She nodded and complied as he closed the door. A few seconds later, as he buckled into his own seatbelt, she started to get a little color back in her face. And she’d eaten the entire bar.
“I can’t stay at your house, Cain.”
“Of course, you can. It’s all torn up with the remodeling, but there’s lots of room.”
“That’s not what I mean,” she said. “Being around you makes me feel…”
“Yeah. Me, too. And we can talk about that later.” For a brief moment he covered her hand with his. Then started the truck and drove toward his house. “Right now, I want you to stay because when you first agreed to let us use Peyton’s as a sting setup, you said you could risk yourself but never your family. Do you remember what I said?”
“Yes.” She lightly touched his arm. “You promised to keep us all safe.”
“Right now, this is the best way for me to do that. Agreed?” He arrived at his house and turned off the truck, waiting for her answer before opening the driver’s side door. Wasn’t far between the carport and the back door, but the less time they were out in the open, the better he’d feel.
The silence in the truck was as thick as the chill rapidly overtaking the interior since he’d shut off the engine. He waited. He could wait as long as it took her to make the decision she was wrestling with in her mind.
From the pinch of Betsy’s brows, she was intensely focused on something. The downturn of the corners of her lips could mean a lot of things, but from the way this day had turned out, he couldn’t blame her for being down on life. Depending on her answer, his ability to protect her might get easier. Might not. Either way, he’d be there for her no matter what.
“There’s someplace I want to go if you don’t mind,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Sure.” He started the truck and pulled out of the driveway. “Anywhere in particular?”
“I want to drive around the lake.” After pressing a few buttons on her phone, she laid it on the seat between them. “Just follow Siri’s directions. She knows the way.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Betsy knew the route to the lake like the back of her hand. Knew what lay at the end of the drive. Knew the ever-present memories that would greet her. Maybe she’d made a mistake coming here today, but considering how the day had gone so far, this couldn’t make things any worse. She needed to be here.
Siri announced they had arrived at their destination.
“Is this the place?” Cain asked.
“This is it.”
“Where do you want me to park?”
She pointed to the property’s parking area at the road front edge of the vacant lakefront lot. A seven-foot-high retaining wall holding solidly packed backfill of dirt and rocks sat level with the roadway. The family budget hadn’t allowed for anything more than white chat on top that first summer.
In one corner of the parking pad, five sets of initials had been scratched into a small patch of hand-made cement. Even a rough drawing of a boat, thanks to Marcy and her. Right before they left for the day, her dad carried Summer over to the still setting concrete and had her dab her thumb above the boat—she’d promptly declared it the sun.
That had been a happy day. Full of laughter and food, fishing and plans. Betsy still remembered it like only yesterday.
The very first time her family—Dad, Mama, Marcy, Summer and her—had come to the lot in February of that year, she’d only been ten years old. They’d all helped make a small rock outline of exactly where they would build a cabin one day. Then on that final day of summer at the lake for that year, her parents, Sadie and Link Peyton, had spent the day laying out imaginary rooms inside the single row of rocks. Of course, the cabin had never been built. Never would be.
Over the years, as rain poured down and windstorms swept through, the rock outline gradually washed away. The only things still left from their first summer were the dock and the initials in the small patch of concrete her dad had hand-mixed with water from the lake and poured into a design she and Marcy had constructed. And of course…the memories. Always the memories.
Betsy’s insides pushed against her whole being, choking off the memories. Leaving her with nothing but emptiness inside. Emptiness that magnified the promise she’d made that day. Gulping back the sob clawing to escape, she swiped her fingers across the corner of her right eye, then the left one as well.
“This is a great view,” Cain said as he shifted into park and shut off the engine. “Looks like someone deliberately planned what would give the best sightline before they cleared out the trees.”
She nodded, and before she could stop him, Cain jumped out of the truck. Closing the door behind him, he paced around the parking area. Like a kid who’d just discovered where the treasure might be buried, he scanned the property with his eyes, brushed his hand along the railing, pointed at the squirrels scampering from limb to limb. Then stared at the lake.
He walked back to her side of the truck and gestured for her to roll the window down. She obliged, but dang, it was cold.
“Do you know who owns this property?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Do you think they’d mind if we walk around?”
