Page 27

He is not fine. He can’t hide anything from her, but this isn’t something he can back out of.

It’s the right thing to keep her safe. Maybe the only way he can be something other than a burden.

Some part of him hopes a change of scenery will spur him into another phase of this recovery, even if it feels like scaling a mountain.

At first, it’s not as bad as he thought it would be. The weather is decent, and the road is desolate. They watch the dog race forward and ping-pong back to check on them, playing with sticks twice the size of his head.

Kara laughs at his antics and he gazes at her, struck by how much he loves that sound and how beautiful she is when it happens.

“What?” she asks curiously, having caught him staring.

“Nothing,” he lies, looking away quickly enough to give himself whiplash.

Without horses, it takes them until midday to reach Greenbriar. He’s more grateful than ever that it’s overcast to spare his eyes the bright sun.

“They’re gonna be okay with this, right?”

“They’ll let us in,” Kara replies confidently.

When the gates open, their welcome is anything but warm, judging by the guns pointed in their direction.

He bristles at the threat but manages to stay still until a stern woman appears, wearing the same scowl as he is.

It vanishes when she lays eyes on them, transforming into a brilliant smile as if he’s a resurrected ghost. Somehow, she knows exactly who he is, and that makes him wonder just how accurate Kara’s description must have been, or how much she shared with this person.

“I knew Kara would find you. I never had a doubt.”

“Actually, I didn’t find—”

“It’s good to meet you,” he cuts off Kara’s objection.

“It’s so good to meet you. You have no idea. I needed something good right about now and damn if this isn’t it. I’m Juliet. Welcome, make yourself at home here.”

He nods. “Thanks.”

“How long are you planning to stay?”

“We were hoping for a room for a while,” Kara replies. “Not sure exactly how long yet. We need somewhere quiet to lie low.”

“I can do you one better. We’ve got a whole house up for grabs. Don’t ask me what happened to the former residents, some freak accident. You don’t wanna know.”

There was security in the solitude of the blue house that they won’t find here.

Children play on the sidewalk, and people stare as they make their way through the streets. He wonders if they can see everything that’s been done to him. Is it written all over his face? Is that why they can’t look away?

This new place is fancy and clean, with its giant houses and white fences, solar panels, and manicured lawns that could convince him the dead don’t walk the earth outside these gates.

“Just a little further,” Kara whispers, not commenting on how he’s close enough to cling to her if he tries.

His resolve chips away little by little until he begins to crave her touch in a way that’s urgent and new. She’s the only safe place in a cavernous world.

Thankfully, the house isn’t far, and he slumps against the front door in relief after Juliet leaves them alone again.

Kara urges him up the steps. “Let’s find a room.”

A room. Single. Just one. The plan before was to sleep apart because he can’t be trusted, but there’s not a chance in hell he could survive that now. He’s only being selfish. He’ll regret this later. Maybe she will, too.

The master bedroom is large and comfortable. With soft sheets, satin pillows, and towels in the bathroom right off the side.

“I need to shower.” His skin crawls with the need to scrub it clean. “They got hot water?”

She only nods, and he forces himself into the bathroom, leaving the door cracked just in case.

The groan that escapes him at the feel of water hitting his skin is obscene.

Wade braces a hand on the wall and lets the blissful sting patch a few of his internal cracks.

He almost lets his hand linger on his shaft as he slicks himself with soap, but can’t when she’s right outside the door.

Especially not when he’d be thinking of her the whole time.

That would be a betrayal she hasn’t earned.

Fresh clothes wait on the counter when he’s finished. Another blue t-shirt that makes him smile. He wonders if she likes this color on him or if it’s just a coincidence. Maybe he’ll ask her one day.

“Did you save me some hot water?” She smiles from her spot on the bed. The food beside her on the table tells him she was productive while he pined for her under the spray.

“Think so.”

“I’ll take my turn then. You don’t have to wait for me to eat. Think about how you want to sleep tonight. Where you want me. I mean…where you want to sleep. I can grab another mattress from the spare, like before.”

She doesn’t give him a chance to reply before disappearing into the bathroom, leaving him to wonder how they got here.

This would never have been them before he was taken. They wouldn’t be in the same room. They wouldn’t discuss how or where to sleep. He wouldn’t be attached to her at the hip. For better or worse, this is what they’ve become now.

Wade is hungry but doesn’t eat. Tired as always, but can’t lie down. He’d been hoping the journey would be the entire battle. It isn’t, not by a long shot. He can’t appreciate the fact that he made it this far when the stress of it is catching up to him.

The children play louder outside the window, and the space of the room begins to expand until he may as well be on an island alone. He needs her. The water’s still running, so he reverts to what’s familiar. What he’d grown used to over the years, the only other thing that helps him feel safe.

He finds a spot in a walk-in closet where his back can nestle into the corner and no one can sneak up on him. The dog curls up at his feet while he leans his face against his forearms.

* * *

“Can I sit with you?”

He must have drifted for a while. “Mhmm.”

Kara joins him on the floor, freshly scrubbed and smelling like flowers. She sighs, petting the dog at their feet. “Do you regret coming here?”

“No. Had to be done. I’ll get used to it.”

“You will. I’m so proud of what you did today.”

“You mean hiding in here? If I don’t get it together soon, we’ll lose our chance to find Silas. Those sightings—”

“Those sightings won’t be the last ones. And we’re in a better spot here to get news of them. Paradise isn’t the only place with people who venture far enough to run into them. Don’t worry about Silas right now. He’ll get what’s coming to him.”

He remembers how focused she’d been when she heard they were in the area. This is his battle, not hers, yet he has no doubt she’s ready to fight it and that worries him.

“You wanna have lunch in here? We can make a picnic,” she teases, in a way that somehow doesn’t hurt.

“Nah. I’m good now. Let’s go.”

He follows her back into the daylight and they eat on the oversized bed with a movie playing in the background. Something funny that makes her laugh and has him suppressing a grin every time it happens.

She deserves to be this happy for more than a few fleeting moments. He needs to start carrying his weight in this relationship. From now on, he’ll prove to her that he can be more than just someone to take care of.