“Let’s go to the motel and get your things,” he continued.“Your sister is probably there already.Then we’ll get you something to eat.The guys will be here soon and then this will all be over.”
She pushed back a little without pulling away from his embrace.“Do you really think you’ll find him?”
The wind picked up and made her hair dance in front of her eyes.He caught the locks and tucked them behind her ear, then smoothed her cheek with his thumb.“With every cell in my body.”
She just had to believe him.
CHAPTER 8
Natalie climbed thestairs of the motel.Brick ascended behind her, and the nape of her neck warmed beneath his gaze.She wanted to ask him why he was being so kind to her.Of all the ways she’d anticipated he might react to seeing her again and learning the truth, his response wasn’t even in the top ten.
Ellie stood on the walkway outside the room, her arms crossed and worry shrouding her face.“Oh, thank god,” she said, when she spotted them.“I was just about to call Brick.”She swept Natalie into a hug.“I was so scared they’d caught you.”
“No, but we need to get my things and move quickly.”She shifted out of Ellie’s embrace, took out her room key, and unlocked the door.
“I’ll wait outside,” Brick said.
She nodded, and then she and Ellie entered, closing the door behind them.Ellie placed a hand on her shoulder.“Are you okay?You look like death.”
Natalie chortled.“Thanks, sis.”
“I mean it.I’m worried.”Ellie’s brow folded with concern.
Natalie grabbed her sister’s hand and squeezed.“We went to Mary’s house.”She sniffed back a wave of sadness.Mary’s response had stung even though she’d anticipated it.
When she first met Mary, before Shelby died, Natalie had hoped they’d have a relationship—that she’d find the loving mother she’d never had.
Darla Shaw had given up both Natalie and Ellie when they were five and three.Although Natalie had spent countless nights crying and praying for the abusive woman to come back for her, she never had.Nor had the father she’d never known.So many nights she’d wished on twinkling stars, asking the heavens to send her daddy to care for her, to be her knight in shining armor.
Her heart had learned the hard way that she had only herself to depend on.Then she’d met Keetan.He’d fit the caretaker role she’d always craved—long enough to hook her for a decade.
Emotions churned inside her like a hurricane in a plastic bottle.God, she was stupid to think she’d ever not be alone.
Well, until Brick came along.Their path might still be rocky and full of twists and turns, but he’d proven that he cared about Bray.And heck, he seemed to care for her, too.
She had to stop breaking down.While she couldn’t control her fears, she could control her responses, and crying constantly wasn’t going to do a damn thing to bring back her son.“I just really hoped Keetan was hiding Bray there.”
“Maybe Mary was lying,” Ellie offered.
She shook her head, replaying the woman’s spiteful reaction in her mind.“I don’t think so.”She moved away from Ellie and snagged her bag from the floor near the bathroom.“I’ll just be a sec,” she said, as she disappeared into the bathroom.
Other than some toiletries and the dirty and bloodied pajamas she’d fled in last night, most of her things were still in her bag.God, she hadn’t even brushed her teeth.Brick’s words rang in her head.He was right—she had to take care of herself to some degree.Even if that meant looking a little less the worse for wear when she finally found Bray.
He was such a sensitive boy.Always attuned to her feelings.No doubt because he’d been raised in a household where his mother was always backed into a corner or verbally spat at.While she’d done her best to shield Bray from witnessing Keetan’s disrespect, their living with him had done enough harm.
She quickly squeezed toothpaste onto her toothbrush.After she’d run it over her teeth, her mouth felt a million times better.Next, she grabbed her hairbrush and yanked the bristles over her strands until the tangles came free.
She splashed cold water on her face and toweled off, then threw the items back in her bag and came out of the bathroom.After taking her phone charger from the wall near the bed, she glanced around one more time to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything.
Ellie waited by the door.“Where are we going now?”
She crossed the room and placed her hand on her sister’s elbow.“You’re going home.I know you didn’t sleep much.”
Ellie scoffed.“I’m not going anywhere until I find my nephew.”
Natalie’s stomach flipped, and she closed her eyes as terror surged inside her.She forced it down.“Like Brick said, there’s nothing we can do until his team gets here.Go home.Sleep.I’ll call you in a few hours.”
Ellie lifted her eyebrows.“Promise?”
