I closed my eyes against the emotion I saw in his, turning my head away so he couldn’t read me like I suspected he could. I had no right to expect anything from him. We barely knew each other. We’d only spoken a few times on this fucking mountain.
But there was something in him that called out to me. I didn’t know what it was, but it made me keep coming back. Keep seeking him out.
He took my hand and dragged me over to a rock. When he sat down in front of it, he pulled me with him. He held me against him. My back against his chest, his chin on my shoulder.
“I don’t know what the fuck this is, but it’s fucking something.” He sounded as confused and scared as I did. “Every goddamn day I ride up here. Three, sometimes four times looking for you. Hoping you’ll be here. And when you aren’t, my heart sinks. It’s too fucking soon for me to even think about another woman. But fuck, I think she might have sent you here.”
“What happened to her?” I whispered. It was a little easier to get the words out when he wasn’t watching me.
His chest expanded as he inhaled and when he exhaled, it was as though he let out all the emotion right into my body. I felt his sadness. His loneliness. It was too much. But the monsters didn’t wake.
“She had a brain aneurism. She never told me. She knew she could go at any minute. The slightest little bump on the head could have killed her and she never fucking told me.”
“Cash, I’m so sorry.”
He hugged me tighter and my nose burned. The telltale sign of the feelings I wasn’t able to release.
“She didn’t trust me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was her old man, and she didn’t trust me enough to tell me what was wrong. She didn’t let me help her.” His hand grasped my chin and he turned me to face him. “Let me help you, Rosie.”
I stared into his eyes. I wanted to trust him. I wanted to tell him everything, and I didn’t know why. But I couldn’t do it.
“I don’t need any help, Cash.”
“Rosie,” he sighed.
I wiggled out of his arms and stood. “I don’t know what you think is wrong with me, but I’m not sick. There’s nothing wrong with me.”
“Then why are you here? If it’s not about Amber, is it Sadie?”
“Who is Sadie? Does she need help?”
“Sadie’s boyfriend is a bastard. But she won’t let us help her. Not yet. And she won’t leave. She has a brother here. She’s lived here her whole life.”
“Maybe I should talk to her,” I said, mostly to myself, though if I was honest, I wanted to keep talking to him. “I can help her.”
“Her brother says she’s not ready. We’re keeping tabs on them. As soon as she’s ready to let us help, we’ll take care of it.”
“How?” I asked, eyeing him.
“Not the way you do. When we help her, she won’t have to leave her home.”
I knew what he was saying. It made my heart race. There were times I begged Val to let us do what he alluded to. But she always said no. I didn’t understand why. These assholes never stopped. She knew that. Had firsthand knowledge that they just kept coming back, over and over again. Or they just moved on to someone else.
“Do you promise?” I asked. I stuck my hands in my back pockets because I didn’t want to reach out to him.
“I promise, baby. Come back over here.” He patted the ground between his legs, and I gazed at it. My eyes darted to his, and he smiled.
My hesitation would be my downfall.
“Rosie.” There was a challenge in his voice. A dare that I sensed as much as I felt the sound of my name on his lips rumble through me.
I was powerless when it came to him. There was nothing more that I wanted than to sit in front of him with his arms around me. Holding me tight. Keeping the monsters’ screams at bay.
Wait!
