“Yes, but I just realized my parents are getting old.”
“It’s hard to watch the people we love becoming ill.”
And he would know better than most, Tory thought as her father’s car turned onto the highway and disappeared from view.
The sounds of children’s voices followed by her sister’s filled the air. The rest of her houseguests came down the steps, lugging their duffel bags. Brad carried Mindy’s for her.
“Well, we’re heading out now,” Judy said as she tossed her bag into the back of the camper. “You have my cell number?”
“Yes.”
“We’re only two and a half hours away.”
“I know.”
“I’m not telling you but Slade.”
The paleness beneath his dark features emphasized how hard this would be for him to let Mindy go. Tory clasped his hand to convey her support as he watched his daughter climb into the camper.
He leaned toward her and whispered, “Except for spending the night occasionally with you, I haven’t been away from her since the accident. Three days is a long time.”
“You can always stop her from going.”
“Oh, yeah. That would be great. I’d never hear the end of that. Nope, I can do this.”
“Letting go is hard.”
“More than I thought. But she keeps telling me she’s growing up.”
As the camper headed for the highway, Mindy waved, a huge grin on her face.
“This will be good for her.”
“I’ll keep telling myself that over the next few days.” Slade scanned the area where the carnival had been. “They’re almost done cleaning up. The place will be back to normal in no time.”
Normal? What was normal? A couple of months ago sharing a house with a man would have been so far from normal for her. She knew more than most how quickly life could change.
“I’ll give the crew a hand. You need to rest, Tory. Take a nap. I know you haven’t slept well the past few nights. Things will be back to normal in the house this evening, too. I’ll take care of everything. I’ll have my things moved back to my old bedroom.”
It was hard for her to turn over the care of her ranch and animals to anyone, but she was too tired to argue. Besides, she had gotten good practice with Gus. “I think I’ll lie down for a while or I won’t make it to dinner.”
“You didn’t get enough junk food at the carnival?”
“Actually, except for the hamburger you brought me, I haven’t had anything else to eat. Too busy with the horse rides.”
“I should have helped you.”
“If I’m not mistaken, Reverend Nelson had you supervising the races. When were you gonna help me? In between the sack race or the three-legged one?”
He turned her toward the house and nudged her forward. “Go. Take a nap. I’ll fix something for dinner.”
“I know I should be worried about that comment, but I don’t have the energy to.”
As she climbed the steps, she heard him say, “I can open a can of soup and fix a sandwich. I’m not that inept in the kitchen.”
“I won’t comment on that statement.” She entered the coolness of her house and made her way toward her bedroom.
In the room her gaze fell on Slade’s pajama bottoms folded on the chair, an instant reminder of the past few nights sleeping in the same double bed as he. She’d known every time he had turned over or even moved a little. She’d listened to his soft breathing, surrounded by his scent that she’d come to know so well, and had yearned for things to be different.
She walked to the bed, its softness beckoning. As she sat, she caught a glimpse of Slade’s Palm Pilot on the nightstand. Another sign of how much he’d become a part of her life in a short time. Easing back onto the pillow, she rolled onto her side and the second she closed her eyes, sleep descended…
The suffocating pressure of his weight squeezed the breath from her. Her ears rang from the blow to her head. Pain tore through her, wave after wave. Nausea rose to clog her throat.
In the dim light, his hideous face loomed over hers. “You know you want it.” His maniacal laughter rang out, underscoring how trapped she was.
“Please. Don’t!” she whispered through swollen lips, tasting the blood that pooled in her mouth.
A scream ripped from the depth of her soul…
Tory shot up. Darkness greeted her. Where was she? She could still hear the laughing taunt echoing in her mind. Arms came about her, drawing her against a hard body. Another scream welled up in her as she shoved away from the hard body.
“Tory!”
“Get away from me!” She scrambled off the bed and across the room, gasping for oxygen.
Lamplight flooded the room, revealing Slade on the other side of the bed, his expression a mixture of shock and concern. “You had another nightmare.”
Inhale. Exhale. One breath at a time. She rubbed her temples as if that could rid her mind of the terror she’d lived with for four years, revisited each time she had her nightmare.
“Is it the same one?”
She looked up at Slade who thankfully kept his distance. Inhale. Exhale. She wasn’t being raped. She was in her house, in her bedroom.
“Tory, I want to help you.”
The soft plea in his voice unraveled the little control she was gaining over her composure. “You can’t help.” She crossed her arms over her chest, her hands sliding up and down her arms. But nothing she did warded off the chill burrowing into the marrow of her bones. She was so cold.
“What happened to you? What’s behind these nightmares?”
She shook so much, she groped for the stuffed chair she knew was behind her and sat before she collapsed. She huddled back against the cushions, seeking some warmth from the cotton fabric.
He took a step toward her. Then another.
“Please. Don’t!”
The words—the same she uttered in her nightmare—halted him. “Why won’t you go home to Dallas?”
Tears flooded her eyes as suddenly as the light had the room only moments before.
