Chapter Twenty

Three weeks later…

Heather was humming to herself when she stepped in the front door of the cabin she already considered her own. Every time she entered, she felt an overwhelming sense of peace.

Today, however, she stopped in her tracks as she set her purse on the couch, noticing Isaiah wasn’t alone. He was sitting on the back porch with Austin Tarben. Both men held a beer.

After three weeks, she still didn’t quite have the ability to easily realize someone was in the vicinity. Though any other member of the family would have scented the extra person from a mile away and come home prepared, she found she tended to get lost in her thoughts and ignore her surroundings.

Isaiah twisted around in his seat and smiled at her. “Come on out, babe. It’s nice out here.”

She walked outside and headed straight toward Isaiah’s outstretched hand. He tugged her toward him and settled her across his lap on the Adirondack chair. “Heather, this is my closest friend, Austin. Austin, Heather.”

She frowned. “We met.”

Austin cleared his throat. “Well, not officially. There was a lot going on that day. Nice to meet you. So sorry about my brother.”

“You’re not your brother.” She smiled, hoping to ease the torment she read in his eyes. After a moment, she realized the sadness was far reaching. It went much deeper than what happened with Antoine three weeks ago.

Isaiah gripped her chin and tipped her face down to steal a kiss. “How was the glacier today?”

“Still shrinking.” She could sense now wasn’t a good time to discuss her job. “I should go inside. Let you two talk.” She tried to push off Isaiah’s lap, but he held her close.

“Stay,” Austin said. “The last thing I want is for you two to have secrets between each other.”

She swallowed. “You were obviously in the middle of a conversation. I don’t need to know everything you discuss. Isaiah’s entitled to his privacy.”

“My brother slept with my girlfriend when I was fifteen,” Austin blurted out before she could move. He turned his gaze to the tree line and continued talking. “I walked into the barn behind my family’s home and found them fucking in the corner.”

Heather didn’t move a muscle. Neither did Isaiah. Obviously Austin hadn’t gotten around to sharing any of this story yet when she arrived.

“They never knew I was there. I turned around and left the barn, shifted, and ran up into the mountains. I wandered around for hours trying to get my shit together.”

Isaiah cleared his throat. “The day we met…”

“Yeah.” Austin tipped his head toward the deck but didn’t turn to face them. “I never told anyone. I never confronted my brother. And I never saw Nuria again.”

“I’m so sorry,” Heather whispered. “That must be so painful. Where did Nuria go?”

He shrugged. “Her family packed up and moved later that night. She disappeared. I was so angry I didn’t ask questions or try to find her.”

“How long had you been dating?” Heather asked, gripping Isaiah’s hand in her lap.

“Over a year. We were young, but I knew she was the one for me. We hadn’t slept together. I thought…” His voice trailed off as he glanced toward the sky.

Heather’s heart ached for the young boy who had everything ripped out of his hands fifteen years ago. “Do you think…?” She wasn’t sure how to ask the question in her head. “Is it possible it wasn’t consensual, Austin?”

He flinched and rubbed his forehead with his fingers. “Trust me. I’ve thought of that. I’ve thought of every fucking possibility there is. I don’t have any answers. It looked consensual. She wasn’t screaming or fighting. In fact, I swear she was moaning.”

“And you never spoke to your brother about it?” Isaiah asked. “He never told me this, baby,” he communicated with Heather privately.

Austin shook his head. “Nope. What was there to say? No matter how you slice it, Antoine is a fucking dick. He knew how I felt about Nuria. So no matter what happened, his actions were intentional. To hurt me. He thought I was the favorite kid. Always resented me for it. And he made me pay.

“In my mind, if I confronted him, things would only get worse. If I told my parents, they would be furious with him, and he would make my life more miserable than it was.”

“Austin…” Isaiah began.

But Austin cut him off. “So you see, in a way, I’m responsible for Antoine’s behavior. I knew he was a fucking asshole. I should have told someone. What if he did take Nuria against her will like he tried to do with Heather? What if there are others? How many women has he molested over the years? Has he ever tried to bind someone to him? Did he bind Nuria to him? Maybe that’s why she left. Maybe he’s suffered every day since then and finally snapped.”

Heather stiffened. “You were fifteen, Austin. Hardly more than a child yourself. You can’t blame yourself for your brother’s actions.”

Austin’s face fell. He stared at the ground, his head hanging.

Heather felt sick to her stomach.

Austin stood abruptly. “I should go.” His face was strained, but he looked at them anyway, forcing a smile. “I just wanted you to know. I’ve held that shit in for half my life. Thank you.” Without another word, he turned away, hopped off the back porch, tipped his head back to sniff the air, and then shifted. Ten seconds later, he disappeared in the tree line.

Heather set her head on Isaiah’s chest, a shudder wracking her entire body. A tear slid down her face. She couldn’t speak over the lump in her throat.

“I can’t believe he never told me any of that.” Isaiah held her closer, his arms stretching farther around her middle. “I would have helped him. I would have done something.”

“He didn’t need you to do something, hon. He needed a friend. And you were that for him for all these years.”

“God, I hope so.” He set his chin on her head.

“He knows. And he’s hurting.”

“Antoine will undoubtedly be imprisoned for most of his life. But I hate for Austin to feel so much guilt.”

Heather was glad Antoine couldn’t hurt anyone else. How many other women had he molested in the last fifteen years? Or perhaps raped? Her mind told her Nuria had been the first, and Heather was the last. How many were in between?

“I love you,” Isaiah whispered to the top of her head. “God, I love you.”

She lifted her head and twisted to meet his gaze. “I love you too.” She leaned forward and brushed her lips over his. “I’m so glad I found you.”

“You don’t feel like you lost something?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I worried about that for hours before I took that bite out of your neck,” she joked, “but now I feel nothing but peace where it comes to us. I didn’t lose anything. I gained everything.”

He smiled broadly at her and cupped her face. “I’m so damn lucky, it hurts.”