Her eyes darted to the side. "We haven't known each other very long. And you don't… you don't need me anymore."
His gut rebelled at the words.
"And you're leaving, too." She crossed her arms and jutted her chin upward.
How could she think he was going to let her walk away? It hit him then. Because she knew him. Knew he'd walked—run—away from Sutter's Hollow. And he would walk away from Mackie's place if he could.
Nausea bubbled in his stomach.
She was studying his face, which made his gut churn worse.
"We kissed. And you panicked." Her voice was more even now.
"I didn't panic." His emerged uneven, and she raised her eyebrows. "I thought we talked about you coming to Houston with me."
"You talked about it." She shook her head. "I can't go back to a big city."
"You said you'd stay until the tractors were complete." He was really reaching now. She didn't owe him anything.
"Just let me go," she whispered.
No. The visceral response was immediate and flared through him like a firework bursting on the blackest night.
He nodded. And saw the flare of disappointment in her eyes.
"If you go," he said, "I'm going with you."
He turned and strode across the hall and into his bedroom. Grabbed the worn backpack off the floor of his closet and went to his drawers. He'd only stuffed a couple of T-shirts inside when Molly stormed into the room.
"You can't just walk away from the No Name."
He grabbed a handful of rolled up socks and stuffed them into the backpack. "Sure I can. You need someone to watch your back. And I did not panic earlier—"
"You did." She came closer and reached in his backpack to take out the rolled socks. She threw one at his chest. It bounced off.
He dropped the backpack and reached for her. She was still jumpy, so he took both her hands in his instead of pulling her close.
"Since the day we met, you've been teaching me to hold on." Maybe he had experienced a moment of doubt this morning after their powerful kiss. But the moment had passed. The desire to leave was nothing compared to the desire to stay by her side forever.
In her eyes he could see the walls she was struggling to keep between them. Then her chin dropped.
He stepped closer, close enough that he heard the soft catch in her breath when she inhaled. "He said… he said..." Her whisper was almost drowned out by the beating of his heart. "That he'd hurt anyone I got close to. What if…?"
She was shaking again, and this time she let him tug her into her chest.
She was worried about him. Trying to protect him.
He bundled her close, buried his face in her hair. "I can take care of myself." And you.
He didn't say the words aloud. Maybe she wouldn't believe him. He didn't have the best track record.
But he was determined not to fail Molly.
"At least stay until the morning," he said. "We can decide what to do then."
Molly allowed Cord to unpack her things. One glare from him, and Hound Dog had slithered to the floor in a pile of fur, entreating her with puppy-dog eyes.
She was too tired to argue anymore.
Except tired wasn't the right word.
Every noise, every snap of the old wood in the house, every creak of a floorboard sent her heart pounding.
And yet every muscle in her body felt weighted down, as if she were moving through molasses.
She'd felt the same way in Austin, afraid of every noise and so tired from being on alert every second of every day. She'd broken free to find solace here at the No Name. And then Toby had arrived, destroying her peace.
Cord closed the last drawer and tossed her duffel into the closet. He came close and put one arm around her shoulders. "You need to eat."
"I'm not…" She tuned in as she said the words, realizing that her stomach was, in fact, growling.
She hadn't noticed.
"Come downstairs, and I'll show you my culinary magic." He took her hand and gently tugged her out of the room, down the stairs, into the kitchen. Hound Dog padded after them, his nails nicking the wood floors.
There was no curtain to pull to cover the kitchen window, and Molly's heart thudded as she stood in the center of the room. Anyone—Toby—could lurk outside and be watching them.
Cord had released her hand and gone to the fridge. He emerged with one arm full of cheese, butter, a tomato, and cream cheese. He deposited all of it on the counter next to the stove and then started making some kind of grilled sandwich.
She slumped at the kitchen table.
He was taking care of her. From the beginning, he'd protected her. Maybe even tried to protect her from himself.
You've been teaching me to hold on.
He'd convinced her to stay the night. Was it the right thing to do?
Or was it her turn to be the protector? The bruises Toby left had faded, but her memory hadn't.
Somehow, Toby had tracked her to Sutter's Hollow. If he'd come this far, he would never stop.
Cord heard Molly pad to the bathroom for the third time in an hour.
It was late, all the lights in the house were off.
And she wasn't sleeping, even with Hound Dog in her room.
She was spooked.
Earlier, he'd gone out to lug the huge metal gate closed, closing off the No Name from the road. A heavy chain and padlock had secured it, rusted though they might be. Toby wasn't driving his car onto the property. If he came on foot... well, Cord had Mackie's varmint rifle loaded and ready in the corner of his room.
But Molly...
Molly needed sleep.
As her feet padded past the bedroom door he'd left open, he cleared his throat. "Mol."
He heard her catch her breath.
"C'mere."
She was a shadow in the hallway, wouldn't see him if he beckoned her.
"C'mere," he repeated softly.
He'd gone to bed fully clothed. Everything except
