Hugh swiped his thumb across the screen, but there were no new messages from Blair. Nothing. It had been a day and she refused to speak with him. He paced anxiously across the front porch at her house, waiting for her mom to answer the door. He rang the doorbell a second time and a third, his patience running thin as he tried to track her down and figure out what went wrong.

The door finally unlocked and he stared at Jean’s surprised face. “Hugh, what are you doing here?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean Blair told me she was officially moving in with you,” Jean explained. “Did she leave something here? I swore she packed enough.”

“Packed?” His heart pounded against his ribs as panic set in. She had no need to pack since most of her clothes were at his place. “She didn’t come to stay with me.”

“That’s what she told me this morning.” Jean opened the door wider. “If she’s not with you…where is my daughter?” She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. “No, no, this isn’t happening. You haven’t seen her?”

“I haven’t talked to her since yesterday morning, Jean,” he told her quietly.

Jean’s face paled. Hugh rushed to her side before she fainted in the foyer. He guided her to a chair in the sitting room and fetched her a glass of water. “Thank you. I don’t understand. She said she was moving in with you, packed up, and headed over there an hour or so ago. I know she was upset about the wedding dress yesterday.”

“Wedding dress?”

“Your mother ruined it. Ruined many things about your wedding, it seems. I’ve never seen Blair so upset, but she seemed very certain this morning that everything was all right.”

He dialed her number again, putting it on speaker and praying she would pick up—do something, yell at him, anything. But after four rings, it went to her voicemail and her cheery voice infuriated him. His mother. It was always his mother. “Can I check her room? Maybe she left a note or a receipt!”

“Receipt for what?”

“Running,” he replied.

“She wouldn’t run from you, Hugh.”

He ran his hands agitated over his face. “She might if she thought there was no way out. Do you mind?”

Without waiting for her to reply, he sprinted upstairs to her room and stood frozen on the threshold. His hands shaking, he urged himself forward and checked for a note on her desk and her dresser, but there was nothing to tell him where she was headed. Panic warring with anger at her for thinking she could run away from him like this, he ran back downstairs and past Jean, out the back door, and didn’t stop until he reached the bottom of the tree.

Blair might think he didn’t know her as well as she did him, but they were meant to be together, had been all their lives. Running was her style, but running and not leaving any note for him or her mother was not. She would want them to know she was okay so her mom wouldn’t worry. Climbing up to the old treehouse, he pictured the last time he was up here with her, making out to the sound of the frogs and the chirping of crickets. It felt like years, but was only a month ago when they were hit with a moment of nostalgia. They had shared tacos and watched the stars fill up the night sky as the moon graced them with her light. He could not lose her. Would not lose her.

When he reached the top, he glanced around and spotted the envelope sitting on the windowsill, held there by a rock. Carefully, he removed the rock and saw his name on the white paper.

“Hugh? Did you find anything?” Jean called to him.

Too busy with opening the letter to reply, he decided Jean would just have to wait for an answer. He unfolded the piece of paper to reveal a handwritten note with several dried splotches on it. His eyes skimmed the words and with each one, his heart clenched like a vice squeezed it tight as his anger flared.

“Devin,” he seethed. “You bitch.”

His sister. His own blood had threatened to ruin everything Blair had created for herself if she tried to come back into Hugh’s life after her blow-up at the house. She said she loved him, but she couldn’t deal with his family and his friends trying to rip them apart. She needed time, a chance to explore what she truly wanted her life to be like. And she couldn’t bear the thought of tearing him away from his family for the sake of a love no one seemed able to accept. Funny how, if she had waited a few more hours, he’d have run with her. If he let her go now and get ahead of him, there was a chance she would never come home and he would lose her.

Shoving the letter in his pocket, he climbed back down the ladder. “Jean, her friend—what’s her number?”

“Jesse? What about her? Did you find something?”

“What’s Jesse’s number?” he repeated. “Blair is running because of my family. Please, I must stop her,” he pleaded as she pulled her cell from her pocket and called Blair’s friend. She answered on the second ring.

“Jesse, where is Blair?” she demanded softly. “Please tell me she told you.”

Jesse sighed through the line, and Hugh bit his cheek to stop himself from screaming at the woman to tell them where Blair was. “She went to the train station. She’s planning on taking it up to Maine and making her way into Canada.”

“What time does her train leave?” Jean asked, holding up her hand when Hugh opened his mouth. “Jesse, please. I’m her mother.”

“Fine, fine. She should be boarding in an hour and a half. Happy? She’ll kill me if you show up there.”

“Thank you, Jesse, thank you,” Jean said and hung up. She grabbed Hugh’s arm.

“I’m going to go find her,” he promised her, but when she started to smile he shook his head. “I’m not bringing her back here. If she’s running, I’m running with her. I lost sight of what I wanted, but she reminded me. This life here? This isn’t what we want. It never has been, and if my family can’t see that then I have no place here with them. I’m sorry.”

Jean’s eyes shimmered with tears, but instead of yelling at him, she smiled sweetly and patted his cheek. “Blair was always like her dad. A free spirit. She wanted to travel like he did before he settled down. But do me a favor?”

“Of course,” he said, bouncing on his feet with his need to get going and find Blair.

“Send me a post card when you reach Canada?”

Hugh hugged her, lifting her off her feet as she laughed happily. “Will do, Mom.”

“Oh, boy, that will take some getting used to. Now go get her!” She gave him a helpful shove towards the house and he raced through it to his Corvette.

He would swing by his house first, grab a duffel of essentials, and high tail it to the train station. It wasn’t far away. He would make it in time. He had to make it in time to stop her from disappearing from his life forever. As he stepped inside his house a few minutes later, though, he was met with Devin’s mischievous grin and Justin grinning by her side. Neither noticed Hugh until it was too late and his fist connected with his friend’s face.

“What are you doing?” Devin yelled and tried to pull her brother off Justin, but Hugh shrugged her off and went after his friend again. “Hugh!”

“You! Both of you—what the hell did you do, huh?” he snarled, his fist raised and ready to hit Justin again. “Answer me, damn it. You wanted her for yourself, is that? That’s what all that flirting and kissing her was about? You wanted to weasel your way into her life.”

Justin wiped the blood from his split lip. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he snapped, glancing anxiously around, trying to keep his innocent act while Hugh’s parents were in the house.

“She told me every time you bumped into her, you idiot. She told me you hit on her, and I caught you trying to kiss her,” he grunted in disbelief. “You were supposed to be my friend. I guess I was wrong to trust you when I should’ve trusted her. And you,” he said, whirling around on his sister as his parents rushed into the kitchen from the study, “what’s your problem with her, huh?”

Devin squared her shoulders, her eyes darting to their parents as if they could give her an answer.

“No, you know what, never mind. I don’t care. She’s running thanks to the two of you.”

“Running?” Bridget asked, aghast. “Why would she do a thing like that? You offered her everything.”

“Ask your daughter,” he growled. “And ask yourself while you’re at it. What was the problem at the house the other day? I know something happened and I know it involved the two of you.”

Bridget huffed. “It was nothing, a tantrum thrown by a spoiled child. You’re bringing her back, yes? We still have to have a wedding, and I’m certain we can work this out,” his mom went on casually as if she wasn’t part of the reason Blair felt she needed to take off to escape the insanity building up around her.

“I have a solution, and that’s all you need to know.” He stomped upstairs and was about to burst into his room, but Kella was there waiting for him, holding a black duffel bag. “What’s this?”

“I packed while you were beating the crap out of Justin,” she said and thrust the bag at him with a grin. “Go get her and tell her I said hi.”

“How did you know I wasn’t coming back?”

She arched a brow at him and smirked. “Why would you after the crap they did? Don’t worry about me, I can handle myself.”

He hugged her, kissed the top of her head, and promised he would text her when he had the chance. On his way back downstairs to the front door, Bridget and Kenneth yelled after him, but he ignored them both and rushed to his car.

“Hugh! You get back here this instance. Where do you think you’re going with that bag?” Kenneth stormed.

“I’m going to join my future wife on the adventure we should have taken a long time ago,” he replied. “I’ll call you when we reach Canada,” he added, slipped behind the wheel, and floored it towards the train station.

He resisted the urge to honk at every driver in front of him not going fast enough. His gaze constantly flickered to the clock, and he banged his hand on the wheel, begging the rest of the world to work with him so he could reach Blair in time. He swerved into an empty space, threw his duffle over his body, and ran to the ticket counter to buy a ticket headed to Maine.

“Maine, please, one way,” he requested and pulled out the cash the attendant asked for. “Keep the change!”

“Sir,” the woman called after him, but too late.

The ticket in hand, he checked the platform and prayed her friend hadn’t led him astray with wrong information to protect Blair. He moved through the crowd, looking for that curly head of hair, but that wasn’t what drew his gaze to the only woman he ever cared about. A flash of a camera out of the corner of his eye made him turn around and there she was. She held her camera in her hands and was taking pictures of several people also waiting for the train. They repositioned themselves for a different shot, and she grinned easily. Lost in her art, she didn’t even notice Hugh until he stepped into the background of the picture.

Her eyes looked to the screen on her camera, and he knew the second she saw him. Her breath caught in her throat and her demeanor shifted as she looked wildly up to see him. “Hugh,” she mouthed, too far away for him to hear it.

“Blair.” As if approaching a rabbit he might startle, he moved slowly towards her. “Where are you going, Blair?”

“Away—far away,” she replied, her eyes fixed on his.

The people she had taken photos of stood off to the side, watching this exchange, but a few onlookers weren’t going to stop Hugh. He took another few steps closer.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. “About how bad it was? About her threats? I would have stopped it.”

“Would you? She’s your sister, and no one wants us to be together, not really. They only want to use us.”

“You are my soulmate. I don’t care what anyone else thinks of us. I only care about you, remember?” he informed her and she softened, tears brimming in her eyes. “This was your backup plan, wasn’t it?”

She wiped hastily at her eyes, her cheeks flushed red. “You know me, the girl with a plan. If you came to take me back, I’m not going. I can’t.”

“I’m not asking you to.” He closed the distance between them. “I’m asking to come with you. You know, if you had asked me, I would have told you about my backup plan to take you far away and elope. To do things the way we wanted.”

“Really?” she asked, startled. “You mean it? But your family, your life—”

“Is with you.” He held out his hand, and she didn’t even hesitate as she slipped hers into his palm. “I’ve always loved you, and I know I messed up.”

“We both did, to be fair,” she corrected.

“Yeah, but we’re past that and I’m over what they want. I want you, and if that means traveling the world non-stop, living like nomads, then let’s do it. I’m home as long as I’m with you.”

She stood on her toes and kissed him hotly. He returned the favor, missing her touch the past few days and worried she was pissed at him. Holding her gave him life, filled his heart with love, and told him no matter what the future held, they would be able to face it together. If nothing else, Jean was on board with their new lives. His parents would have to do the same or never see their son again as far as he was concerned.

“There they are!” Bridget yelled, and Hugh whirled around, pissed.

“Oh no,” he muttered.

“Hugh?” Blair asked, worried. “What is she doing? She has the cops with her!”

“I see that. Stay behind me.” He blocked Blair from sight and stared his mom down as she charged across the train platform with four cops at her back. “What do you want? You’re making a scene.”

“No, you and that girl are,” she shot back. “You are coming home right now.”

“You’re kidding me, right? See, Mom, this is your problem right here. You treat us like we’re kids.”

“You are!” she yelled and cell phones lifted into the air around her as Mayor Gordie lost her temper with her only son. “I raised you better than this, and Jean is probably worried sick about Blair. You can’t leave when you have a wedding planned and all the guests, the catering, and the flowers.”

Hugh laughed sharply, and she glared at him. “We don’t care about that shit. You planned all of that. You wanted it, you and Devin. I know what went on when you two ganged up on Blair. It’s not happening and you can’t drag us away.”

“Hugh,” Blair whispered behind him.

“It’s fine, I can handle her,” he promised, but Blair’s hand clenched at his elbow hard.

“Is she drunk? Good lord, this girl can’t handle stress. See? This is what you’re doing to her,” Bridget ranted as Hugh turned around to see Blair hunched over, holding her stomach.

Hugh held her shoulders, yelling at his mom to shut up loudly enough he startled her into silence. “Blair? What’s wrong? Honey, you have to talk to me, what’s wrong?” he asked, panicked. Her face was pale, and she bit her bottom lip hard enough for it to bleed. Her treasured camera fell to the ground, but she didn’t seem to care.

“Hospital,” she gasped. “We have to get to a hospital.”

He frowned, but when she straightened, he spotted the blood spreading through the fabric at her thighs. His world slammed to a halt as the truth of what Blair was trying to hide from everyone fell over him. He’d been right. This whole time, he’d been right, but he’d been so wrapped up dealing with his family, he never asked her if his musings were correct.

A second later, he scooped her up into his arms. “Move,” he ordered, pushing through the crowd.

The cops barred his way until one of them spotted the blood. “We need an ambulance,” one officer spoke into the mic at his shoulder. “Train station. We have a woman in distress. I say again, a pregnant woman in distress.”

“Pregnant?” Bridget snapped, shocked. “She’s pregnant!”

More cell phones appeared in hands, but Hugh only had eyes for Blair. She looked so small in his arms, her tears streaming down her face. “The baby…I wanted to tell you,” she whispered. “I was scared and now…now I don’t know… Hugh, I’m so sorry.”

“Shh, it’s going to be fine,” he promised. “Everything will be fine.”

“You’re not mad?”

He kissed her forehead as the cops helped clear away the crowd ahead of him. “Why would I be mad? You’re going to make me a dad.” He hugged her closer and tried not to look at the blood. She closed her eyes and he sensed the added weight in his arms as she went limp. “Blair? Blair, open your eyes and look at me!”

“The ambulance is two minutes out,” the cop told him as they kept back the crowd.

Hugh glared at the onlookers, and a few backed away with ashamed looks on their faces. Bridget, however, did not back down and stomped to his side.

“Look at this mess I have to clean up now,” she muttered. “This will be a nightmare. You two have explaining to do. Getting her pregnant before you’re even married. What kind of son did I raise?”

“Shove it up your ass, Mom.” He watched her square her shoulders and look around at the gathered crowd. “You care so much about your image and what everyone thinks about you, you don’t care that your future daughter-in-law is possibly losing my child. Our child,” he corrected himself. “Maybe you need to get your priorities straight and leave us the hell alone.”

Sirens blasted as the ambulance pulled up to the station and two paramedics hopped out of the front. Hugh told them he was her fiancé, and they let him up in the back after they loaded Blair onto a gurney. Bridget ambled closer, but Hugh shook his head and to his surprise, two of the cops blocked her from getting closer.

“You can meet us at the hospital if you decide to stop being a stuck-up bitch and be my mother,” he said right as the paramedic closed the doors.

“Well, you certainly told her off,” the paramedic said, amused, as he checked Blair’s vitals.

“How is she?” he asked, all his focus to Blair.

“We won’t know until she’s examined, but she hasn’t lost too much blood,” she said. “She will be fine. We have one of the best medical centers in the country.”

“I know, my father works there.”

“Right, the mayor’s son. We’ll take good care of her. Promise.” She squeezed his hand encouragingly, but the ride to the hospital took too long, too damn long.

He held Blair’s hand for the drive, smoothing the curls back from her forehead and praying that if nothing else, she would survive this hurdle. She’d lost so much in her life already. Losing their baby would take its toll.

“I’m here,” he whispered in her ear. “I’ll be right here, always.”

* * *

Blair shifted in the sheets and paused. A bed? She wasn’t supposed to be in a bed. She was supposed to be on a train. Her hands moved across the blankets and to her body. A gown? What happened? Her eyes flew open and she stared around the dimly lit room to find herself lying on a gurney. She scrunched her eyes shut, hoping it was a dream, but she opened them again she was still in a hospital bed. Something moved in the room, grunting, and she glanced around until her eyes landed on a man slouched in a chair, sound asleep but his brow furrowed with worry.

“Hugh,” she whispered, and the event that landed her there rushed back. Her hands slipped to her belly as she gasped. “Oh God…the baby… I lost the baby.” Sobbing, she covered her face in horror and Hugh woke up.

“Blair?” He was at her side in seconds, holding her to his chest and rubbing her back. “Hey, it’s okay. Calm down. Take a breath. You’re fine.”

“But the baby,” she gasped through her tears. “I lost it!”

“No,” he assured her, lowering his face so they were level. “No, you didn’t. The baby’s fine.”

“You…you’re sure?” she asked, not wanting to get her hopes up, but his warm smile as his hand rested on her belly sent a warm wave of relief through her. “Thank God. I thought…and I hadn’t told you yet…and we were leaving.”

He placed his fingers over her lips gently. “It’s fine. You’re fine, the baby’s fine, and we are still taking that train to Maine,” he told her. “You have to stay here one more night and then we’re gone. We’ll go wherever you want for as long as you want.”

“Are you sure?”

“Blair, look in my eyes. Do you really think I’m not sure about this? About the three of us?” he added, grinning. “A baby. We’re going to have a baby. It’s more than I ever imagined.”

He hugged her and she snuggled into his body, holding her pregnant belly and thanking God she hadn’t lost it. “What did the doctor say?”

“Stress. I knew they had pushed you too hard. I should have stopped them sooner.”

“I should have,” she said. “Does my mom know I’m here?”

“She and Jesse are waiting out in the hall. Want me to get them for you?”

She nodded, and he kissed her forehead, climbed off the bed, and stepped outside briefly. When the door opened again, Jean and Jesse rushed in, both with tears in their eyes as they surrounded her bed. Jean hugged her as Jesse held her hand.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” her friend ordered. “Seriously.”

“Or me,” Jean begged. “Why didn’t you tell us you were pregnant?”

Blair shrugged. “I don’t know. I was still trying to figure it all out, I guess.”

“Well, you should know, Hugh hasn’t left your side since the incident at the station. And he’s been in full-blown ecstatic new-dad mode,” Jesse told her. “He loves you so much.”

“I know and I’m sorry I ran off, but I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Jean nodded, staring down sheepishly as she folded back the sheet. “I know and I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have felt like that, but I want you to know, I’m in full support of this nomadic lifestyle you two are after. You have full access to the money your father set aside for you and your family. All I ask is photographs. And post cards every now and again?”

“You can always come visit us,” Blair suggested. “Both of you can.”

“Getting out of the country now and again might do your old mother some good,” Jean agreed. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Yeah, she’s so proud she marched down to the gallery yesterday and bought the rest of your photographs,” Jesse said beaming. “All of them.”

“Mom?” she asked, surprised.

“What? I’m allowed to display my daughter’s work proudly, aren’t I?” She grinned brightly. “I wish your dad was here to see you.”

“You think he’d be happy I messed up your plans?”

“Oh, sweetie, you didn’t mess up anything. We wanted you to marry Hugh because we saw how happy you made each other, even back then,” she explained. “We never had any real notion to gain anything from such a match. That was all Bridget’s idea, and she—well, I think she’ll clean up her own messes for a while.”

“She hates me.”

“So what?” Jesse laughed. “Let her hate you. It’s her and Kenneth’s fault you and Hugh weren’t together sooner living happily ever after.”

“Good point.” Blair glanced at the door. She enjoyed seeing her friend and her mom, but the need to hold Hugh’s hand, to see his smiling face, tugged at her. Jean and Jesse exchanged a look and the women stood. “What?”

“Nothing, just the look of true love. We’ll see you again, but I’ll fetch Hugh back for you.” Jean kissed her cheek and Jesse the other before they left.

Blair rested on the pillows, rubbing her belly and wondering what their next step should be. A wedding would still be nice, but not one their parents chose for them. She wanted a unique wedding, one she and Hugh could call their own. When he finally came back in the room, she grinned excitedly.

“I know that look,” he teased, stretching out beside her on the bed. “You’re planning something.”

“What would you say to a wedding under the stars in a castle made of ice?”

“I’d say that would be right up our alley.”

“Good.” She wrapped her fingers through his and kissed him. “Thank you for not giving up on us.” He laid his cheek against the top of her head and she felt his smile.

“Wherever you go, I’ll be right behind you,” he assured her quietly as her eyes closed and she drifted back to sleep. “Always.”