Chapter 17 Kelcie
Kelcie
As I turn up my street, my phone rings, and I pull off my glove before digging it out of my pocket.
I swipe over the screen to accept the call, then pinning the device between my ear and shoulder, I put the glove back on. “Hi, Jordan.”
“Hey. I know we spoke yesterday, but Natalie wants to know whether you’re coming to us for Christmas.”
When he called, we didn’t get to talk for long because Natalie’s parents arrived and Jordan had to go.
“Natalie or you?” I tease him.
“Fine,” he grumbles. “Me.” I chuckle while he continues to say, “I want you here for the holidays. I need my sister because I’m always outnumbered by Natalie’s family.”
“I’ll come, and I’ll bring Levi as well, so you’ll have two people on your team.”
“I didn’t get to ask. How are things between the two of you?”
“Very good.” I probably have a ridiculously happy grin plastered to my face. “I’m really happy, Jordan.”
“Then I’m happy,” my big brother replies. “That’s all I want for you.”
“I know.”
“If you’re going to drive here for Christmas, you need to have your car checked. And put on snow tires.”
“Don’t worry about my car. We’ll probably take Levi’s.”
I still haven’t replaced the battery, but I should get it done before the snow gets worse. I won’t be able to walk around town for much longer.
“Thank God,” Jordan sighs with relief. “Then it’s settled. We’ll see you and Levi on the twenty-third of December.”
“That’s two whole days before Christmas.”
“I know. Pack a bag and visit for a week. It will be nice.”
“I’ll talk to Levi and ask what he wants to do.”
“Tell him he’ll score brownie points with your older brother, whose blessing he’ll need if he ever wants to marry you.”
I laugh at Jordan while shaking my head. “Oh, you’re resorting to blackmail now?”
“Of course. Anyway, let me get back to work.”
“Have a great day.”
“You too,” Jordan replies before we end the call.
When I walk past Levi’s house, I glance at it and wonder if he’s sleeping or writing.
“Kelcie.”
Hearing Colby’s voice, my head snaps toward his parents’ place, and seeing him jog across the road, I shake my head and quickly rush up Levi’s driveway.
“Go away, Colby. I’m done talking to you and your family.”
“Wait up. I’m sorry my mom slapped you. She shouldn’t have done that.”
I quickly ring Levi’s doorbell repeatedly, praying he isn’t sleeping.
Glancing over my shoulder, I groan when Colby comes up behind me, and abandoning the doorbell, I pound against the wood. “Levi!”
I hear Lick barking like crazy.
“Come on. Don’t be like that,” Colby snaps.
He grabs hold of my shoulder and spins me around. I’m so startled, I stagger backward, but there’s no door, and strong arms wrap around me.
Oh, thank God.
Levi lifts me off my feet and sets me down inside before he turns to face Colby while he indicates for Lick to stay.
“Get off my fucking property.” There’s so much anger brimming in his voice. I’ve never heard it so deep before. “And stay the fuck away from Kelcie. She’s mine.”
Colby steps right up to Levi, and just before their chests can touch, I grab hold of Levi’s arm and pull him backward while Lick snarls, the fur on the back of her neck rising.
“We’ll see how long you can hold on to her,” Colby sneers, a vindictive expression on his face. “Just know, when Kelcie needs a shoulder to cry on, it will be mine.”
Levi takes a step forward again, but I tighten my hold on his arm.
“Dammit, Colby!” I snap, my heart beating fast because of the volatile situation. “Just go away and leave us alone!” I reach for the door and slam it shut. Moving to the window, I watch as Colby finally leaves and let out a sigh of relief. “We’re really going to have to consider moving.”
“Just say when, and I’ll buy you your farm,” Levi grumbles, still wound tight. He pets Lick’s head. “Good girl.”
Not wanting the incident with Colby to spoil my good day, I smile at Levi. “Aww. You’ll buy me a farm?” I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around his neck. “Can I have cows?”
“Yes.”
“And chickens?”
He nods, the tension draining from his face.
“And baby goats?”
He nods again, then leans down and presses a kiss to my mouth. “You can have anything you want, my muse.”
“Talking about muse. Did I interrupt your writing?”
He instantly looks upset again. “You didn’t. That asshole did.”
I place my hand on Levi’s jaw and give him the sweetest smile I can conjure on my face. “Thank you for coming to my rescue.”
“I’ll always come to your rescue.”
“How can I thank you?” I ask, rubbing my hands over his shoulders and down his chest.
God, I’ll never get enough of touching him.
“You can cuddle with me and sleep here.”
“Oooh, I like the sound of that.”
Levi chuckles as he pulls away and walks to the kitchen, where he lets Lick go out quickly.
I come up behind Levi, and wrapping my arms around his waist, I rest my cheek against his back. He covers my hands with one of his.
She’s mine.
Remembering his words, I grin like an idiot.
Levi
After Lick comes back inside, I shut the door and lock it.
Kelcie lets go of me, and I take her hand, leading her to my bedroom.
While I kick off my shoes, she shrugs out of her coat and removes her gloves and beanie.
“Jordan called and invited us to spend the holidays with him. Are you okay with that?”
It will probably be overwhelming for me, but I can’t refuse Kelcie a single damn thing. “Sure.”
“He also wants us to visit for a week. He said you would score some serious brownie points with him.”
Shit. A whole week.
“What about Lick?” I ask, not willing to put her in a shelter.
“She comes with us,” Kelcie replies while we climb into bed.
Lick jumps up to find a comfortable spot by Kelcie’s feet while I pull my woman into my arms.
“I guess we’re spending a week at your brother’s, then.”
“Thank you,” she murmurs while snuggling into my side.
When she’s quiet, my thoughts turn to Colby, and I worry that he’s not going to back down.
“This morning I decided to scale down my visits to the cemetery to once a week.”
Surprised at the news, I glance at Kelcie. “Yeah? And you’re okay with that?”
“I can’t live in the past while trying to build a future with you.”
The corner of my mouth lifts. “I know it must’ve been difficult for you to do. I’m proud of you.”
Kelcie falls silent again, and just as I think she’s asleep, she asks, “Memory for a memory?”
“Sure.”
She begins to draw random patterns on my chest.
“Sage came home for a long weekend. We were so happy because she’d been busy with a trial and wasn’t able to visit for months. I’d just finished the biggest order I’ve ever received, and we had pizza for dinner to celebrate.”
Realizing that she’s sharing a memory from the night of the attack, I hold her tighter and brush my hand up and down her back.
“Sage and I were going to watch a movie, but I had to dry my hair, or it would be all poofy and unmanageable.” She pauses for a long while, and when she continues, her voice is hoarse.
“I was blow-drying my hair when I heard a scream. It all happened so fast, but at the same time, it feels like the longest night of my life.”
I press a kiss to her temple and keep caressing her back.
“When I ran out of my room, one of the men was dragging Mom by her hair.” She clears her throat. “Wesley Porter. Such a plain name for such an evil person.”
Every muscle in my body tenses, and I clench my jaw.
“I tried to stop him, but he was so much stronger than me. He hit me before shoving me down the stairs. In the living room . . . one of the men was kicking Sage. I think he’d already killed her, because she was so pale and had a big gash on the side of her head.”
Her voice breaks, and I almost tell her to stop. To not put herself through the horror again, but by some miracle, I keep quiet.
“The third bastard was stabbing Dad.” Her voice cracks. “God, Levi.” A sob bursts from her, and I turn onto my side, trying to engulf her smaller frame with my body.
Her voice is muffled against my chest as she somehow finds the courage to go on.
“I was stuck in a horrified trance while that evil monster kept plunging a knife into Dad’s stomach and chest. He was so aggressive.
So deranged.” Kelcie begins to cry heartbreakingly, and her words are strained.
“I heard a sound as if someone was choking, and when I looked at the top of the stairs, Mom . . . my mom . . .”
Kelcie loses control of her emotions and weeps in my arms, and I feel so fucking helpless, not being able to take the gruesome memories from her.
I’m well acquainted with hatred, but after hearing what those bastards did to her family, I wish I could reach into their jail cells and tear them apart.
Kelcie sounds broken when she manages to continue. “He slit my mom’s throat, and I watched as she bled out. Dad told me to run.”
Her breaths speed up until they’re coming too fast, and I pull back so I can see her face. “Take a break and focus on your breathing, baby. Ten . . . nine . . . eight . . .”
I go through the same exercise she did with me last night, and when she calms down, I wipe the tears from her cheeks.
“I ran,” she whispers.
I see the guilt in her eyes and quickly shake my head. “You had to run.”
“I ran and left my parents and sister behind. I didn’t even make it to the front door when one of them shot me in the back. That’s the last thing I remember. The sheriff told me I stumbled out onto the porch just as he got to the house. Our neighbors heard our screams and called for help.”
The guilt doesn’t ease from her face, and it has me gripping hold of her chin and forcing her to look at me. “There is nothing you could’ve done to save your family. Don’t for one second feel guilty.”
Because that’s on me. If I had done things differently in the past, I could’ve changed the trajectory of our lives and maybe prevented that night from happening altogether.
Her face crumples under the weight of her grief and trauma.
“Those monsters killed my family because my dad was the mayor, and he was clamping down on crime and drugs. They didn’t like it one bit and thought if they could get rid of Dad, they could go on doing whatever they wanted.
” She shakes her head. “They were so high on drugs, two of them barely remembered what they did. Trent Crawford and Dustin Baker. But Wesley Porter . . . he remembered every detail and sat in that courtroom looking proud of what he did.” Her eyes meet mine again.
“His parents were even there to support their murderous son. His father had the same evil look on his face. It terrified me.”
Jesus Christ.
I close my eyes, and squashing Kelcie to me, I breathe through the destructive mess I feel.
We lie for the longest time, clinging to each other as the horrors of that night hang like a dark cloud over us.