He looked wrecked.
He looked alive.
“Zara,” he croaked, his eyes darting wildly over me. “You’re okay.”
My knees gave out as I reached him, and his arms closed around me, drawing me into his chest. He smelled like sweat andhis shampoo. Like sunshine and the love of my life. I couldn’t stop breathing him in.
“You were lost,” I cried against his shirt. “We didn’t know where you were.”
“I’m here, sweetheart. I’m right here.” His voice was thin and thready, like speaking was an effort.
I clutched fistfuls of his shirt, needing to feel his solid heat. My hands slid up to his face, over his jaw, into his hair, down his shoulders. I needed to catalog him. Needed to know he was whole. Needed proof.
“You’re real,” I whispered, half to myself. “You’re real.”
He gave a faint huff of a laugh that ended in a wince. “Pretty sure.”
I pulled back enough to see him clearly. His eyes were unfocused, a little glassy. “Are you hurt?”
“Yeah.” His brow crinkled as he shifted. “I fell when Dusty got spooked and bolted. Think I messed up my knee. Definitely can’t put weight on it.”
I shook my head, tears spilling freely. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t find you sooner. They wouldn’t let me out here when it was dark—”
“I knew you were gonna come.” He swiped my tears with his thumb. “Knew you’d find me, sweetheart. I just had to hang out for a while and wait.”
My chest very nearly caved in.
“You’re always waiting for me.” My head fell on his shoulder, and my heart finally began to calm. “You came to the river.”
“This is our spot. If I was going to sit somewhere hurting, I figured it might as well be here.”
A sob-laugh tore out of me. “To the river and back.”
“Yeah.” His eyelids drooped. “And look…you made it. Just like I knew you would.”
“Baby…” I kissed his temple, cheek, jaw. “Let me take care of you, okay?”
His head fell back against the trunk, and he looked at me like I was the best thing he’d ever seen. “All right. Do what you need to, as long as you don’t leave me.”
“Oh no, Cormac. You don’t have to worry about that. I won’t leave you.”
Not ever again.
Chapter Forty-five
Cormac
Luckyforme,withmy family, it wasn’t difficult for me to take it easy. The trouble was, they were always watching me, so even when I wanted to do something for myself, they wouldn’t let me. And I was getting bored with being laid up for the last two weeks.
After taking my second nap of the day, I opened my eyes and nearly had a heart attack.
“What the hell?” I tried to shoot upright but was immediately greeted with a rocketing pain in my knee.
“Sorry, Uncle Cormac!” Jesse jumped back, his hands up. “Grandma sent me to check on you. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I groaned, moving more slowly until I was sitting against the headboard. “Maybe knock instead of putting your face right in front of mine.”
“I did knock. You were out cold. Did you know when you’re sleeping, you kind of look like a corpse? I couldn’t even hear you breathing.” He put his hands on his hips and looked me over. “Grandma would’ve been mad if you’d been dead and I just left you lying there.”
