Her vision blurred and she shook her head. “No…” she mumbled. “N-No…”
She didn’t know who she was talking to, only that she had needed to get away from him, but he’d been too strong.
Her legs trembled so hard they threatened to collapse beneath her and everything inside her quivered with her need to escape. She inhaled and stepped backward, and then she screamed. Her shaky knees gave out and she tumbled to the floor as another scream ripped through her throat and then another. She began to crawl toward the closest exit, which happened to be the sliding glass door. If she could get to the backyard, she could run and get lost in the rolling hills of white. It didn’t matter that the snow would inhibit her flight or that she’d freeze before she could reach her closest neighbor. All she could think about was getting away.
A hand touched her back and she screamed again. Spinning around with her fist raised, she swung at the man who tried to stop her. On his knees beside her, he reared back and she missed his chin by several inches, but the movement threw her off balance and she tumbled into his lap, sobbing.
“Addie? Please, sweetie, tell me what’s wrong. What can I do?”
She looked up. Cade? It was Cade. He was here. He had risked his life to save her and had brought her home.
“I c-can’t,” she stuttered through her tears, scared and infuriated by her weakness. “I can’t stay h-here. He…He would’ve—” She couldn’t make herself say what JR would’ve done.
Understanding dawned on Cade’s face and his shoulders slumped before he pulled her against his chest. “I know, sweetie,” he murmured into her hair as he held her close and he rocked her gently. “He can’t hurt you again. No one will ever hurt you again. I promise you that.”
She nodded against his neck, squeezing him tighter, never wanting to let go. A moment later, he pushed her back, and with his hands on her shoulders, he held her steady.
“You do believe me, don’t you?” he asked, his clear blue eyes filled with hope, trepidation, and…something warm and comforting. “Addie, please talk to me.”
“I believe you,” she whispered, the words barely getting through her achy throat. “But does that mean…?”
He cupped her face in his calloused hands. “Yes,” he rasped and her heart fluttered. “Wherever you go, I’m going with you.” The smile that lit his face warmed her as he brushed at the tears on her cheeks. “You’re stuck with me now.” His eyes turned serious. “Because I need you, Addie. I couldn’t leave you if I wanted to.”
She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “But you…did.”
He lowered his chin, a crestfallen expression on his face. Then he straightened and met her questioning gaze. “I never made it out of town. I couldn’t leave you. I was coming back, but when I found you gone, I feared the worst. That I’d…”
A frown tugged at her brows as she tried to understand the panicked look in his eyes. “What? That you’d what?”
Lips parted, he inhaled and released a stuttering breath before his jaws clamped together again, and he swallowed. “I was afraid I’d never get to tell you that I…I love you, Addie. More than I’ve ever cared for anyone or anything in my life. I want to be with you. I want to love you, take care of you, and make a life with you.”
Tears and terror forgotten, the fuzzy warmth of hope filled her chest, but she shook her head. “But…what about your home? What about Montana?”
He smiled. “I told you. You are my home, Addie. Whether here or in Montana or anywhere else, as long as I’m with you, I am home.”
Everything seemed to stop. Addie couldn’t believe her ears. He loved her! Falling forward, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Then let’s get out of here and find our home…together.”
His body stilled and he pulled back. “But I thought you wanted to stay here?”
She shook her head and a tear slid down her cheek. “Not now. Not when I see him and everything he did around every corner. I can’t sell, not yet, but I’ll figure something out. I just can’t stay in this house anymore.”
Cade tucked a few strands of her long hair behind her ear and smiled. “We’ll figure something out.”
Addie returned his soft smile, feeling the warmth and security of his love wash over her, filling her with more happiness than she’d ever known. “Yes, we will.”
Chapter 37
The clock on the dashboard read half past two in the afternoon as Addie gazed out at the snow-covered landscape that surrounded the gas station just off the highway. It was only a few days until Christmas, and they were starting a new life together in this winter wonderland of tall evergreens and taller mountains all covered in a thick blanket of fluffy white. It was gorgeous, but apprehension still made her muscles twitch.
This was a big change, and not only because it was a new state she had never been to before. They were moving into Cade’s old home with his estranged brother, while living as a couple. Not that she was worried about Cord—they’d gotten on well when he came to visit. No, she worried about having to share a small space. No privacy, everyone in each other’s way. She didn’t want there to be any more family disputes, but she wasn’t sure how to avoid them. She’d never had to deal with anyone but her boyfriend in a living situation before, and she wasn’t sure what to expect.
Her knee bounced incessantly as thoughts tumbled through her mind while she waited for Cade to return from paying for the fuel and, no matter what she did or told herself, she
