Taking his hand, she led him down the path toward their cabin, the flowers along the path just starting to come into bloom. Just like their love.
Epilogue
Hannah shivered as she stood next to the cold plunge tub. Why had she agreed to this again?
“You ready?” Xavier asked as he stood next to her in his swim trunks. The sight of him almost undressed was enough motivation to get her out of bed this early in the morning, but she wasn’t sure anything could convince her to get into that water.
“No,” she replied, and she reached out to slip her fingers into the tub. She snatched her hand back at once, letting out a cry. “Oh my God, it’s so cold!” she protested. “You sure I can’t just go have my morning coffee instead?”
“No, you promised,” he reminded her, raising his eyebrows pointedly. “We have to test this out before any of the guests try it, right?”
“Right,” she muttered, grimacing as she imagined submerging her whole body under the freezing water. “Tell me what it’s supposed to help with again?”
“Reduces inflammation, increases circulation, improves metabolism and mood,” he replied, ticking off the benefits on his fingers. He grinned at her. “You ready now?”
“Ugh, I guess so,” she muttered, as she dropped the robe she had been hanging on to for dear life. She was in her one-piece swimsuit, and the warm summer that was starting to come in wasn’t enough to keep her from shivering.
“You’ll feel so good when you’re out, I promise,” he told her, grabbing her hand and helping her up the wooden steps to the tub.
“Three, two, one…” Xavier announced, and then the two of them both leaped into the water.
“Oh my God, no, no, no!” Hannah shrieked as soon as the freezing water hit her body. “No way!”
“It’s not that bad,” Xavier replied, but his teeth were already starting to chatter.
She laughed, even as the cold started to set in around her. “Yes, it is!” she protested. She was well aware that they were probably going to get into trouble for causing such a racket this early in the morning, but she didn’t care. She curled her toes and tried to breathe, her body already crying at her to get out. It went completely against every part of her nature to sit here in freezing water. For goodness’ sake, it went against human nature! She should have been stepping out of a hot shower right now, preparing a warm cup of coffee, not freezing her butt off in this tub.
“I bet I can last longer than you,” he told her, and she narrowed her eyes at him. If he thought it was going to be that easy to beat her, he was wrong.
“Oh, yeah?” she replied, wrapping her arms around herself beneath the water. “Let’s find out, huh?”
He knew there was no better way to get her to do something than to suggest she couldn’t. She was stubborn right down to her bones. And she wasn’t going anywhere.
“You can get out anytime you like,” he teased her, even as his words started to shake from the cold.
“Oh yeah, so can you,” she shot back. “You all right over there? Looks like you’re struggling.”
“I feel great,” he replied, but he forced the words out through gritted teeth. His whole body was covered in goose bumps, andhe was already glancing toward the spot where he had left his robe.
“Do you, now?” she asked him, nudging him with her foot under the water. “It’s really cold in here. Nobody would blame you if you had to—”
But she couldn’t even get the words out before he sprang from the water and grabbed his robe, wrapping it around himself quickly.
“Damn, that’s cold!” he cried out, and she laughed and kicked her legs beneath the water.
“Really?” she replied, feigning innocence and trying to keep her own teeth from chattering. “I think it’s just lovely in here.” She counted out another ten seconds but then climbed out of the water, shivering wildly and slipping on her robe. “You know what, beating you really did improve my mood,” she remarked as she reached for her shoes. “Maybe there’s something to all of this after all.”
“I should have known not to challenge you,” he muttered, chuckling. “You never let yourself get beat.”
“Exactly,” she agreed, as she crouched down to slip on her flip-flops. These last few months had been some of the best of her life, partly because she had realized a strength in herself she had never noticed before.
She had started therapy at Xavier’s request, after what she had been through at the hands of Jed and Sampson. She had been so focused on helping Xavier get back on his feet, she had found herself kept up late with nightmares and memories of her own.
Focusing on herself in therapy made all the difference, and she’d found herself better able to handle those dreams when they came around. As time passed, they were becoming less frequent and ferocious, and she knew it wouldn’t be long until they all but vanished entirely.
It helped, of course, that Sampson and Jed had been locked up with the key pretty much thrown away. No court date had been set yet, as the state pulled together all of the evidence it needed to get them put away for life, but it was clear they weren’t going to be getting out anytime soon. The horrors they had put her through, and the hardships they had caused for Xavier, were well and truly a thing of the past.
She hoped they would stay there, though she was sure she would have to testify against them when the case eventually went to trial. One of the reasons she was so determined to see her therapy through was so she’d be strong enough in her testimony to ensure they got a life sentence.
