Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 128260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Out the window, the first light of day was casting the woods in a silvery glow. I watched it for a few minutes as the snow sparkled and the trees took shape.
My mind returned to Grace for the tenth time since I had gotten out of bed. I knew the ball was in her court, but it didn’t stop me from thinking about her all the damn time. I didn’t know what I’d do if she didn’t contact me when I got back, but my choices were limited. For now, I had to trust. It was all I had.
My head rose when I heard a light scraping sound coming from the front door, my muscles immediately primed. I stood quickly and grabbed my gun from the drawer of a side table. I didn’t expect trouble, but it was always good to be prepared, especially with everything going on in Vegas.
I started walking quietly toward the front door when a knock came and a female voice called out weakly, “Carson?”
I froze. Was that…Grace? What? How? There was no way. I had just been thinking about her—my mind must have conjured her up somehow. Even so, wild hope made me feel momentarily woozy. I stuck the gun in the waistband of my jeans and headed to the door.
“Carson?” I heard called again, louder this time. Holy shit. It is. Grace.
I flung the door open, the sunrise blaring in at me, almost blinding. And there she was, standing in front of me, cheeks flushed bright red, her long, blond hair wet and covered by snow, shivering violently, with one boot on.
What the…? I grabbed her in my arms, pulling her inside. “Grace, what…? How?” I didn’t even know what to ask first. My mind was going in ten directions.
She grabbed my face in her freezing cold hands, her eyes moving over my features. “I never let go, Carson.”
“What, Grace?” I asked, confused and filled with worry. She had hypothermia. She was delirious. And how was she here?
She shook her head, trying again, “Never let go, baby,” she said. “I never did. I never let go. Of that weekend. Of you.” Tears made her eyes sparkle and she made a strange sound that was a sort of laugh, but mostly a sob. Then she tried to smile but her teeth were chattering so violently that it looked like a terrifying grimace. “You… save me from… myself. You… thrill me and you… scare me, but in a good way that makes me… throw all caution—”
“Grace,” I breathed, pulling her into my arms as the understanding of why she was here lit my heart and caused a lump to fill my throat.
“I never let go,” she repeated at my ear. “I never let go.”
I scooped her up in my arms and carried her inside, kicking the door shut behind us.
CHAPTER 28
Grace
Carson sat me down in front of the fire and took my drenched jacket off. He grabbed a blanket from the couch and wrapped it around my shoulders. My teeth were chattering so loudly, I could barely hear my own thoughts.
“Grace, baby,” he said softly, “what happened? How are you here?”
“I called it off,” I said.
His eyes moved to mine as he peeled off my wet socks. They were filled with surprise. With joy. With hope.
“I was flying home for Christmas when I realized,” I chattered out. “I knew it all along, but…I just…I realized in the middle of the airport and I told Alex. We weren’t right together, Carson. We never were. I think he knows that too. So I broke up with him and I flew home, and I went to Trilogy to find you, to tell you.” I was crying again. “To tell you that all these years… all this time, I never really let go. I never did.”
He was rubbing my freezing feet between his hands now as he gazed at me, watching me as I talked, that same gentle expression on his face.
“Your friend Dylan told me where you were and he gave me his car.”
“Really?” He grinned and shook his head slightly. “Damn I love that guy. Stay put.” He stood up and walked out of the room, and when he returned a minute later, he had a towel in his hand and he began tenderly drying my hair.
“Keep going,” he said gently. “Get to the part where you lost your boot.”
My shivering had mostly stopped now and warmth was flowing to my extremities, the heat from the fire seeping into my cold flesh. I sighed and wrapped the blanket around me more tightly.
“Well, as I started getting closer to you, I got distracted, and…I ran out of gas. I was just down the hill from here though. I was able to pull Dylan’s SUV to the side of the road and I walked the rest of the way.”