it to just be you and me, though, okay? Ryker won’t be far away. Ever. But always depending on him isn’t going to help you heal in a healthy way.”
“What if I don’t ever heal?”
My heart cracked wide open at that question.
“I won’t lie, ever, to you or anyone,” Scarlett said, scooting to the edge of her seat. “You will heal. You may not heal the same way as others do. But that’s what makes life so great. No one is the exact same. The way to heal is to find happiness again.
“It may not be tomorrow or in the next year. But I will be there every step of the way.”
Emery
It took a matter of minutes for me to pack my things.
Ryker bagged up the few things that were in the kitchen, not wanting the food to go to waste. I was going to point out that there wasn’t much in the fridge since he had taken to making sure I was eating more regularly, but I thought better of it. I did kind of want those cookies that hadn’t been opened yet.
Scarlett had left us shortly before I began packing. She seemed nice enough, I suppose. Better than Gale, at least. There was something softer about her.
It was a lot to take in, with new thoughts that confused me even more than before. It was still easier to just keep going day by day. I’d keep doing what I’d been doing—keep my head down, answer questions, and give these people whatever they needed from me
Sixty days left to go.
“You got everything?” Ryker asked, setting a bag on the counter.
I nodded, feeling more than tired. It’d been a long day, and it’d only be a long night on top of it.
“We’ll go out the back door,” he went on, keeping his voice soft. “Our backyards have a gate in the fence, so we can get right into my place. The patrol officer is aware of what’s going on, but he’ll stay out there.”
Was there really a need for that? I wasn’t anyone special.
“Come on,” he coaxed when I stood, nearly frozen.
With a slow breath, I followed him out of the house, as much as we both could carry in our arms. Okay, it wasn’t all that much, but it was more than I’d ever had of my own.
“What if you tire of me?” The words were out of my mouth as we reached his back deck.
I could see myself sitting out here, enjoying a steaming mug of something warm, watching the snow fall from the sky or the lightning across the crops.
“I don’t think that’s gonna happen. But if so, we’ll figure something out. Don’t worry about it, okay?” Ryker turned to glance over his shoulder at me, making sure I understood.
I could only nod, not believing him. I shouldn’t have agreed to this, but he was the only person I knew well enough who hadn’t hurt me yet. He… he was always there when I didn’t know I needed him.
“Steven was fed up with me.”
Ryker waited until we were inside, the door shut and locked behind us and the kitchen light on, before he turned to me and sat the bags on the counter.
Slowly, as if I were about to run and hide, he took my bag from my hand. After setting it down on the floor, one hand cupped my face. His thumb brushed under my eye, the one that had been bruised not all that long ago.
“Steven deserves to rot in hell. He tried to kill you. If I happen to get annoyed at you for whatever reason, I’ll go for a run or something. I willneverhurt you.”
I leaned into his touch, desperate for whatever he’d give me. My eyes closed, feeling slightly more content with what was happening.
Did I believe him? I wanted to. I wanted to believe that he’d never raise a hand to me. Or yell at me.
