Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHRIS

Sometimes I was able to catch glimpses of the real Reed, and it was never more likely than when we were in bed together, when the world was miles away and it was just the two of us together.

The affection in his eyes while he proceeded to kiss my cheeks and neck was undeniable, and it made me slip easily into the fantasy.

To believe he was my husband for real and the tender attention he gave my body came from genuine adoration.

It was easy to believe it when, like now, his hands seemed to shake as they skated over my skin. His voice caught periodically when he told me how beautiful I was. And his cock arched stiffly toward me as if I was hot and alluring.

So tonight, I chose to believe the fantasy. I let myself feel everything with him as he moved over me, gently prepped me, and murmured reassurances into my ear.

"Just like that, sweetheart," he soothed as his finger circled my entrance for the thousandth time.

"I'm ready," I slurred. He'd teased me into brainless oblivion. The truth was I was past ready. Ready had left the building absolute eons ago. Ready was a distant ancestor who was nearly forgotten to history.

Ready could kiss my hecking behind.

"Is that what you want?" Reed's amused voice got my attention. I blinked my eyes open and caught him grinning at me. "Knees up, baby."

I obeyed immediately. Reed might have been bossy, but there'd never been a single moment where that bossiness in the bedroom hadn't resulted in very good things for me.

"That's it," he cooed. I felt the warmth of his exhale on the very sensitive skin of my?—

"Wh-whoop?" I blurted stupidly. Whoop? What the heck did that even mean?

The hot press of his tongue on my hole was accompanied by his deep laughter. The vibrations gave the incredible sensation an extra kick.

" Mrpfh ," I added. My head lolled to the side as the sensations overwhelmed me. His mouth was magical, that was no surprise. But this was… this was more than that. This was extra.

"You like that, huh?"

I reached down and threaded my fingers through his hair to keep his head there. His laughter rumbled as he teased and tormented me with his tongue.

I'd never even known this kind of feeling was possible. Never known I could feel so close to another human. As he continued to pay every attention to prepping me, his hands roamed over my stomach, my thighs, my chest, and he even took one of my hands in his and held it tightly.

My heart thundered. Errant thoughts of a future with Reed tried to sneak their way into my head and heart, but I forced them out. There was no room for reality in this fantasy.

"Please," I begged. "Want to feel you. Please."

Reed finished what he was doing, wiped his mouth on the T-shirt he'd discarded earlier, and moved up to kiss me under my ear. It was his favorite spot, the one he'd discovered early on made me whimper like a begging puppy.

He murmured soft instructions as he moved me into the position he wanted. When he was finally ready to push inside me, he paused until I met his eyes.

"You will tell me to stop if you need me to stop."

"Yes," I breathed, even though my brain was saying, Like heck.

"Take a breath. That's it." He continued to encourage me to relax, his deep voice slithering into my ears and turning my entire body to goo.

By the time his big cock began to stretch me out, I felt the sting of tears in my eyes, not from discomfort but from just how overwhelming it was to be this close to him.

Reed treated me like something precious, and at that moment, I suddenly realized just how much he'd opened himself up to me. He'd told me more about himself, shared bits and pieces of his life with me, and allowed me to see behind his big, thick walls.

"Reed," I breathed into his chest as he moved above me.

"You feel so good," he said on a groan. "Baby, fuck."

I tilted my head back to watch him as he thrust in and out of me. His face was flushed and his eyes glassy, his lips red and full from all the attention they'd paid to me earlier.

" Reed ," I said again.

"I have you."

Reed's cock struck something indescribable inside of me, and I let out a feral noise. His eyes sharpened and darkened—intent on my pleasure, intent on me— as his cock struck me again and again in the same spot.

When my release finally came, I felt like I was flying. Like the butterfly I'd once wanted to be.

But at the same time, some part of me felt solidly anchored, too. Truly understood and really, truly safe… for the first time I could remember.

After making love with Reed, my emotions were a total whirlwind, and I spent the rest of the day on autopilot.

That afternoon, Reed had cautiously tried to bring up the topic of my uncle and suggest things I could do with my future—he even mentioned Little Pippin Hollow more than once, which was kind of funny since I knew how he felt about the place. He was trying to be supportive and helpful, which was so, so nice, and I appreciated it.

But for the first time in… well, ever… I didn't want to talk. I didn't want to discuss Danny or how confused and heartsick I felt after seeing the document Reed had shown me. Didn't want to consider whether Danny was actually guilty of the crimes he'd admitted to. Didn't want to plan for a time when I'd say goodbye to Copper County. And definitely didn't want to think about saying goodbye to Reed.

I wanted to linger in my afterglow and live in the fantasy a little longer.

So I lost myself in my work and allowed my mind to drift. I painted cabin interiors and sanded trim boards until my back hurt and my arms shook with fatigue. I barely spoke to Zach when he came by to help, and when Dolores sought me out to discuss custom charcuterie boards over cupcakes, I put her off, even though that would have been an irresistible temptation any other day.

There were some problems even charcuterie couldn't fix.

That night, I practically attacked Reed the minute he finished clearing up from dinner and led him back to the bedroom. I didn't want to discuss the party at the Observatory House he'd told me about, though I'd been fascinated by the house across the lake since the first time I'd seen it. I didn't even want to watch John Ruffian .

All I wanted was for me and Reed to crawl into a bubble together and shut the world out. I wanted his hands on me. His mouth. His hard cock. I wanted to memorize the exact placement of every tiny scar and freckle on his body and to learn exactly where to kiss him to make him groan, and curse, and melt.

Unlike the other times we'd been together this week, this time, there was no laughter or teasing banter between us. Reed kissed every inch of my body with slow deliberation, the intense heat in his green eyes not cooling for a second. And every kiss, every touch, had spoken volumes about how much he'd come to mean to me.

Before exhaustion claimed me, I reminded myself firmly that this wasn't the end. Reed and I had a month left together—which was weeks and weeks longer than I'd ever thought I'd have with him. That would have to be enough. I'd make it enough.

When I woke up the next morning, I was filled with a new determination. If I'd learned one thing over the years, it was that the only thing I could control was my reaction to a situation. So I could be sad—and I was—but I would also be hopeful. I could be uncertain, but I would also believe that things would work out, somehow. Because they usually did, in all kinds of ways I could never have imagined or believed.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I'd been a lonely, never-been-kissed virgin who didn't know beans about adventures. Now, I was a man who'd gotten kidnapped (but not), been in a gunfight (without firing a shot, thank goodness), witnessed a low-key (high-key) bar tussle, survived an accidental-on-purpose plunge into excruciatingly brisk water, gotten surprise-fake-married, made a whole bunch of friends, kissed Reed Sunday so many times I'd lost count (two hundred and seventy-three, give or take), had sex (of multiple varieties in way more locations than I'd dreamed sex could be possible!) with Reed Sunday, and fallen madly in love (in an unwise and doomed-to-be-unrequited way, yes, but still!) with Reed Sunday.

What were the hecking chances, right?

So I'd figure out a way to fix this, too. Fix things for Danny, fix things for me. Somehow. And in the meantime, I would enjoy the next few weeks here with Reed, soak up every kiss and touch like a squirrel preparing for a long winter, and leave this campground way, way better than I'd found it.

The first thing I did was roll over and kiss the heck out of Reed. "Good morning, husband."

"Wow," Reed breathed when I finally let him up for air and hopped out of bed. "You seem… happy." He pressed his head back into the pillows and licked his lips like he was still tasting my kiss.

"I am. I have lots to do." I pulled on underwear and jeans and only blushed a little when I noticed Reed watching me avidly. "Dolores wants to talk charcuterie, and I promised her I'd tell her about these Etsy shops where you can get custom boards. And I still haven't fixed the wiring in Cabin 13, but today is the day."

"Well, okay then." Reed sounded impressed. "Maybe wait until this afternoon to do the wiring, though, if you think it might go better with an extra set of hands." He got out of bed, too, stretching his arms up to the low ceiling in a way that put his gorgeous body on display. "I'll be out for a couple hours this morning, remember?"

I was so busy staring at the way his muscles all cooperated so nicely, turning a simple stretch into a full-on symphony of muscly perfection, that it took me a minute to process what he'd said.

Once I did, the realization almost—almost—took the edge off my newly restored optimism.

"Oh, right. That meeting with your boss you mentioned." I nodded and reached for a shirt from the closet. "About your next assignment."

"It's only a preliminary meeting," he reminded me. He cupped the back of my neck and drew me in for a soft kiss that spiraled into something hotter, the way our kisses usually did.

He pulled away reluctantly a moment later. "I need to get ready. The meeting's not until ten, but I'm gonna leave around nine. I need to find someplace that has a good signal or Wi-Fi and is private enough to have a Zoom. Something tells me that kind of privacy will be hard to come by in O'Leary." He took a T-shirt from the closet and shook it out. "It'd be my luck Lisa Dorian from the library would come knocking on my window just as Janissey started talking about sensitive information. Yoo hoo! Reed! How's Chris's malevolent respiratory pestilence today? "

"Actually, the library's not a bad idea." I sat on the edge of the bed to pull on socks. "They have good Wi-Fi, and if you asked her, I bet she'd let you use one of the meeting rooms in the basement."

Reed froze with his T-shirt around his neck. "How would you know they have good Wi-Fi?"

"I… Oh." I felt my cheeks go hot. "I emailed Danny when I was there the other day. The Division still hadn't gotten us any proof," I hurried to explain, "and I needed to feel like I was doing something, you know? Even if it was just reaching out to tell Danny I knew he wasn't in Alaska and that I loved him and wanted to help. I… I didn't tell him where I was, though. And I didn't mention your name?—"

Reed leaned down and captured my lips in a quick kiss. "Okay."

"Okay?" I frowned. "That's it?"

He finished pushing his arms into his sleeves. "Yeah. If you felt like you needed to contact him, then you did. I heard what you said the other day, and I respect your right to make your own choices. I trust you, Chris."

"Oh. That's…" It was hard to express how amazing it felt to hear Reed say he trusted me, but it made me sit up straighter. "Yes. Right. Good."

He grinned. "And I understand. You love your uncle. You're always going to feel protective of him… just like I always feel protective of a certain person, even though I know he's perfectly capable of taking care of himself… in situations not involving guns, bar fights, and deep bodies of water."

I laughed, which seemed to be Reed's intention. "You always feel protective of me, huh?"

"I said a certain person ." He winked and finished pulling on his flannel shirt, then stepped between my legs to run his fingers through my hair. "I could have meant Watt Bartlett."

I laughed again, harder this time, and leaned into him, my forehead resting against his hip. There was no better feeling.

"My point is, I know you believe the best of people, but especially when it comes to him." Reed carded his fingers through my hair again. "Deep down, you still don't believe Danny's guilty, do you?"

I blinked up at him and considered this seriously. "I… I don't know. There were a lot of details in that document you showed me. Like, a lot . Maybe too many to make up. And I… I trust you, too. Your judgment matters to me. And you believe he's guilty?—"

"I wish I didn't," he said.

I captured Reed's hand and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. "Thank you. I'm also really hurt and… and angry . Because whatever else he did or didn't do, he lied to me. But… yes, even with all that, it's still hard for me to reconcile the man I know, the man who raised me to be honorable, with the person who did all of those things. I wish I could talk to him. I have a lot of questions." I paused. "And I might want to yell at him. Just a little bit."

Laughing, Reed tweaked my glasses into place. "Have I told you today how amazing you are?"

"You should feel free to tell me that as often as you like," I informed him. "Nonna always said if it's important enough to say, it's important enough to repeat." I wrinkled my nose. "Though, to be totally honest, I'm not sure if that's an actual saying or just something she made up after she started losing her hearing."

Reed snorted and moved away to put his belt on.

"Do you think I'm silly or naive?" I asked. "For still hoping Danny's innocent, even now?"

"Not even a little." Reed buckled his belt. "Believe it or not, your faith in people is one of the things I lo—" He broke off in a choking cough and stared at the wall, eyes wide.

I looked at the wall too, but there was nothing there except faded floral wallpaper. "Reed? Hello?" I waved a hand. "Are you okay? Do you think you're catching my cold?"

"Huh? No. Yeah. I'm…" He stood. "I've gotta go." He stalked out of the room.

"Wait, what about your shoes?" I called.

"Fuck." He turned around and grabbed his boots, stuffing his bare feet into them. He pressed a hard kiss to my lips and headed for the door once more.

"Don't you want coffee?" I frowned at him from the bedroom. "It's only eight."

"Yeah. I mean, no. I have things to… to figure out." Reed ran a hand through his hair, grabbed his keys, and pulled open the door. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah. See you—" The door to the caretaker cabin slammed shut. "—later."

What the heck was that? I shook my head as I finished getting dressed. Then after making the bed, toasting myself a bagel, and tidying up the kitchen, I put together a charcuterie plate using the last of the ingredients I'd bought the other day and headed through the sun-dappled autumn woods to Dolores's camper.

She opened the door on the first knock, dressed in a bright orange velour tracksuit appliquéd with sequined autumn leaves. "Honey! I was just thinking about you. I said to Bob, ‘Bob, I'm gonna look in on Chris today.' I said, ‘That boy is off his stride. I wonder if he's been fighting with that handsome hubby of his.' And he said, ‘Mind your business, Dolores.' Can you imagine? As if I haven't been minding Bob's business for him for over twenty years, which is a hell of a lot more than his first wife ever did, let me tell you. So I told him, I said, ‘Never you mind my business, Bob. If Chris is still glum, I'm going to give that tall drink of water he's hitched to a piece of my mind 'cause no way should a ray of sunshine look that sad.' That's what I said. And now here you are." She narrowed her eyes and looked me up and down. "And you seem better, so I suppose your husband is safe from me."

"Reed?" I shook my head. "No, Reed's great. Reed's… he's the best. And I'm fine, I promise." I held up my mini charcuterie plate. "I'm here to talk boards, if you're still interested."

"Hell yes." She stepped back, ushering me inside and onto one of the padded benches by her banquette table. "You picked the perfect time. Bob's gone down to the dock so he can sit around gossiping with the locals and pretend to be fishing. If he were here, he'd have opinions . ‘Dolores, what are you gonna do with a custom charcuterie board when we live in an RV, please tell me?' As though it was my fault he retired and wanted to sell the house. Four thousand square feet in New Jersey, and now I'm reduced to this." She waved a hand in the air like a game show hostess. "But I will have my charcuterie board, damn it."

"You're from New Jersey? That's so cool! I—" I cut myself off at the last moment. I still wasn't supposed to be telling people who I was, was I? Reed hadn't said, but it was probably better to be safe than sorry. "I've always loved New Jersey!"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, if we ever get back, I'll invite you over and give you an excuse to visit. You can make a charcuterie on my new board." She opened an overhead cabinet, took out a laptop, set it on the table, and gestured to me. "Now, show me the goods."

I pulled up my Etsy account, and the two of us fell down a rabbit hole.

"See, this is the kind of personalization I think is so cute." I pointed at the screen. "It's acacia wood with a custom inlay, which is why it's so expensive. But it would be cool to have it say, ‘The…' uh." I frowned. "What's your last name?"

Dolores's phone rang, and she glanced down at it before dismissing the call. "Smith."

"Oh." I blinked. "Okay, well, that's easy enough. The Smiths. It's… it's nice, right?"

"Not bad," she agreed, nodding slowly. "But tell me about this one."

"Ah, that . That's for the serious charcuterie enthusiast," I said. "It's got multiple tiers and little bowls for olives and dips?—"

Her phone rang again, and this time, she picked it up to look at the screen.

"Who the hell is Paul Fine, O'Leary, New York?"

I shook my head. "No clue."

She sighed. "If this is another spam caller, I'm gonna lose my shit," she promised. She swiped the screen. "Hello? Oh, Bob, it's you! What in the world? Why are you calling from—oh." She glanced around the living area of the camper. "Yes, I see it. It's right on the coffee table. Well, come back for it, then. Oh? How big a fish?" She listened for a long moment. "Good for you, sweetheart. Yes, I'm sure it's very disappointing that you don't have your phone to take a picture. Oh! Well, why didn't you say so? Good grief. Yes, I'll bring it down."

She hung up and shook her head. "That man. I tell you. Just terrible at communicating. "

I opened my mouth, then shut it again. "Uh-huh. Sounds awful," I agreed.

"I'm just saying." She shoved her feet into a pair of bedazzled Crocs. "How am I supposed to know what's going on if you don't tell me, am I right? Help me help you , Bob. Show a little follow-through." She sighed. "Now, you wait here, sweetie. I'll just pop down to the dock and then be back. Find me the perfect board while I'm gone."

I nodded again. But after she clomped down the steps and hurried away, I found myself thinking about communication, along with everything Reed and I had discussed. I clicked on a new browser tab and opened my email to send Danny another message.

But when I logged in, I found a new email waiting for me.

An email from my cousin.

Seeing Nicky's name on my screen unleashed a flood of emotions that made my stomach flip around like the giant fish Bob had just caught, anxious and hopeful and guilty because I hadn't considered reaching out to him even once, despite everything that was going on.

Because he hasn't been a very good cousin , the new, more confident part of me thought. Because I don't know if I can trust him.

But you can't fix your relationship if you don't try , the kinder part of me prodded.

I forced myself to take a deep breath, and then I opened it.

Chris—

Hey. I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from, but I don't know who else to turn to. Some guys came around my place today wanting to know where Danny is. They didn't believe me when I said I didn't know. They beat me up pretty badly and told me to "tell my uncle Robert Evanovich sends his best."

I know we left things in a really shitty place, and I really regret that. I'm so scared Chrissy. I really need your help. We're still family, right?

Love,

Nicky.

My heart squeezed hard, and I stood up from the table in a panic. The Evanoviches had gone after Nicky.

Poor, poor Nicky.

Why hadn't I considered that this could happen? Sure, Nicky never struck me as a person who needed protection before, but that didn't mean he was prepared to handle something like this. I should have contacted him before. Warned him or something.

I needed to contact him now.

I grabbed a napkin from the stack on the table and a pen from the little holder on Dolores's counter, scrawled down Nicky's phone number, and slammed the laptop shut. I was halfway back to the cabin in search of Reed before I remembered.

Reed was gone. In town at his meeting. I'd have to handle this myself.

Even as I thought this, a car pulled up the driveway. A bright yellow car, driven by a familiar figure who waved when he spotted me.

"Watt!" I cried in relief, running up to the driver's door. "Hey. Um. Could I use your phone, please? Now ?"

"Well, sure, but…" Watt stepped out of the car, then pulled his phone from his pocket. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Sort of. It's just a…" A thing I couldn't talk about at all unless I wanted to put Watt in danger, too. "A family th ing. One of those times when I really regret not bringing a phone on my, um, honeymoon. You know?"

"Hmm." His gaze narrowed, but he unlocked the phone and handed it over. "Reed around? I wanted to show him my car."

I shook my head. "He had a work meeting, so he went to town for privacy and better internet." I hesitated. "Uh. I'm just going to go make my call—" I pointed at the caretaker cabin.

"Stay here if you want privacy." Watt shrugged. "I wanted to check out the paint job you did in Cabin 5 anyway. I'm thinking the color might work for my downstairs bathroom."

"Sure." I turned away and dialed Nicky's number with shaking hands. A second later, my cousin's cocky voice came over the line.

"Fromadgio."

Fromadgio? I frowned. Nicky's last name was Costello. "Nicky? It's me. Are you okay?"

"Chrissy? Fuck, it's so good to hear your voice." His confident demeanor fled, and he sounded like the kid he'd once been… and happier to hear from me than he'd been in years. "Shit. I've been calling you every day, and you didn't answer, and I figured you were still angry that I was such an asshole before you left. But thank God you called, man. Is this your new number?"

"No. No, no. I'm borrowing a friend's phone. I lost my own, and… and things have been a little weird. I'm sorry I haven't called you. I wanted to give you time to calm down, but I… I should have checked in with you before now." I sat on the steps of the caretaker cabin and massaged my forehead. "Are you okay? Are you safe?"

"I think so. For now, at least. But where are you? Danny didn't tell me you were leaving town, too. Then I found out you were in Vermont?—"

"I was . But, um…" I licked my lips. "You might already know some of this, maybe, but Uncle Danny's not on an Alaskan fishing trip."

"No?" Nicky sounded as shocked as I'd been. "Are you sure?"

"I'm afraid so. He got involved in some wild stuff, Nicky. Money laundering, tax evasion… And the government caught him. He's pretty much admitted to all of it. He's supposed to be signing a plea deal this week."

"He hasn't signed it yet, though, right?" Nicky demanded.

"Huh? Oh. Um. N-no." I frowned at the tree line in the distance. "At least, I don't think so. But did you hear what I said? Uncle Danny admitted to being a criminal, Nick. Did you… did you know about any of this? Did he tell you?"

"Tell me? Gosh, no. That's so weird, Chris! I just… I can't help thinking there's no way."

I shut my eyes. "I know. That's what I thought, too. But then I saw the list of stuff they're saying he did, and now… I don't know what to think. Except that guy you mentioned in your email, Robert Evanovich? Reed said he's bad news. If people are asking you about him, you need to be careful. Maybe, I dunno, leave town, or call the police, or both ?—"

"Reed? Who's Reed?"

"Reed? Oh." I bit my lip. "He's…" Shoot . Nicky was my cousin, and I felt awful for him, but I couldn't betray Reed that way. "He's been helping me out. He's a friend."

"Yeah, right." Nicky snorted. "You don't have friends."

I blinked. "P-pardon?" That casual rudeness was a record scratch, reminding me of the Nicky I used to know.

"I mean… I mean… I don't know any of your friends," he explained quickly. "And I'm… I'm so scared, Chris. I don't know what to do."

Nicky's fear overrode my caution. He sounded terrified. How could I blame him for being impolite?

I blew out a breath. "Listen, if those people who mentioned him come around again, call the police, okay? Don't let them hurt you."

"But what if the police are in on it? Who knows how high this conspiracy goes?" Nicky's voice was high-pitched and thready. "You're the only one I can trust, and I… I really don't want to be alone right now. Tell me where you are. I'll come to you. We can figure out how to handle this together. As a family ."

I opened my mouth, then shut it again. "I can't, Nicky. I'm so sorry. But I'll try to figure something out for you, okay? Find someone to help you."

"Those guys had guns, Chris! What if… what if next time they don't just beat me up? What if they kill me? You'll be all alone once Danny's in prison."

Prison? "But he's not going to?—"

"Please, Chris? Please? I know you're not in Springfield anymore."

"Springfield," I whispered. "How did you know?—?"

"Mrs. Rose mentioned it. She calls me from time to time just to check in," he said. "And she told me you'd called her with a weird story about a kidnapping." He chuckled, and the sound brought back a lot of childhood memories… none of them pleasant. "But by the time I got there, you were gone."

My skin prickled hot and cold.

"You're calling from a New York number, I see," Nicky went on. He didn't sound terrified anymore. He sounded controlled and… well, terrifying . "Unknown Name, Copper County, New York? Where is that, buddy? Upstate somewhere? I can be there in a couple hours. Remember how Danny said family was the most important thing? So why not let your friend protect us both? Just give me your address, and I'll put it in my GPS."

The Caller ID.

Why hadn't I even thought about the Caller ID on Watt's phone before I called?

What the heck had I done? Oh, fricking frickballs , what had I done?

"Nicky? What's going on right now?" I whispered.

"You screwed me over, cousin," Nicky said. "That's what's going on. But that's okay. It's alright. I forgive you. And I'm going to let you make it up to me." He laughed again. "Talk soon, Chrissy."

After Nicky disconnected, I stared at the darkened phone screen as my entire body went cold and my head swam. It felt an awful lot like I had when Reed pulled me out of the lake.

How freaking naive could a person be? How foolishly trusting? How stupid ?

I knew better than to trust Nicky, but the second he'd mentioned family and needing my help, my brain had short-circuited, and I hadn't thought at all.

Nicky knew Danny's nickname, knew Danny wasn't in Alaska, probably knew all along about the plea deal— "He hasn't signed it yet, though, right?" —but if he knew all that, he had to know I wasn't involved in Danny's business—well, that business, anyway—so what could he want with me? Why would he be looking for me at all?

"Chris?" Watt asked.

I lifted my head, and his curious expression transformed instantly to concern .

"Whoa, hey now." Watt crouched down and patted my knee. "What happened? Shit, Chris. Did someone die?"

My eyes filled with tears. I couldn't tell Watt the truth, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to form sentences anyway.

"Shit. Shit . Why did I ask that?" he muttered under his breath. "Can I… What can I do, Chris? Do you need tea? Or chocolate? When my wife was upset, she used to like chocolate?—"

I shook my head. "Nobody died, Watt. I just… I need Reed."

I had to tell Reed—warn him—Nicky was coming here.

"Fuck, of course. Yeah." Watt stood. "And you said he's in town, right? Want me to take you? Or…" He gave my face another more critical look. "Or maybe I'll just go find him for you and send him back."

"Please? I'll stay here in case he comes home." I ran my hands over my face. Reed would want me to stay here, I thought. Probably. If Nicky was on his way, whatever his intention was, he'd be less likely to find me out here at the campground, surely.

And then once Reed was back… once he was back, I'd tell him I'd done the one thing he'd warned against from the very beginning and let someone know where we were.

I'd tell him that even though he'd trusted me and believed I was capable, even though he'd helped me to feel more confident and empowered than I ever had in my whole life… I'd let him down.

What if he got in trouble with his bosses again because he'd trusted me when he shouldn't have? What if he lost the job he loved more than anything? I'd never forgive myself. He'd never forgive me.

"He's going to be so angry," I whispered.

"Angry?" Watt looked mystified. " You mean Reed? I don't know what's happening here, so I guess it's possible, but if he's pissed, he'll get over it. He's in love with you. A man'll forgive a whole lot for the person he loves."

I gave Watt a sad smile. He was so sweet, but he had no idea that Reed and I weren't the newlyweds we'd claimed to be.

Reed cared about me, I believed that. But love? The kind of love I felt for him? I didn't think so. Especially not after this…

And only now that the possibility was gone for good did I realize how much I'd hoped that at some point, he might.

I tried to smile. "Thank you, Watt. You're a really good friend."

My smile must not have been convincing because it seemed to make Watt more panicked. "Uh, you too? Look, I'll be back in half an hour. Tops. The best thing about a small town is there aren't many places he could be, right? So just… hang tight."

He grabbed his phone from my hand and nearly sprinted for his car.

But after he left, I couldn't make myself settle. I kept replaying my conversation with Nicky, alternately terrifying myself and telling myself I was overreacting. After an hour passed, I began pacing the small cabin. At noon, when the sky began to darken like a storm was coming, I began jumping with every gust of wind. And when the rain began, an hour after that, I was truly panicked.

Where the heck was Reed?

Even if he was angry, I knew he'd come when I needed him. And as much as I dreaded confessing what I'd done, I wanted him with me. Wanted his overprotectiveness and his smile, his snark and his scowls, his steadfast presence and those grunts he used in place of full sentences. I wanted him , period.

For as long as I could, in any way I could have him.

It was almost a relief when Dolores, dressed in a sky-blue raincoat with cherries printed on it, knocked on the door a little before two.

"Where'd you disappear to earlier, kiddo?" she demanded, stepping inside. She looked me up and down, much like Watt had. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry about earlier. I… I had to do something. But I'm okay. Just a little nervous 'cause Reed's not home from town yet," I explained, which wasn't a lie.

Dolores nodded sympathetically. "It's really blowing around out there. Just got home from town myself. I needed some veggies for dinner—well, more like Bob needs veggies, and I need Fanaille cupcakes." She winked.

I laughed, but it came out sounding strained.

She tilted her head and studied me. "Tell you what we'll do. I'm gonna go put on the teakettle. You can come over, and we'll finish our charcuterie board shopping. Okay? And Bob can stay in the bedroom watching his television."

I shook my head. "I should really stay here. When Reed comes back?—"

A gust of wind blew a tree branch against the wall of the cabin, and I yelped.

"When Reed comes back, he'll find you eating tequila lime cupcakes with me and Bob," she said firmly. "Not splattered on the ceiling 'cause you're so jumpy. Trust me."

I smiled. "You're a very motherly sort of person, you know that?"

She hooted. "Tell that to my stepson." Her expression soured. "On second thought, don' t. Come on, kiddo."

She was right. I wasn't doing anyone any good here. Being around other people would help.

Reluctantly, I nodded. "I'll be there in ten minutes. Just let me grab a jacket and leave Reed a note."

After Dolores left, I found a pen in the silverware drawer and scrawled a note on a paper towel telling Reed exactly where I'd be. Then I grabbed his thickest jacket from the closet and pulled it on, rolling up the sleeves. I closed the cabin door and locked it behind me, then set off down the path through the woods.

Which was exactly where Nicky found me.