Ignite

by Emma Renshaw

  Gunner grinned and Delilah sat up straighter, kissing his cheek. “It was. Tuck was running around the living room in circles and diving into the couch mimicking Gunner. I’m so glad you’re home,” she whispered to him.

  “Me too, buttercup.” His voice was just as quiet and gentle as hers as he kissed the side of her head. Delilah’s eyes fell closed, and the most serene smile graced her face. A twinge of jealousy slid though me. They made it look effortless when it was anything but.

  I took a long drink from my beer as I thought about Ridge finding that with someone one day. And if I ever came back, I’d have to see them together and maybe watch them like this. The jealous twinge that had started because I wanted a love like Delilah and Gunner’s grew and turned ugly as I pictured a faceless woman with Ridge. I shook my head to clear those thoughts from my mind.

  “Where’s Makenna? She’s running really late,” I said and glanced back at the door. She was meeting us here after filling a last-minute order at Sweet Stems, but she should’ve been here at The Watering Hole a while ago. Colt’s eyes were glued to the door as he quietly drank his whiskey. Foster was at the bar talking to a woman.

  “I’m sure she’ll be here soon,” Ridge said. Then he lowered his voice and his lips brushed against my ear as he whispered, “Ready to take the tequila shot?”

  I nodded.

  “Remember how? Lick,” he whispered, gliding his tongue up the column of my neck. Heat flooded my cheeks, and my nipples pebbled beneath my lace bra. “Sip,” he muttered against my lips before moving back to my neck. “Suck,” he whispered, sucking on the spot behind my ear. I fanned myself to cool my cheeks and racing heart.

  “Let’s do it,” I said and picked up the shot glass. He did the same, licking the salt off the room and tossing it to the back of his throat. I mimicked him and sucked on the lime as he chuckled, staring at my face. Ridge leaned in, sucking a drop of tequila from the corner of my mouth.

  “Fuck,” Colt growled. “Makenna’s been in an accident. She’s being taken to the hospital.”

  “What happened?”

  “Don’t know,” he said, already striding to the door. I hopped off the barstool to follow him. Ridge’s hand pressed against my back.

  “Foster,” Ridge shouted and motioned for him to follow us. He put down his drink and walked away from the woman he’d been talking to without a word. Delilah and Gunner were behind Ridge. My heart was pounding behind my rib cage and dread filled my gut.

  “What’s happening?” Foster asked as we exited The Watering Hole.

  “Makenna was in an accident, and she’s being taken to the hospital,” Ridge told him. “We don’t know anything else.”

  Colt was already in his truck and peeling out of the parking lot as we reached Ridge’s truck and Foster hopped into his. Delilah and Gunner were already in her SUV and backing out. My hands shook as I tried to buckle my seatbelt, and my breath was ragged.

  “She’s going to be okay,” Ridge said quietly, grabbing my hand as he raced us to the hospital. I shook my head.

  “You don’t know that.”

  He squeezed my hand tighter. “Let’s find out what happened before we jump to the worst-case scenario. Makenna is tough.”

  I nodded. She was tough and I needed her to be okay. I couldn’t lose her too. But if she was being taken to the hospital and hadn’t called any of us to tell us what was happening, I was already fearing the worst and I couldn’t stop my mind from going there. Ridge swung into the first available spot at the hospital which, luckily, wasn’t far from The Watering Hole. If she had major problems and her life was threatened, she would be life flighted from here to a major hospital in Austin. Our small town was only equipped to handle so much trauma.

  Ridge grabbed my hand and we jogged across the parking lot. Ridge yanked me to a stop as an ambulance sped in front of us and to the emergency bay doors. “Is that her?” I asked, jogging again and watching as the EMTs, including Adele, unloaded a stretcher.

  Makenna’s blond hair was falling from the stretcher, and she was strapped in around her legs and chest. They had a breathing bag over her mouth, pumping air into her airway. A sob tore through my throat as we got closer and I saw the blood on her face, down her neck, and caking her hair.

  “Makenna,” I whispered. Ridge and I followed the EMTs inside as they ran through a set of double doors that we couldn’t get past. Colt was in the middle of the waiting room speaking with a police officer, and Delilah, Gunner, and Foster came in behind us, coming to a quick halt at our backs. Delilah grabbed my other hand and held it. She had tears in her eyes.

  “Have we heard anything yet?” she asked.

  I shook my head and my lower lip wobbled as I tried to gain control. “We saw her. They were unloading her from the ambulance. She was bleeding and they had a breathing bag on her.”

  Delilah’s hand covered her mouth and she turned away, crying into Gunner’s chest. His hand came to the back of her head, and he bent to whisper to her. Ridge’s hand squeezed mine, and he nudged me forward when Colt was done speaking with the officer. Colt dragged a hand over the back of his head and squeezed the back of his neck as he looked at the floor, slowly shaking his head.

  “Someone in a lifted truck ran her off the road,” Colt hissed angrily.

  “The same…the same truck?” I asked. I closed my eyes for a moment before focusing on him again. Ridge’s arms came around me from behind, holding me steady. He was steadying me before I even realized my legs were about to give out from under me with the weight of what this could mean. “Is she okay?”

  “I can’t confirm for sure that it was the same vehicle, but that is our assumption right now. The officer on scene said she crashed on the way here. She’s banged up from the crash and losing a lot of blood from a head wound and a wound on her side, where she was punctured by some broken glass. He said it looked like she had a vase in the car with her that broke during the crash, and a piece was embedded in her side. Her car went off the road, through a ditch, and into a tree.”

  I swayed in Ridge’s arms.

  “I’ve called her mother. Her mom and brother should be here soon.”

  Just as he finished saying that, Roxanne and Wyatt burst through the sliding doors and came running over to us. Colt repeated everything he’d told us before her mom rushed over to the nurses’ station, asking to speak to a doctor. Wyatt followed her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. The minutes passed into hours as we waited for more information.

  I tugged my phone out of my pocket as it vibrated. A text message from an unknown number appeared on the screen. I stepped away from Ridge and the others as I read the words, and fear, dread, and guilt slithered through me. I read the words over and over as a new round of tears filled my eyes. Ridge walked over and plucked the phone from my hands, reading the message. I already had it memorized and was replaying the words over and over.

  I told you to leave. If she dies it will be because of you.

  Leave. Gunner is next and if I can’t get to him, I’ll choose the one he loves most.

  Their blood is on your hands.

  “Colt,” Ridge barked and thrust the phone into Colt’s hands. Ridge’s hands were balling into fists as he paced in front of me before stopping and staring at me. His chest was rising and falling with his rapid breathing.

  He framed my face with his hands. “Don’t believe them, clover. You did not run her off that road. Don’t let this sick fuck chase you from town. Please. Clover, don’t go. I can protect you.”

  “It’s not about me,” I whispered and stepped away as the doctor came through the door and straight to Makenna’s mom. I walked across the waiting room and stood behind Roxanne and Wyatt, listening to the doctor. I needed to know Makenna was going to be okay, and then I needed to leave.

  No one else could be hurt because of me.

  Two days and I’d be gone.

  “Makenna lost a significant amount of blood, which sent her into shock and ultimately cau
sed her heart to stop inside the ambulance. They were able to resuscitate her quickly, and she is receiving a blood transfusion. We used a camera down her throat to be sure that there was no organ damage and no internal bleeding. The wounds are deep, but ultimately she was very lucky, nothing major was hit. Considering the number of organs in the torso and the fact that the glass in her side didn’t even nick anything, I’d say she had a guardian angel watching out for her. We’d like to keep her overnight to make sure she’s okay, but she is one lucky girl.”

  I wanted to scoff and tell him how wrong she was. She wasn’t lucky. She was collateral damage of the destruction I had caused. Ridge never let go of me, but I tuned him out as I mentally made plans to leave and talked with the others about the message I’d received.

  31

  Ridge

  “Zoe has a new phone number, but I kept this active because I didn’t know if that’s what you would need.”

  I stood inside a conference room in MarxMen. A gleaming black table sat in the center of the room. A wall of screens took up one wall. Kiernan took the phone from my hands and started messing around with it. “You can cancel the service, I can use WiFi if I need anything off the phone. Tracing numbers can be tricky, but if anyone can do it, I can.”

  Gunner had immediately suggested I call Roman and Kiernan when I’d told them about the message at the hospital. I still had the card Zoe had given me the night of Gunner and Delilah’s party. I had planned to call them about setting up security at my property when I was done with the remodel, but I needed them now and for something far more important—Zoe.

  When we’d seen Makenna removed from the ambulance, I’d been worried that she wasn’t going to make it, but she’d been in the hospital for only a little over twenty-four hours. Zoe had been quiet since that night, completely withdrawn into herself. She wouldn’t speak to me except with short answers and fake smiles.

  Now I sat in one of the wide black office chairs at MarxMen, dragging my hands through my hair.

  “I appreciate this,” I said. “When do you think you’ll have answers?”

  Kiernan tapped on the table with his palm, and I backed up an inch when it lit up. “What the hell is this?”

  “My baby,” Kiernan sighed. “It’s a lot of fun to use.” He started swiping through screens, bringing up a calendar. “I can clear my schedule and put an urgent notice on this, but it can still take time. Honestly, I don’t have an answer for you. I could get lucky and have this message ping straight back to the user and have a name for you by tomorrow, or I could be dealing with someone who has some technical knowledge and is crafty, and I’ll have to smoke them out somehow, which could take longer. I’m hoping for the former, but we’ll have to see. I’ll keep you and Colt in the loop. Keep your girl safe.”

  I nodded. I’d do anything to keep her safe, but my battle wasn’t only with the outside forces trying to tear her down; it was with her too. I didn’t know how to make her see that she was so much more than the guilt that weighed her down.

  “Zoe,” I called out when I opened the front door. Her car was in the driveway, and I didn’t know if she had plans that day, but I figured she might be visiting Makenna. I dropped my keys on the table by the front door and walked into the living room calling her name again.

  She walked out of the bedroom. Her hair was in one long braid hanging over her shoulder. Her tank top showed a bit of skin above her jean shorts. And she was barefoot. She didn’t have any makeup on and her hair was messy, but her beauty still stunned me. I shook my head, taking a few steps toward her. “It’s been a long day and I need to fill you in on everything Kiernan said about your old phone. I need a beer. Want to go out for dinner?”

  I placed a quick kiss on her cheek and moved around her to head into the bedroom to change shirts before we went to grab dinner. I flipped on the cold water in the sink and bent forward, splashing my face with water, feeling around for the towel on the hook. I scrubbed the towel over my face and tossed it on the counter then froze.

  Her perfume wasn’t there.

  Or her toothbrush.

  Or her thousand other bathroom products.

  I slowly looked back to the bedroom. Sitting on top of the bed was her suitcase, filled to the brim with her clothes. She stood in the doorway looking down at her bare feet and nervously fiddling with her hands. “Zoe?” I asked.

  She looked at me and I finally noticed her red-rimmed eyes. She was getting ready to leave. The full force of my emotions slammed into my gut. Panic. Sadness. Fear. Anger. I narrowed my eyes, staring at her face. “Were you even going to say goodbye?”

  She deflated. I finished walking into the bedroom and stared down at her fully packed bag.

  “Of course I was going to say goodbye.”

  I wasn’t sure if I believed her or not. I’d thought she would at least give me a little notice, not wave as she was walking out the fucking door.

  “Why are you leaving?”

  “I was always going to leave.”

  “I’m fixing up the house on my property, Georgia’s House. Foster and I have already started. You can stay here, Zoe. Your life can be here.”

  She shook her head and my stomach dropped. Everyone walked out of my life and, dammit, I’d known she was going to from the beginning, but I hadn’t been able to stop my feelings from growing once she’d come into my life. She’d planted herself there and made me fall in love with her. I wanted her to be the one person that stayed.

  “I can’t stay here, Ridge. If I stay, more people will get hurt. You read that message.”

  “We will find out who it is and stop them.” I took a step toward her with my arms out. I wanted to hold her and feel her body against mine, make sure that she was still here and mine. “I’ll protect you, Zoe. I’d do anything to protect you.”

  “What about everyone else? Who will protect them from me? What about you? What if this person comes after you?”

  “Let them come after me. I fucking dare them to, and I wish they would, so I could squeeze the life out of them for ever hurting you in any capacity.”

  “Ridge,” she whispered, covering her face and crying silently. “You can’t say things like that. I’m the danger here. If I leave, this all stops. It’ll all go away. I’m leaving.”

  “Then I’ll go with you,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. I’d thought I’d live the rest of my days in Hawk Valley. It had been the first place that felt like a home to me, but I’d follow Zoe to the goddamn moon if she’d have me.

  “No,” she said. “No. This was a fling, Ridge. A fling. We knew it was going to end. And it has. It’s ended. It’s over and I’m leaving. You’re staying here. And you’re going…you’re going to find someone far better than me,” she said while sobbing through her words.

  “Not fucking possible, clover.”

  I took a step closer. She raised her hand and took a step back, keeping distance between us. I wanted to yank her against my chest, keeping her there until she saw reason and agreed to stay. “No. I’m leaving, Ridge. I already told Makenna and the others goodbye. It’s just you left. We need to say goodbye.”

  “You’re running, Zoe.”

  Her cheeks filled with color and defiance stole over her gaze. She slipped her feet into her sandals. “No, I’m not. I’m not running. I’m doing what I’ve always planned.”

  “You are. You’re scared and you’re running from this,” I hissed, pointing at her. “You’re running from us and the good life you could have here. Do you think any of us wants you to go? Do you think we’d trade you for ending all this shit that’s happening? Not one of us would do that. Not fucking one of us.”

  My voice was getting angrier with each word out of my mouth, but I couldn’t stop it. A storm was brewing in my chest, and my heart was pumping chaotically. I could feel her slipping through my fingers as I tried to hold on for all I was worth.

  “You don’t understand,” she said, shaking her head sadly and walking to the bed to
zip up her suitcase.

  “I understand that I love you. And I think you love me too. Stay, Zoe. All you have to do is stay. Or let me come with you. I will protect you. Always.”

  She closed her eyes and her mouth moved, but I couldn’t make out the words. Silence filled the room. I didn’t dare breathe until I heard her reply. When she looked up and caught my gaze, my heart broke. She didn’t need to say a word; I already knew what was coming. I balled my hands into fists and stood taller, allowing her to sling her final shot at me.

  “I don’t love you, Ridge. This was a fling and it’s over now. I’m sorry it had to end this way. I’ll always be thankful for you.”

  Her chin quivered as she stared at me and pulled her suitcase off the bed. The wheels rolled across the floor, and Zoe stopped in front of me, rising to her toes and kissing the corner of my lips. “I’ll never forget you,” she whispered.

  My throat burned as I stared down at the woman who had become the center of my life in such a short amount of time. My gaze swept over her features, memorizing every barely-there freckle on her face, until I ended up at her eyes. The eyes I loved so much and couldn’t get enough of. The eyes that had held me in place eleven years ago were the same ones tearing me apart now with everything I saw in them.

  There was no changing her mind.

  She didn’t love me, not like I loved her, and I had been down that road before. I’d seen the end, and I didn’t want to experience it again. I caught her face in my hands and kissed her, sweeping my tongue into her mouth one last time for a final taste of her lips.

  “Goodbye, Zoe.”

  32

  Zoe

  I munched on saltine crackers and sipped ginger ale while sitting on the floor in the middle of my aunt’s living room. My stomach had been upset since leaving Ridge’s driveway, watching him get smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror. I’d heard from him once since leaving, a simple request to tell him when I got home. I did, but he didn’t respond. His accusations of running repeated in my head. And his words of love lulled me to sleep at night.