The morning starts like any other.
Cade makes coffee while I feed the dogs. We eat breakfast together at the small kitchen table, knees bumping underneath, trading sections of the newspaper he picks up from town every few days. Luna curls at my feet. Bear watches the window. Moose snores in his bed by the fireplace.
It's been four days since our fight. Four days of rebuilding, of learning how to be honest with each other even when it hurts. We're not perfect. We're not even close. But we're trying, and that counts for something.
"Volunteer shift at the clinic today," Cade says, draining the last of his coffee. "You want to come? Doc Morrison keeps asking about you."
"I'd like that." I've been to town three times now, each visit a little easier than the last. The people of Whisper Vale have accepted me with an ease that still catches me off guard. "Maybe I can stop by the bookshop while you're working."
"Sounds like a plan." He leans over and kisses me, tasting like coffee and maple syrup. "We'll leave in an hour."
I'm in the shower when I hear the dogs start barking.
Not their usual alert barks, the ones that mean a squirrel is taunting them or a deer wandered too close. These are sharp. Aggressive. The kind of barking that raises every hair on my body.
I shut off the water and grab a towel, my heart already pounding.
"Cade?"
No answer.
I wrap the towel around myself and crack open the bathroom door. The cabin is silent except for the dogs, who are going absolutely crazy in the main room.
"Cade?" Louder this time.
Still nothing.
I pull on clothes as fast as I can, not bothering with anything except jeans and a t-shirt. My hands are shaking so badly I can barely manage the button.
When I step into the hallway, I can see the front door standing open. The dogs are on the porch, hackles raised, barking at something in the tree line.
And Cade is nowhere in sight.
Don't panic. He probably just went to check something. He probably heard a noise and went to investigate. He's fine. He's trained for this. He's fine.
I grab my phone from the nightstand. Three missed calls from a number I don't recognize. One voicemail.
With numb fingers, I call and press play.
"Hello, Natalie."
The blood drains from my face.
"I know you're there. I know he's there too. The big medic who thinks he can keep you from me." Kevin's voice is calm. Pleasant. The same tone he used right before the worst beatings. "I have to say, I'm disappointed. Running off with another man?That's not like you. But we'll discuss that when I bring you home."
The message ends.
I'm frozen. Can't move. Can't breathe. Can't think.
He's here. He found me. After everything, after all the running and hiding and starting over, he found me.
A hand closes around my arm and I scream.
"Natalie! Natalie, it's me!"
Cade. It's Cade. He's standing in front of me, both hands raised, his face tight with concern.
"I heard the dogs and went to check the perimeter." His eyes scan my face, reading everything I'm not saying. "What happened?"
