Page 44 of A Lonely Road (Spruce Hill #2)

Chapter Thirty-Five

Jake

A flurry of emotions crackled through my body as John and I stared out toward the quiet street. My gaze landed on the spot where Nora’s car stalled the day she arrived in town—it felt like a million years ago, but that memory soothed my jittery nerves, at least a little.

Several long minutes passed before I felt steady enough to say, “I don’t even know how to thank you.”

John settled his hand on my shoulder. “You don’t have to thank me. I should’ve tracked that bastard down years ago. This is on me.”

I didn’t agree with that, but I wasn’t sure there were any words that could convince him otherwise. John let out a harsh breath and scrubbed a hand over his jaw .

“I should have been there for her after her mother walked away, instead of letting her gallivant all over the country, but I let my own pain get in the way. I buried my head in the sand instead of making sure she was okay.”

“Do you really think Nora would let you stop her from gallivanting?” I asked.

A startled laugh burst from his lips. “No, I guess not. I saw your face in there, Jake. If there had been any doubt in my mind that you love her—and believe me, there wasn’t—that would've been enough to convince me.”

“She’s everything to me.” The quiet admission hung in the air between us.

“You’ve done more for her in the short time she’s known you than I did in thirty years. You just promise me you’ll keep on loving her, and the rest will work itself out.”

Though my heart squeezed painfully, I nodded. “Yes, sir, that I can promise.”

We fell silent again until Roberts came up behind us and cleared his throat. “We’re all finished here. You two can go on back inside.”

John stood and shook Roberts’ hand. They exchanged a look, then spoke in an undertone so low I couldn’t make out any of the conversation before Roberts clapped him on the back and started down the steps.

When Nora appeared in the doorway, John hugged her close and kissed her forehead. “I’m going to head home, let you two settle in. Call me if you need anything, all right? ”

Nora tightened her arms around him before she took a step back, her glance flitting over the holstered taser at his hip. “Is that thing even legal?” she asked.

He winked at her but didn’t answer, simply nodded to me and strode back toward the apartment. I waited until he was out of view before I slipped my hand into hers, twining our fingers together. She curled into my side, leaning her head against my shoulder.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to hold onto you for the next seventy-two hours or so,” I said quietly.

“I don’t mind at all. In fact, I can’t think of anything I’d like better.”

Hand in hand, we entered the house, locking the door securely behind us. Nora paused once we were inside. Slowly, her gaze traveled along the hallway, through the kitchen, out onto the deck.

There was no visible trace of the pain and terror we’d experienced, but the echoes still reverberated around inside my ribcage, making it difficult not to grab her and run away from it all.

For her, I forced myself to keep still, to let her lead the way.

With my hand wrapped securely around hers, she stayed just inside the doorway for a long moment, seeming to draw comfort from my steady presence at her side. She glanced at my face and I lifted a questioning brow, so she tugged me toward the stairs.

Without a word, we went up to the bedroom and pulled off our bloodstained clothing.

The impulse to chuck it all into an incinerator struck me hard, but first things first. As my worried gaze lingered on Nora’s face, she simply nodded toward the bed and crawled under the covers. I followed, wrapping her in my arms.

It was a long time before either of us spoke. With her head resting on my chest, I let the soft warmth of her fill me with a sense of overwhelming peace. I stroked my fingers lightly over her hair, pausing every so often to press my lips against the top of her head.

“I’ve never been so scared in my entire life,” she whispered eventually, just as twilight began to fall outside the bedroom window. The words trembled from her lips and my heart clenched hard in my chest. “Not even when we thought my mother might be dead.”

“I’m right there with you. When he lowered the knife .

. .” I broke off, rubbing my other hand over my face.

“I thought that was it. I thought I was going to watch you die right in front of me and not be able to do a single goddamn thing about it. I was getting ready to throw myself at the pair of you just to try to deflect it when I saw your dad come in.”

She buried her face against my chest, her frame shuddering under my hands as the tears finally came, wetting my skin like a cleansing rainfall. I held her there, stroked her hair, kissed her forehead, wiped her cheeks with my thumbs, until she let out a shaky breath .

“He was there the night Scarpella grabbed me at The Mermaid. He saw it, all of it. He’s been watching us.”

I tipped her chin up to meet her eyes. “He’s gone now. We’re safe.”

“Yeah.” The word was barely more than a breath.

“I love you,” I whispered.

Her lips curved just a touch, those dark eyes going warm and soft. “I love you. I know you only wanted to hold me, but do you think . . . would you mind kissing me instead?”

“I will never, ever turn down the chance to kiss you, Nora.”

“I just—I need to feel alive right now.”

I rolled to look down at her, studying every inch of her face, committing her features to memory before I lowered my lips to her forehead. With her hands gripping my shoulders tightly, I kissed my way across her cheeks, her eyelids, her chin, the tip of her nose.

“We’re both very much alive,” I whispered, then at last I captured her mouth.

Though I really hadn’t intended anything beyond cuddling her close, Nora urged me to take more— demanded that I take more. Her hands tangled in my hair even as her legs wrapped around my waist. Without shifting my lips from hers, I rolled again so that she was straddling me.

“Take what you need, my love,” I murmured. “Anything you need. Everything you need. ”

With wild, intense abandon, Nora took and took and took, but she gave freely, too, offering everything she had to give into my keeping.

Together we rode through the hurricane, shedding our terror along the way until we both felt fully alive with the forces rising between us and with each other. When at last she collapsed, quivering, against my chest, I could only laugh breathlessly and tighten my arms around her.

“I think you should ask me now,” she whispered. She lifted her head to peek up at me, saw my confusion, and smiled a little as she snuggled closer. “To move in with you. For real, this time.”

My deep inhalation lifted her as air filled my lungs and love swelled in my chest. “Nora Cassidy, will you move in with me? For real?”

Her lips dropped to my chest, just over my heart. “Hell yes, I will.”

“Here?” I asked. At her puzzled look, I gave a little shrug. “I wondered if it might feel, I don’t know, tainted? We could find another house, or build one, or—”

Nora stopped me with a finger over my lips. “No. No way. You’ve poured so much love into this house. I feel it every time I come through that door. This is home, Jake. Our home,” she added simply.

I kissed her fingers. “God, I love you.”

“Good, because I love you, too. ”

We fell silent for a long moment, waiting for our pulses to slow. I breathed deeply to draw in the sweet scent of her, like golden pears and sunshine. Everything I needed was right here, in my arms and in my heart. The wonder of it welled inside me until I was practically floating away.

When Nora finally lifted her head again, I saw a flash of familiar mischief in those pretty brown eyes.

“Besides, Sam and I picked out the most perfect bubblegum pink for the third bedroom. I’m going to get started on it next week,” she informed me, managing to keep a straight face even when my expression turned to horror.

All of my worry evaporated as I rolled us back over so I was looking down at her. “Like hell you will,” I growled.

I lowered my head gently, though, to kiss her lips, her jaw, the graceful line of her throat, then I paused to look at the tiny bandage and the white square of gauze adorning her fair skin. A shudder went through me.

“Nevermind. You can paint it any color you want, as long as you’ll stay.”

Her smile was sweet and radiant and filled with everything I loved about her. “I’m staying,” she said softly, and sealed it with a kiss.