I shake my head. "He said nobody was comingfor me, but I knew you were. I knew I just had to stay alive until you got here."
"I will always find you."
“I don’t want to burn the house to the ground. It’s where you saved me.”
“The way you swung that belt, you had a big hand in saving yourself, City Girl.” He kisses my knuckles. “Now…I think we’re going to have to crowd into Ridge’s cabin for a sleepover for a day or two, but do you want to go home?”
Nothing has ever sounded better.
Chapter 33
Zane
By the time we’re discharged, Dax has shown up, too.
He drives us back to the ranch, waving off Hope’s apologies for what happened to his bedroom.
“He’s moving anyway,” I say, suddenly very fucking tired.
“Am I?” Dax asks. “Where to?”
“The basement.” I mumble those two words, my eyes closed. A micro nap on the drive sounds good.
I guess the adrenaline has worn off.
Now my side just hurts like a motherfucker.
There’s crime scene tape across the front porch, and an RCMP officer has been tasked with sitting there to make sure we don’t enter our own house.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
We find Luna and Bellamy at Ridge’s cabin. There’s only one bedroom, but he has a sunroom on the back, and they’ve made a blanket fort in there. Bellamy announces they’re going to sleep thereall night. Ridge says he’ll take the couch, and he’s made up his bed for Hope and me.
It’s some kind of fucked up that the first time I’ll get to hold her all night in a proper bed, it won’t be my fucking own, and it’s only because I killed her nightmare.
Dinner is surreal and subdued.
Bellamy picks up on the weird vibe, but with four adults to distract her and keep her playing, it’snot until bedtime that she realizes she’s missing Froggie.
And then it’s the end of days.
Hope tries really, really hard to not meltdown right along her daughter, but it’s hard. Too hard.
Luna goes with Ridge to do the evening chores—and to give them some space—and I herd both girls into bed.
“I can take the couch,” I say gruffly, although I never want to be out of touching range of Hope again.
She just tugs on my hand, pulling me into the bed behind her.
That’s how we sleep that night, and the next two, with Hope sandwiched in between me and Bellamy in Ridge’s king-sized bed.
Jasper Lane shows up every day, taking pains to walk us through every step of the investigation. Mostly for Hope’s benefit, no doubt.
We ask for Froggie back.
The stuffed animal is neatly sliced open along his back seam, with the tracker removed. Hope stitches him back together so carefully the seam is invisible again, then runs him through the wash twice.
Bellamy is overjoyed to be reunited with her best friend.
