Page 57 of North

SEVEN

Selah woke up with North in her brain.

North, in her brain and charging into a remote village to save her life. Because of course the trauma of the past few days had lit up the dark corners of her memory to relive that event that had sent her running.

Hiding.

So as she woke, as she stared at the ceiling in the B&B bedroom, in the brass bed covered in quilts, listening to rain plink on the roof, all she saw was North’s gaze as it landed on her in the village.

After he’d shot the man about to…Well, she didn’t like to think about that. She’d somehow managed to fold away that moment even as her mind refused to let go of the horror of the violence. Of the sight of the dead young man, his glassy eyes, his blood muddying the ground. No wonder she trembled, acid in her chest.

You didn’t have to kill him!

Her words. And as she sat up, pulling the fluffy robe around her, they reverberated back to her. Along with North’s look of fury as he ran up to her.

What are you doing here?

She stood up and headed to the bathroom. He would probably ask her the same thing today, and frankly, she didn’t have good answers. One thing led to another?

She splashed water on her face, brushed her teeth, and found clean clothes in the hallway outside her door.

Oops. She’d forgotten them in the washer. Her gaze went to the room at the end of the hall, stirring up the memory of James secreting away that canister last night.

She closed herself into her room.

Get to York’s house. Ham’s words from last night. He’d promised to send her the address. And James had promised to take her there.

And then, then she’d figure out what was next.

But behind her eyes, she saw the image of North charging into the village, garbed in so much body armor and fierceness it had ripped right through her.

He wasn’t a safe man.

And maybe that was the core of the issue between them.

She dressed in the clean clothes and followed the scent of banana muffins down to the dining room, where Josephine had a buffet of sausages, eggs, bacon, muffins, and fruit spread on an old dark-walnut hutch anchored by a few rounded glass frames of ancestors who watched her dish up her breakfast.

Josephine came into the room with coffee in a silver service. She poured Selah a cup and then set down creamer next to her. “I was able to charge your phone.” She offered a smile. “Oh, by the way, your friend already ate. He said he’d be back.”

James left? “Thanks,” she said and opened the phone.

Full battery, but…no service. The phone showed no bars. Huh. She turned it off, then ate her muffin as she waited for it to power back on.

Still no bars of reception.

Maybe it was the storm.

She pocketed the phone and finished breakfast.

Josephine came back in and sat at the table. “How are you doing this morning?”

She sighed. “I’m ready to go home, I think. I’m tired of…not being safe, I guess.”

Josephine put a hand on hers. “What is safety, really?”

Selah looked at her.

“I’m just saying that safety means different things to different people. But to those who believe in God, safety is bigger than a place. It’s a state of being.” She squeezed her hand. “I noticed your necklace.”