by Rye Hart
Then, I hoped she would talk to me about what was plaguing her mind.
I unloaded the wood into my shed then walked into the cabin and found that it was silent. The kids weren’t running around and Melanie wasn’t cooking in the kitchen. I set the bags of things down I’d gotten from the pharmacy and shrugged off my coat, my senses on high alert. Melanie’s car was still outside and nothing looked to be out of place. The cabin was clean, nothing seemed to be broken.
So where was everyone?”
“Evan! You’re home.”
Melanie was whispering down the hallway as she strode toward me for a hug.
“Hey there,” I said as I wrapped her in my arms. “Are the kids still sleeping?”
“Yeah. Hadley’s not feeling well either. I couldn’t get laundry done before you got back, so I’ll do that tonight.”
“Don’t worry about it. How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Fine. Do you know if they have any allergies?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Well, people do have winter allergies sometimes. Because the air’s so dry and their body reacts funny to it. I found a humidifier buried in the hallway closet, so I’ve got it going in Hadley’s room,” she said.
“Should I run out and get one for Liam?”
“I actually put him in the shower with me,” she said.
I quirked an eyebrow at her statement and she giggled.
“I was wearing a long shirt. Which reminds me, one of your shirts is hanging out to dry in your room.”
“Ah, gotcha,” I said.
“I steamed his sinuses open and he coughed up a lot of stuff before I put him to bed. He’s not happy with me for suctioning out his nose, but he’ll get over it.”
“Sounds like you’ve got it covered.”
“For the most part. How was town?” she asked.
“Same old, same old. I got some medicine and more soup and popsicles for the kids. And I unloaded more wood into the—out back.”
Melanie looked at me with a hesitant stare before she nodded.
“I’m glad you had a productive day,” she said.
“Melanie, there’s something I need to tell you.”
I took her hand and led her over to the couch before I sat us both down.
She smiled at me before she scooted into the crook of my body.
“You know, before you showed up on my porch, I was content to while away my years alone in this cabin. Well, with the kids, of course.”
She shifted and looked up at me. “What are you saying?”
I sighed. “I didn’t just move up here to try and escape my drug addiction. I moved here because I had resigned myself to never falling in love again; to never needing anyone again. After Elise left me, I figured that was it: my one chance to be happy. Then, when the kids came to live with me after my brother died, I knew that I couldn’t bring just anyone around them. I had decided to remain alone.”
“And I showed up and threw a big old monkey wrench into that plan, didn’t I?” she asked.
“You did. At first, I have to admit, I couldn’t wait for the snow to melt enough for you to get the hell out of here and leave me to my self-imposed exile, but then it did melt and I didn’t want you to go.”
She looked up at me sweetly and my heart sang.
“I know you have a hard time trusting people, and I need you to know that I understand. I get it. I haven’t trusted anyone until you came along. With your sassy little attitude and that cute little giggle of yours.”
I looked down and watched her cheeks fill with a healthy flush.
“What I’m trying to say, Melanie, is that I want you to let me in.”
I felt her stiffen and pull away before I reached out and grabbed her hand.
“Look at me,” I said.
She slowly turned her fearful gaze toward me, but she didn’t make a move to run.
“I’m falling in love with you,” I said.
“What?” she asked breathlessly.
“I’m falling in love with you, and all I want you to do is let me in. That’s all I’m asking. You don’t have to love me back right now—or even love me back ever. But I trust you. And I know after last night that you trust me, too. All I’m asking is that you let me in. That you try.”
I watched tears rise to her eyes before her breaths started becoming shorter. Her eyes flickered around the room before they settled on the door, and I knew what she was thinking. She was feeling cornered again and her flight response was kicking in. If I didn’t find a way to diffuse the situation, I might lose her forever.
“I’m not trying to corner you, Melanie,” I said. “I’m trying to get you to see that you can talk to me. That it’s okay. That I understand. Melanie, look at me.”
Her trembling body stayed seated next to me even though her hand slipped from mine.
“You are not damaged goods,” I said.
The shocked look that rolled across her face told me everything I needed to know. Tears spilled down her cheeks and I reached out, catching them with my thumb as they ran across the apple of her cheeks. She was violently shaking, not from being cold or frightened. But from hearing the words she’d longed to hear for so many years of her life.
“You are not damaged goods,” I said again.
I watched the dam break and held her as she shook and cried in my arms. I brushed her hair back from her forehead and just kept repeating that she was safe. Finally, her sobs calmed and her breathing returned to normal. She sat back and looked at me, her beautiful face streaked with tears and her vibrant blue eyes rimmed with red.
“Okay,” she said. “I’m ready.”
CHAPTER 30
MELANIE
My head was pounding when I woke up the next morning. I had told Evan everything the night before. Told him how I’d been abducted in the parking lot one night while getting into my car after class. I told him how the guy had taken me to his hovel in a thick grove of trees and tied me up in his shed and terrorized me for two days.
He had listened intently as I’d told him that when the guy had finally untied me, only because he had intended to rape me, I had fought harder than I’d ever thought I’d have the strength to fight. His jaw flexed in fury as I described the man pinning me to the floor and ripping at my clothes while I fought with everything I had.
He smiled when I described the crunch of the cartilage in the man’s nose when he’d gotten close enough for me to headbutt him, and he damn near high-fived me when I told him how I’d rolled out from under him and hit him over the head with a lead pipe, knocking him unconscious so I could get away.
He never once looked at me with pity; he never once looked at me like I was a victim. Instead, he looked at me with beautiful brown and gold-flecked eyes full of wonder and admiration. He held me close and told me that he was proud of how I’d handled it and that he thought I was the most special woman he’d ever met.
When it had all finally come out, I felt lighter than I had in years. He and Layla had both been right, I had needed to tell him to stop giving it power over me. I had been so exhausted after my admissions that I had fallen asleep in Evan’s arms on the couch and he had carried me to bed sometime during the night.
I looked over at his side of the bed, but he wasn’t there. I could hear the kids in the living room and figured he was just giving me time to rest. My phone started buzzing on the side table and I felt a quick stab of panic when I saw my dad’s name flash across the screen.
“Dad?” I answered. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, sweetheart, I’m okay,” he said. But something in his voice wasn’t quite right.
“What is it, Dad? Are you feeling bad?” I prodded.
“No, no, nothing like that. I just called to check in on you and see how you were doing.”
“I’m doing fine, Dad. Are you sure nothing is wrong?” I asked again.
“Nothing is wrong. Are you with that Evan fellow?” he asked.
“I am, y
es.”
“Okay good. Well you just stay there as long as you want to, okay, honey? I’m doing just fine here. I’ll call you if I need anything, okay?”
“Okay, Dad.” I hung up the phone and shook my head. I knew my dad well enough to know that something was up and he just wasn’t telling me. I knew that if he was feeling sick, he wouldn’t keep it from me, but there was definitely something going on.
I climbed out of bed and pulled on my clothes. I’d head out to check in on Evan and the kids and figure out what to do about my dad after I had some breakfast.
Evan was sitting on the couch with Liam cuddled next to him, engrossed in something on his phone. I placed a kiss on the top of his head before going to the kitchen to get myself a cup of coffee.
“Liam still not feeling well this morning?” I asked.
“Guess not,” came Evan’s distracted reply.
“How about Hadley?”
“Not sure,” he said.
I sugared my coffee, but it still tasted sour going down. Evan was not acting like himself and my stomach started to twist. Had something changed since last night? Did he now think of me differently since he’d had time to process?
I steeled myself for that look in his eyes as I approached him.
“Evan, is something wrong? Are you having second thoughts about us?” I asked softly.
He finally looked up at me with confusion in his eyes, that immediately cleared when he saw the look on my face. “No! Never. It’s just this article I’m reading,” he said.
I breathed a sigh of relief. “What’s it about?”
“Some guy has apparently escaped from the detention center,” he said. “They think he’s fled into the mountains here.”
“Oh my God,” I said, immediately thinking of the kids.
“Yeah. He’s being hunted in the area and they’re notifying the locals to keep their eyes peeled and to stay inside.”
“Evan, should we be doing something? Taking the kids into town or whatever?” I asked. “We can stay with Layla or her parents.”
“Nope. I’ve got plenty of ammo here for my rifle and shotgun. I’ll keep them close and sleep with one eye open. You guys are safe so long as you’re with me.”
“Could I see the article?” I asked.
I walked up behind him and he offered me his phone. My eyes fluttered across the headline before my knees began to weaken, and I only had to read the first paragraph before my vision began to blur.
I felt my world around me spinning. His mugshot stared back at me like blazing stars in the nighttime sky. I felt vomit rising to my throat as our breakfast got cold on the kitchen table.
I would never forget that face no matter how long I lived.
“Melanie? Are you all right?”
Dropping the phone, I stumbled back into the kitchen table. Evan got up from the couch and rushed toward me, his eyes wide and filled with worry. He reached his hands out to grab me but I knocked them away, desperate to get away from the situation.
He was out.
He was coming for me.
He must know I was here.
“Oh, God,” I said breathlessly.
“Melanie, what’s wrong?” Evan asked.
“I just—need water—I think—”
My vision was tunneling as I dropped to my knees in the hallway, and I felt Evan’s strong arms wrap underneath my own. The bile was rising in my throat as tears poured down my face.
Evan’s voice in my ear was the last thing I remembered before my world went black.
I didn’t know how long I was out and I didn’t know what Evan did to get me back, but when I came to I was lying in his bed. The room smelled of cinnamon and the world was dark. I was shivering underneath the comforter of his bed before I felt something cool touch my forehead.
“Can you hear me?” Evan asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“No,” I said, whimpering. “No. I’m not—”
Suddenly I remembered the earlier phone call from my dad. “I need to call my dad,” I said, sitting up.
“Melanie, the guy in that article—” he trailed off.
I slowly nodded my head. “Yes. It’s him. He’s the one who took me. He’s the one who tried to rape me and nearly destroyed my whole life. He’s out there and he’s looking for me. I know it. He wants me dead for what I did to him.”
Evan held me as I shivered uncontrollably. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I had finally started putting my life back together, allowing a man in, and dreaming of a future for the first time in four years.
“Evan, my dad. I need to call him and make sure he’s safe. If he knows where I live, he could go there looking for me. My dad is still too weak to defend himself.”
Evan got up and grabbed my phone from the table, sitting next to me as I called my dad. He picked up on the second ring and I released a sigh of relief. “Dad. Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
I heard him let out a breath on the other end. “I didn’t want you to be scared, sweetheart. I was hoping that the police would catch him before you even found out. I knew as long as you were with Evan and away from the house, you would be safe.”
“But what about you?” I asked.
“I’m fine, Melanie. I’m still with Layla’s parents. When the news broke early this morning, they asked me to stay until it was clear. I fought them on it but, once I knew you weren’t home, I agreed. I didn’t want you rushing over worried about me and putting yourself in danger. Now, is your fella nearby?”
“Yes, he’s sitting right here,” I answered.
“Good, put him on the phone.”
CHAPTER 31
EVAN
“Hello?” I said into Melanie’s cell phone.
“Son, I need you to listen very carefully to what I’m about to tell you,” Melanie’s father said.
I stayed silent as he spoke.
“My girl is all I’ve got in this world. I almost lost her once, and I don’t intend to ever go through that again. Now she seems to think the world of you, and I’d like to believe that you are worthy of her. Now I’m not a big man, and my strength isn’t what it used to be, but I promise you this: if you let anything happen to Melanie, you will have to answer to me, and it won’t be pleasant.”
I nodded. “I understand, sir. You have my word that nothing will happen to Melanie as long as she is with me. I love your daughter very much, sir.”
Melanie’s father gave me a few more instructions before hanging up. I handed the phone back to Melanie who was still shaking under the blankets. Everything inside of me wanted to go out and find that asshole and kill him myself. I looked down at the beautiful woman – the woman I loved – and wondered how anyone could ever want to hurt her.
