Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 113142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
“Just like me.”
I nodded against her neck, burrowing my face into her fragrant skin. “Never again,” I vowed. She was mine, and I wasn’t letting her go.
“No. Never again.” She agreed.
Her phone buzzed a short while later. She looked up from the screen. “Bradley’s returning early.”
I couldn’t keep the loathing from my voice. “How awesome.”
Her eyes filled with trepidation. “What should I say to him?”
“The sooner we do this, the sooner we can move on.”
“The thought of seeing him makes me anxious.”
“He should be anxious facing you after what he’s done. I’ll fucking make sure he is.” I felt a tremor go through her, and I regretted adding to her worry. “Everything’s going to be okay, Nightingale. I won’t leave your side.”
“My mother…”
We needed to develop a plan. “What time will she be home this evening?”
“Probably about nine.”
“Why don’t we tell Bradley to be at her place tonight, too? Face them both at once.”
Her already pale face became ashen.
“Ally, don’t. I’ll be right there. Nothing is going to happen, and we’re going to walk out of there together. I promise.”
“Okay,” she whispered. She picked up her phone and sent off the texts.
“Your mother has become lax about checking up on you,” I said, grateful for the fact. “She’s so confident she’s won, she hasn’t seen what happened right in front of her. She never suspected that I was here, or that you had been seeing me.”
“She’s been distracted, and Ronald’s been away so much. I told her the walks I took every day made me glad I was moving to Calgary since nothing felt familiar here. She thinks I sat in the park and read and never spoke to anyone.”
I grinned. “You played her.”
“She’s so busy today with appointments that she hasn’t even checked up on me.” She huffed a sigh. “She’s been enjoying all the wedding nonsense.”
“Of course. She loves the attention.” It was another thing I loathed about that woman.
“I asked Bradley to come to my mother’s place at eight-thirty. I told my mother I’d be home when she got there.”
“Good. We’ll go a little early, and you can grab anything you may have left behind.” I grinned. “Not that I mind you wearing my stuff all the time, but you must want a few of your own pieces of clothing to tide you over until we go shopping.”
“Okay. I probably should make sure I have everything.” She lifted her chin. “After today, I’m not going back.”
“Nope.”
Slipping my arms under her legs, I lifted her, carrying her to the bed. “You look exhausted. I want you to rest.”
“I don’t think I can.”
“What if you just lie down and I’ll stay beside you?”
“Will you tell me more about Africa? I want to know all about the clinic and the fund you started with Elena’s money.”
I smiled at her. It was a cause close to my heart because of the memory of the person it represented and the couple who had been there for me. I had the best people overseeing the project—Elena would be pleased. And I’d tell Ally anything she wanted if it meant she rested. “Yes.”
She curled up on her side, tucking her pillow under her head. I slipped in beside her, pulling her close, nuzzling her hair. I had missed her soft, feminine scent. I spoke quietly, hoping to lull her into sleep. I talked about the heat that bounced off the dirt, some days so hot you could see the shimmer of it in the air around you. I told her how I had finally confided in Peter and Edwina, and it was they who convinced me to come home and find her. They told me I couldn’t move forward until I had some closure, and they had been correct.
“I came back to put you behind me, but instead, I have my whole life ahead of me with you in it,” I murmured against her skin. “I have them to thank for that.”
I kept talking, keeping my voice low, until I felt her relax, her body easing farther into me as she slept. I looked down at her, hardly able to believe she was with me once again. Safe in my arms.
Gently, I stroked her hair back, frowning at the edge of the scar I could see. I knew it went under her hairline, and if I ran my finger over her scalp, I would feel it, along with the shorter hair that was there when they had to shave around the injury. A scar she would carry the rest of her life. One that would remind us of a time we thought we’d lost the most important thing in our lives.
However, I was determined it would only make us stronger.
ALLY
Wrapped in Adam’s arms, I slept. He was beside me when I woke up, one hand busy on his laptop, while the other one rested on my arm.