Page 52 of Moonlight & Matrimony (Oak Ridge #2)

Ivy

? Hold Back The River - James Bay

“ T hanks for dinner, Evie,” I say, following her out the front door into the night. The subtle glow of the porch light illuminates our path as she guides me towards my SUV.

“Anytime, my girl. We’ve been missing y'all,” she says, a sleepy Rylin clinging to her shoulder. “Tell Luca hello for us.” I nod, unable to respond.

I didn’t know how to explain what happened between me and my husband, so I kept it to myself, explaining away his absence with some contrived story about working overtime.

I’m certain Evie and Russell saw right through my lies, and I was grateful for the reprieve when they didn’t call me on it.

I couldn’t bring myself to pack a bag and leave for the night, and I don’t know where this leaves us.

I just gathered up my daughter and drove myself here, to the safety of the ranch and the people who have been steadfast and supportive, regardless of my transgressions.

I knew I could find solace here, if only for a little while.

“Whatever it is, sweet girl, this too shall pass. Love has a way of twisting us up into knots, but you’ll figure it out,” Evelyn says, in that knowing way that tugs at my heartstrings.

I swallow thickly, holding back the tears that are threatening to overwhelm me.

I can’t bring myself to consider her words, and she doesn’t wait for a response.

“Drive safe,” she says, tapping the hood of my SUV before walking back up the porch steps with a wave.

I follow the familiar path away from the farmhouse, past the Whispering Oaks arch, before turning right onto the highway. This day has been emotionally exhausting, and I just want to get back home, though the thought of what awaits me there weighs heavily on my chest.

I replay his words in my head again. “I didn’t mean to fall for you.” I refuse to read too much into them, locking my heart away once again.

Headlights flash in my rearview as we head back towards town, a sleeping Rylin in the backseat, already snuggled up in her favorite pajamas.

When the familiar red car pulls up beside me on the two-lane highway, I all but slam on the brakes, the menacing roar of his engine sending shivers coursing through my body.

I quickly prompt my phone to call Luca, the weight of his confession all but forgotten as the sound of the phone ringing through the car fills the eerie silence.

“Hey, sweetheart. I —”

“Luca…” my voice is ragged, barely able to get out the words before Austin slams into the side of my SUV. Thankfully, it’s not enough to push us off the road.

“Ivy! What’s happening?”

“It’s Austin. We’re on our way home. I think he’s trying to run me off the road.”

“I’ve got your location. Hang up and call 911. I’m coming for you, Ivy.”

Hoping to put some distance between us, I press down on the accelerator.

But it’s futile — he’s already closing in again.

We’re approaching the overpass, Austin’s car still traveling down the wrong side of the highway, his menacing glare piercing me through the passenger window.

I follow Luca’s instructions, listening to the phone click over to the 9-1-1 operator, but before I can speak, Austin’s car slams into me harder.

The impact sends us skidding; the tires screeching against the pavement as I tug on the wheel, trying to steady us.

Everything is spinning, the road blurring into a nightmare as we’re sent into a freefall over the side of the barricade.

The car rolls — metal crunching, glass shattering, and my only thought is of Rylin.

Please let her be okay. Darkness closes in, swallowing me whole, and with the last ounce of hope, I pray for my husband to find us.

When I eventually come to, the world is sideways, my head pounding, the air thick with the smell of gasoline and earth. Rylin’s cries cut through the haze, sharp and terrified, and I force myself to focus and push through the pain.

She’s still strapped in her car seat, covered in tiny cuts from the shattered glass, but alive.

I reach for my phone with shaking hands, trying to call for help, but the screen flickers, cracked beyond repair.

Panic surges through me. What little breath I have is caught in my throat, the taste of blood filling my mouth.

That’s when I see it, Austin’s red car upside down in the creek just a few yards away.

My heart stops as I watch him stumble out through the cracked windshield, drenched in blood, his movements unsteady but fueled by something much more dangerous than pain.

My eyes snag on his right hand, on the gun clutched in his blood-soaked fist. His expression is wild with fury as his gaze locks with mine.

“Rylin, baby, we have to go,” I whisper, unbuckling her seatbelt and pulling her close.

I scramble out of the SUV, clutching my daughter to my body, shielding her from anything that might harm her.

I wade into the creek, the cold water a shock to my system.

Every step feels like I’m walking through quicksand as Austin closes in, his breaths ragged as blood pours out of the open wound in his forehead.

I don’t look back, pulling Rylin tighter as her breaths become shallow.

“NO! Rylin. You have to stay with me. Breathe for me, Bug.”

“IVY!” Luca’s voice calls from somewhere behind me, but my ears are ringing and I can’t tell where it’s coming from. Austin is getting closer, and my vision is blurring. It’s taking everything in me to keep moving, clinging to Rylin like our lives depend on it — because they do.

A gunshot rings out over the sound of rushing water as we reach the other side of the creek, my shoes lost to the current as my bare feet hit the stony bank.

I glance down at my daughter; she looks like she’s asleep and she’s still breathing, barely.

I’m clinging to the hope that she’s succumbing to fear and nothing more.

Another gunshot rings out as I trip over a root, collapsing to my knees as the darkness once again consumes me.

Luca

After hanging up with Ivy, I rush to the truck, not stopping to explain anything as I leave a stunned Paige behind on the porch.

Securing my phone to the dashboard with Ivy’s location tracker open on the screen, I follow the directions to a tee until the blinking green dot showing her location disappears entirely.

“FUCK FUCK FUCK!” I shout, slamming my hands against the steering wheel.

I continue down the path she was driving, hoping to find my girls safely parked on the side of the road, but something ominous is twisting in my gut.

The terror in her voice replays in my mind as I cling to the hope that Austin left them alone, and Ivy’s phone simply died, but I know better.

I never should have left them alone.

I should’ve seen this coming.

I couldn’t fucking protect them.

I failed.

The night is eerily silent as I approach the last place Ivy’s phone was active.

The acrid stench of gasoline and smoke fills the air when I inch towards the overpass.

My heart is in my throat as I pull off to the side of the road, scanning the scene in the creek bed below.

The barrier is smashed, debris scattered along the highway, but it’s the wreckage in the creek that has my blood running cold.

Ivy’s car is overturned, half-submerged in the shallow water, and next to it is Austin’s twisted heap of metal, a fire blazing amongst the remains.

Adrenaline kicks in, pushing me forward as I scramble down the muddy embankment, slipping on the wet grass and rocks.

I call out their names, my voice hoarse.

But there’s no answer, only the sound of rushing water and burning metal — then I hear it, Rylin’s small whimpers, followed by Ivy’s urgent voice.

Relief mixed with panic floods my body, propelling me forward. Where the fuck are they?

I round the wreckage, spotting them further up the creek. Ivy clutches a limp Rylin in her arms, her eyes wide with terror. And then I see him, bloodied and barely standing, gripping a gun aimed directly at their backs.

There’s no time to think. I launch myself at him, tackling him into the creek as the gun goes off, the deafening sound reverberating through the air.

Austin thrashes under me, hitting my shoulder with the butt of the gun.

He’s fighting like he has nothing left to lose, and I know I can’t let fear take hold.

I just keep thinking of Ivy and Rylin, the terror in Ivy’s eyes and Rylin’s limp body just a few yards up the creek, and it fuels my rage, giving me a strength I didn’t know I had.

We stumble in the water, fists flying, both of us slipping and sinking in the muddy creek bed.

Somehow, I manage to wrestle the gun from his hand as another shot rings out, sending it skidding across the rocks on the bank of the creek.

But he doesn’t stop fighting, his hands going for my throat as sirens ring out from the highway above.

I fight back with everything I have, throwing him off me and getting to my feet, my chest heaving as I stand between him and the woman I love, and the daughter I never knew I needed.

“Ivy! Go! Get out of here!” I shout, not taking my attention off Austin. “It’s too late for that, fucker,” he says. A menacing smile spreads over his face as he looks over my shoulder at something behind me, but I know I can’t let myself look. My girls.

I take several steps backward, anger pulsing in my veins. “It’s over, Austin.”

Austin staggers to his feet, fury radiating off him in waves, fists clenched at his side. He’s weak, blood streaming down his face, his movements sluggish.

“Do you really think you can win this?” I shout, forcing a smirk even though I’m dying on the inside. “Look at you — you can barely stand.”

He tries to steady himself, but there’s a flicker of doubt on his face. “You don’t know shit!” he snarls.

I take another slow step back, not breaking eye contact, and I can see the gun just out of reach.

“I know you had this beautiful life at your fucking fingertips and you threw it all away. Those girls are everything to me. You never fucking deserved them. But I guess I should be thanking you. If you hadn’t been such a piece of shit, she wouldn’t be spending her nights in my bed,” I taunt, keeping him distracted as I inch backwards.

His eyes are downright murderous as I continue my speech, nearing the place where the gun sits on the bank of the creek.

He’s too agitated by my words to realize what I'm doing as I deliver one final blow. “You’re a pathetic fucking coward,” I spit.

The insult hits its mark, and he charges at me with a roar as I drop, my hand closing around the gun.

In one fluid motion, I bring it up, the weight of it heavy in my hand as I turn to face him.

He freezes, recognition washing over him.

“Fuck you,” I growl, my voice cold and unwavering as I pull the trigger, putting an end to Ivy’s years of suffering once and for all.

The shot rings out, echoing through the creek, and Austin’s body crumples to the ground.

I stand there, breathless, the gun still raised, my hands shaking as I watch him fall.