“Will you hold me?” I moved over slightly in the bed. He nodded and lay down next to me, gently pulling me into his arms.
“Am I hurting you?”
I shook my head. “No. If I close my eyes, I can pretend we’re home in your bed and none of this is happening.” He tightened his hold on me.
“We’ll be back there before you know it. I promise. This is the start of the rest of our lives, Quinn.”
I smiled. “The rest of our lives, where we end up getting married and having lots of babies? I might have been out of it after I got shot but I could still hear what you were saying.”
Sitting up he turned to face me. “I meant every word. I never knew I wanted any of that before I met you. You made me want more, Quinn. You made me want everything.”
“I love you,” I told him, my face lighting up in a smile, and this time I barely even noticed the pain. I was too happy to care.
“I love you too, Quinn Montgomery. You know, I never used to be a big believer in fate, but you changed that the day you stumbled into my life. I think it was fate that brought you to Marble Falls. I was destined to find you and make you mine.”
He was right, fate had brought me to Marble Falls that day, but it was also down to Evan. I know I should hate him for what he’d done, and how he’d treated me. A huge part of me did. But if he hadn’t forced me to run away, I’d still be living in Westwood and not lying in the arms of the man I loved, planning our future. I’m sure life would throw us the odd curve ball along the way, and that was fine, because whatever it took, we’d get through it as long as we were together.
Quinn
3 months later
Squeezing Brody’s hand, I leaned forward and peered through the window of the plane as we came in to land at LaGuardia airport. I’d never flown before, and despite being terrified when we boarded, I’d loved every minute of it.
It had been just over three months since I’d been discharged from the hospital. My shoulder still ached from time to time, but other than that I’d been lucky and made a full recovery. Everyone had been amazing, and no one would let me lift a finger, fussing around me and making sure I took my pain meds. As grateful as I was for everyone’s concern, I’d been itching to get back to normal, wanting to put all that had happened behind me. Knowing I couldn’t quite do that yet, I sighed.
“Are you okay, Quinn, you’ve gone quiet?” Turning to him I smiled. It was nice to be able to finally smile without my cheek feeling like it was going to explode.
“I’m fine. I was just lost in thought.” I leaned over and brushed my lips against his.
“Are you sure you want to do this, sweetheart? I was more than happy to come on my own.”
“I know, but I needed to come.” He nodded and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side.
An hour later and we were pulling up outside my old home in Westwood. After Evan had died, the rental payments on the house had stopped. The news of what Evan had done made the national press, and the old lady who we’d rented off for years had contacted me via the police. She’d told me she was happy to wait until I was well enough to come and sort through all of my mom’s and my belongings. It had taken until now for me to face coming back. Brody knew I was struggling and had insisted on paying the rental until we were able to come.
Sitting in the car, nerves bubbled in my stomach and I felt Brody reach across and place his hand on my knee. “You okay?”
“It looks so different from the last time I was here.” The garden had been well maintained and brightly colored flowers filled the borders. The garden had always been something my mom had loved doing. After she’d died, Evan hadn’t bothered, and the garden had become overgrown and messy. “It’s like it was when my mom was alive. She loved the flowers.” I smiled sadly. I still missed her terribly and I knew I always would.
“Are you ready to go in?” he asked, squeezing my knee. I turned to him and nodded. Reaching for the door handle, I slowly climbed out of the car. Standing at the end of the driveway, I watched as he came to stand at my side, his hand reaching for mine. Walking down the driveway together, we came to a stop at the front door. I didn’t have a key, but the landlady had hidden one under a plant pot for us. Kneeling down, I lifted the pot and picked the key up. Taking a deep breath, I unlocked the door and walked inside. The house looked like it always had. It was nothing special, just a small family home, but up until things had gone to shit, there had been so much love within these walls and those were the memories I wanted to take away with me.
Glancing around there was no evidence that three people had been killed here, and for that I was grateful. Pictures of me as a child hung on the walls and I turned around to see Brody smiling as he looked at one of them. “You were a cute baby, Quinn.” He pointed at one of the pictures. “Is this your mom when she was younger?” He gestured to another picture where I was sitting on my mom’s lap. I nodded.
“Yeah, I was about two there,” I told him with a smile. “Mom was only a year older than me when that was taken. It’s hard to believe she was a single parent at my age.”
“She was beautiful. She looks just like you.”
“As I got older, people would often mistake us for sisters. She used to think it was hilarious.” I burst out laughing. “Obviously she’d go along with it, pretending for hours after that we were sisters!”
“I wish I could have met her.” He snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me against him.
“Me too. She would have loved you.” I snuggled into his side and let him hold me for a few minutes before pulling out of his embrace. “Come on. Let’s get this over with. As happy as I was here, Evan tainted that. It’s no longer home; home is with you on the ranch.” He smiled widely at me and kissed my head.
“I love you,” he mumbled against my hair.
“I love you too.”
Four hours later and I’d cleared the house of everything I wanted to keep. All of my mom’s clothes, I was donating to charity. Everything of Evan’s was being burned. I couldn’t imagine anyone would want anything that belonged to him. It was better that it was gotten rid of. Other than pictures and a few keepsakes, I wasn’t taking much. My memories were safely locked away in my heart. I didn’t need a load of stuff to remember her. I would always remember her. A house clearout company was coming in to deal with everything I didn’t want. I was happy to let them take everything that was left.