“My family,” she said. “They put me in that place, but I got out and came to find you.”
“You sent me all those things and broke into my apartment, didn’t you, Grace?”
“Of course. I needed you to know I was there for you, my love. There, whenever you were ready to acknowledge what we have. I know you’ve been busy, but it is our time now.”
“Did you burn my cabin down?”
“Yes.” She spat out the word, her happiness changing in a heartbeat to rage. “Because she was in there. She was going to stop us from being together, Ryan!”
“She?”
“That woman. I know you slept with her and know that’s because she threw herself at you.”
“You pushed Faith into that tree?”Stay calm, he reminded himself.
“I wanted her to hurt like I was,” Grace hissed again. “She’s a whore.”
“She’s a friend,” he said gently. “You didn’t need to hurt her.”
“They said you loved her!”
“Who said that?”
“People. I heard them talking in that medical place. They said you loved each other. But I didn’t believe them. You love me!”
“You can’t keep me here forever, Grace.”
And just like that, she was happy again.
“No. We’ll marry and have babies. Our house will be yellow on the outside and have a white fence.”
He almost felt sorry for her then.
“Where do you live, Grace?”
“You know where, Ryan. We’re engaged and had a party there.”
“I forgot. Sorry.”
“You wrote that song for me and played it at our party.”
“You can’t keep me here, Grace.”
Ryan wiggled his hands and feet, but she’d used zip ties, and they were tight.
“Oh, I know. We’ll leave tomorrow; we have a long journey ahead of us.” She came to where he sat and dropped down to her knees before him. “I love you, Ryan.” She still held the gun; it was pointed at his chest now.
“This is not love, Grace. You don’t hold someone against their will if you love them.”
“You love me!”
“I do love you, but my hands are tied, so I can’t hold you.”
“Tomorrow you can hold me. I have somewhere that no one will find us ever. We’ll always be alone from this day on.”
The door opened, hitting the wall with a loud thud, and in walked Cubby holding his gun. “Step away from Ryan now.”
“No!”