CHAPTER 32
MELANIE
Sleep was almost nonexistent. Even with Evan at my side and his guns at the ready, I couldn’t get myself to settle down. Every little sound woke me. Every time the wind howled by the window, my eyes flew open. And when I did chance to slip into a slumber-like state, I saw his face. I smelled his breath. I felt his hands. My eyes would come open and I would look around the room, reminding myself of where I was. Then I would look over at Evan sleeping next to me and I would feel safe for the moment. Until I closed my eyes and he was there again.
When the kids woke up the next morning, I was exhausted. It took all the energy I had to pull myself out of Evan’s bed. Part of me wanted to lay back down and forget the world existed. It would be so nice just to pull the covers up over my head and pretend I was someone else for a while. Someone with no cares or worries in the world. Someone without a deranged psychopath hunting her.
But, I knew I couldn’t. I had two children who were dependent on me now, and I couldn’t leave them again. Liam was smiling at me and seemed to be doing much better. His appetite was back and even though his nose was still stuffy, he was back to running around and yelling at the top of his lungs. His fever was gone and his body didn’t seem to hurt anymore, and it made me smile to see him bouncing in his seat at the kitchen table. He was chugging his juice and munching on an apple while I figured out what to do with breakfast, and it warmed my heart to see him feeling better.
Hadley was still a little snotty and tired, but her fever was gone also. She was still cuddly and very tired, so I knew it would be another day of sleeping for her. I made her a bottle and laid her down in her playpen with her favorite blanket, watching her as she drank. I rubbed her back and watched her eyes flutter shut, smiling down upon the sick little girl as Liam asked for more juice.
They were both on the mend which warmed my heart, but every time I looked over at Evan I would tense up again.
He was keeping one eye out the window at all times, no matter what he was doing. His shotgun was locked and loaded next to him, and his face was stern. He was taking his role as protector very seriously, and I had zero doubt that he would kill to save us if it came down to that. The thought of it, though, made my stomach ache. The thought of this sweet man who’d been through so much of his own heartache, having to make the choice to end another human being’s life – even if that person didn’t deserve to live – made me sad.
What had I done to him? What had I brought into his life. Here he was, just trying to figure out how to raise two kids, and I show up with my shitstorm of a life on his doorstep. And what if it did come down to Evan having to defend us? Would he go jail?
The idea of losing Evan shook my body physically as well as mentally, and I tried to push the thought from my mind as he continued to stare out the window.
“How’d you sleep?” Evan asked.
“Do you really have to ask?”
“Yeah. I slept about the same,” he said. “Heard you get up a few times.”
“Nightmares,” I said. “Did you sleep out here all night?”
“Not all night. Came back after you got up a couple of times. But some noises outside pulled me back out.”
“So, you heard them, too?” I asked.
“I did.”
His body was tense and his shoulders were rolled back. He was sitting back in his chair with the butt of the shotgun between his legs. Hadley was already asleep and Liam was clamoring for another apple. The little boy was very hungry after three days of nothing but soup, and I didn’t blame him.
If I hadn’t been so scared, I would’ve been starving.
“The kids are doing better. I don’t think we’ll need to take them in to see a doctor.”
“That’s good.”
“What would you like for breakfast?” I asked.
“Not hungry.”
“Well, you’re going to eat something.”
“Whatever you cook the kids is fine.”
“Peanuh-butter toast!” Liam exclaimed.
“I can definitely make that for you, handsome,” I said, grinning. I was trying my best not to show the kids that I was afraid. I needed to make sure that they always felt safe.
I set out to make breakfast just before my phone rang. I lunged for it, desperate to pick it up when I saw my father’s name on the screen. I answered it and held the phone to my ear as Evan watched me closely, and tears rose to my eyes as he began to talk.
“They got him, sweetheart. The police have him in custody.”
“Are you serious? You’re absolutely sure? When did they find him?” I asked.
Evan got out of his seat and walked toward me with a look of relief on his face.
“About an hour ago. He was twenty minutes outside of Bozeman. They chased him down from the mountain and found him in a cheap motel. It’s over, baby girl,” my father said.
Tears of happiness brewed in my eyes as I turned my back to the kids.
“What happens now?” I asked.
“He’ll be put into a maximum-security prison somewhere in Kansas. Tossed into a solitary hole where he’ll never see the light of day again. You won’t ever have to think about him another day in your life.”
I sank to my knees as relief cascaded over my body. I felt Evan dip down and wrap his arms around me, and I cried with my father still on the phone. I could tell he was crying as well, his voice trembling as he continued to talk. But I wasn’t paying attention to a word he was saying anymore.
All I was doing was rejoicing as I pressed myself into Evan’s body.
“Thank you for letting me know, Dad. I’ll talk with you later,” I said.
“I love you, Mel,” he said.
“Love you, too.”
Evan helped me off the floor and cleaned up my teary eyes, then he guided me over to the couch so I could sit.
“Let me handle breakfast. You just sit and rest,” he said.
Sitting and resting turned into a nap and, once I woke up, the kids were down for theirs. I slept through breakfast and lunch, and as I craned my neck over the couch I saw Evan putting away clean dishes.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” I asked.
“Because you didn’t sleep well last night, and you needed the rest. You’ve been through enough,” he said.
I watched as Evan put up the last of the dishes before he turned around and started for me. He scooped me up into his arms and pulled me close. I loved his hugs. They were always full-bodied and tight. He wrapped me up in his strength before I tilted my head up toward his. I rose onto my tiptoes to capture his lips. His kiss was warm and inviting. Soft, but needy. Our tongues danced together as our heads fell off to the side, and soon his hands began to wander my back.
“Thank you,” I said, whispering.
“For what?” he asked.
I broke the heated kiss and looked into his beautiful eyes that brought me so much comfort.
“For being so understanding,” I said. “For wanting to keep trying even though I kept my walls up.”
“You don’t have to thank me for something like that,” he said.
“But I do. I know how hard that was for you. To constantly watch me walk away instead of talk.”
“You needed your time and your space. I honestly hate that I pushed you the way I did.”
“But you needed to. Because I needed to tell someone else. It really does feel better to know that someone else other than Layla or my dad knows exactly what happened.”
Evan’s hand came up and cupped my cheek before I closed my eyes and sighed. His touch was like fire against my skin. Heated and blazing, but it held a tenderness I’d never found in anyone else. His dark brown eyes with their beautiful yellow speckles glistened as the sun cascaded through the windows of the cabin, signaling a bright new day with a fresh new beginning.
A beginning I wanted with Evan.
“I was so scared to tell you,” I said breathlessly.
“You don’t ever have to be scared when it comes to talking to me,” Evan said.
“I just thought that if you knew what happened to me you would see me as damaged. That you wouldn’t want me around the kids, or you would regret all the things we’ve been doing together. You know, just the two of us. It took so much for me to physically open up to you like that, and I was petrified it would be thrown in my face.”
“Hey, hey, hey. Melanie. It’s okay. Everything’s fine.”
He cupped my face with his hands and tilted my gaze back up to meet his.
“Melanie, I need you to understand something.”
His arms descended onto my hips, tugging me into his body as my hands wrapped around his waist.
“There is nothing you could tell me that would ever make me feel that way. Because I’ve fallen head over heels in love with you, and there is nothing that could change my mind about that at this point.”
“Oh Evan,” I said breathlessly.
“I love you, Melanie.”
I looked up into his sincere brown eyes and I felt my legs giving out underneath me. His words washed over my ears and flooded my chest, swelling my heart with pride as it thundered against my ribcage. This man, with his rippling muscles and his chiseled abs and his heart of gold and his woodworking hands—he was in love with me. This beautiful human being that took me in during a snowstorm, opened up to me in his time of need, chased after me when I ran, and took me back when I found my way home, was in love with me.
I threw my arms around his neck and crashed my lips into his before I jumped and wrapped my legs around his waist.
“I love you, too, Evan,” I said, whispering. “I love you, too.”