Axel’s voice takes on a hard edge I recognize all too well. An edge that says adorable little Lanie is dangerously close to getting her bottom spanked.
Clearly, Lanie hears it too, because she doesn’t argue further. With a deep sigh, she pushes to her feet and grabs my hand. “Come on. Let’s go find a game since we’re apparently being held prisoner.”
My curiosity gets the better of me as she leads me over to a corner stacked high with various board games and puzzles. There’s a giant toy chest as well, and when Lanie lifts the lid it proves to be full of dolls and blocks and pretty much anything a Little girl could possibly want to play with.
“How long have you been here?” I ask as she pulls a few dolls free and hands them to me.
“Umm, I don’t know, actually,” she says with a shrug. “A month, maybe?”
“Amonth?” I stare at her, my brain trying to reconcile her answer with everything else I’ve observed. “But you seem so…”
“Happy?” Again that dazzling grin stretches across her face. “I am. I wasn’t at first, mostly because I was scared. But now I can’t imagine being anywhere else, with anyone else. This is where I belong and I am really happy here.”
“Why were you scared?”
Plopping down onto her diapered butt, Lanie waves for me to join her. I do, too fascinated by the tale she’s weaving to do anything else. “I was supposed to get married to this man my parents picked out for me. An older man in our church who I’d barely spoken three sentences to before our wedding day. And, well, I kinda freaked out and ran away.”
“You ran away from your own wedding?”
“Yup. But I obviously didn’t plan for it, and the van I stole ran out of gas in the middle of a snowstorm. Axel rescued me, brought me here, and… now here I am.”
Stunned, I can only stare at her as she situates one of her dolls on horseback, already immersing herself in whatever game it is she’s playing. “But he gave you a choice, right? It wasn’t like he just brought you home and married you without even asking if that was what you wanted.”
The bitterness in my voice is impossible to miss, but when Lanie looks up, all I see is understanding in her eyes. “That’s actually exactly how it went down. At the time, I was pretty pissed about going from one arranged marriage to another but now I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“But…why? You don’t miss your freedom?”
Another shrug. “I never really had any freedom in the church. At least here I’m not expected to be someone’s servant girl, doing all the cleaning and the cooking and taking care of a bunch of kids I don’t even want. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m pretty freaking spoiled.”
“Maybe, but you aren’tfree.”
“I don’t need to be free. I’m happy, and that’s enough.” Leaning over, she gives my arm a reassuring squeeze. “I know it’s hard to understand, but Uncle Bram loves you and just wants the best for you. It might not seem like it, not right now, but give it a little while and you’ll see. Being Axel’s Little girl is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I’m sure it will be the same for you.”
By some unspoken accord, we both drop the subject to focus on our game. But Lanie’s words play over and over in my mind, and the more I replay them, the more worried I become that she might be right. That if I let myself ignore the past, I might actually lose myself in this new life that’s been chosen for me.
And that thought terrifies me, right down to my soul.
CHAPTER 11
JOSIE
Lying in Daddy’s bed later that night, I stare up at the ceiling while my mind races, trying to piece together an escape plan. There has to be some way out of this, some way for me to get the fuck out of here and back to my normal life. Lanie’s words, her easy acceptance of this new life that was thrust upon her without her consent, have buried deep under my skin, making me increasingly desperate to flee.
Unfortunately, as much as I hate to admit it, Daddy was right about me trying to run off into the woods in the middle of winter. Even with the right clothing and equipment, I have no idea where I am or which direction to head in to find safety. People get lost in the woods all the time, even under good conditions, and I’m not exactly an “outdoorsy” type as it is.
Which means sneaking off in the middle of the night is out of the question.
So what are my other options?
Closing my eyes, I let my author brain take over. If this was a story, how would I write it? There’s no romantic hero waiting in the wings to swoop in and rescue me, which is, I’m ashamed to realize, probably how I would have handled my heroine’s escape.
No, while I am absolutely a damsel in distress, I’m going to have to rescue myself.
I could find a weapon and force someone to drive me into town. But I dismiss that idea as soon as it comes to me. Even if Icouldfind some kind of weapon threatening enough, I’d have to overpower six lumberjacks and a… would Gray be a lumberjane? Whatever she is, I’d have to take her out as well for that plan to work. Or hope that I’m lucky enough to find someone on their own and that they wouldn’t simply wrestle the weapon from me which seems equally unlikely.
Hitch a ride to town, maybe? Eli was talking about going into town for groceries tomorrow. I could simply figure out which vehicle is his, sneak out, and hide in the back.
For that to work, though, I’m going to need Daddy to stop watching me like a fucking hawk. And the best way to do that will be to lower his defenses, make him believe he can trust me not to run.
