Watching her door.
Guarding what’s ours.
FIVE
Fern
I wake up warm.
That’s the first thing I notice.Not the panic.Not the ache.Not the terror clawing at my chest the way it has every morning for the last decade.
Just warmth.
Soft sheets.A quiet room.No shouting.No slamming doors.No smell of alcohol in the air.
It takes my brain a second to catch up.
Oh.I’m not home.
The memories come rushing back all at once: the truck, the ropes, the forest, the gate.Jameson’s arms catching me.The porch.The fight.The way he cut the ropes from my wrists like it was nothing.
My heart stutters as I sit up.
Right.
I’m in Night Grove Falls, at Jameson’s house.I remember the doctor examining and bandaging me up.
I look around the room and wonder what to do now.I’m stuck in this house, in the middle of nowhere, so close to the men who wanted to take me.I need to come up with a plan.
I need to call Roxie.
I scramble out of bed and pad down the hall to the living room.Jameson is fast asleep, and I creep closer, studying his face.He’s so handsome.His dark brown hair falls over his forehead, and he looks so peaceful, not at all the intense, brooding man I met yesterday.
I hover over him, looking around for his phone so I can call Roxie.
“Fern?”
I yelp, jumping away from him.
Jameson sits up in a rush.I back up.My legs hit the edge of the armchair, and I tumble down onto the cushions.
“Are you okay?”he asks.
“Yeah, I was looking for your phone so I could call Roxie.”
“Who’s Roxie?”
“My best friend.”
He rubs the sleep from his eyes, and digs in his pocket, pulling out his phone.I take it eagerly and return to his room.Hopping onto the bed, I dial Roxie’s number.She doesn’t answer, and so I call her again, and then again.
Finally, on the third try, she picks up.
“Hello?”
“Roxie!It’s me!”
“Oh, my god!Fern!”Roxie bursts into tears.
