Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SARAH
I park at the curb in front of the chapel and discover that I must have beat Luna, since mine is the only car here.
I hope it’s a secret room, or maybe even a vault, or a secret burial place in the basement that June wants to show us. Sure, that’s all dramatic and something out of a movie, but it could happen.
I stop to admire the hydrangeas that are starting to bloom out front, on either side of the steps that lead to the heavy wooden doors. The flowers around this building have always been beautiful for as long as I can remember. The ladies of the church tended to them, and it showed.
It still does, as the perennials come back every year and brighten up the whole block in bold blue and pink, red and purple.
With one last sniff of a bloom, I climb the stairs and turn the knob, finding it unlocked, and then I walk inside.
It’s chilly in the chapel, so I tug my sweater around me a little tighter.
“June?” I move toward the two lone pews near the front of the sanctuary where the altar once lived. “June, I’m here!”
Huh, where is she? Maybe the basement?
I walk toward the door that leads downstairs, but before I can reach for the doorknob, something hits me from behind, and I feel myself falling.
And then I feel nothing at all.
My head is screaming. I try to reach up to touch the back of my head, but my hands are tied.
I open my eyes and find that I’m sitting in a chair, in the middle of the mostly empty chapel, and my hands are tied, palms up, to the arms of the chair.
“June?”
“Don’t be silly.”
My head whips around in time to see a woman, a very pregnant woman, walk across the room toward me.
“You’re awake.”
“ You ?” I shake my head in disbelief. “From the campground.”
“I fucking hate to camp,” she says, and then jerks a shoulder. “But, we do what we have to do, I guess. I’m Bridget, by the way. We never exchanged names.”
“I don’t know you, Bridget.”
“No, you don’t. But I know you. ” Her eyes go cold, and her lip turns up in a snarl. “You’ve ruined my entire fucking life.”
“ Me ?” I shake my head again. “I don’t see how that’s possible, since I don’t know you. Are you the one who broke into my house?”
“If you’d just been there, we wouldn’t have gotten this far,” she says impatiently. “Everything could have been resolved so quickly, but no, you just had to make it difficult at every turn. So really, we’re here because of you.”
“I see.” Except, I don’t see at all, and my heart is racing, pumping blood so loudly in my ears, I can hardly concentrate on what she’s saying. “How did I hurt you, Bridget?”
Keep her talking. I just have to keep her talking.
I wish I could reach my phone so I could alert Tanner. He won’t be expecting me home for a long time, so he’d have to reason to come find me.
My God, no one knows what’s happening right now.
Don’t panic, Sarah.
“I tried,” she begins and waddles around the chapel, rubbing her hands over her huge belly. “I really, really tried to be everything that he needed me to be. I still try. I’m submissive, I follow orders, I’m demure and kind, and I fuck him whenever he wants me to. I’ve done everything , but no matter what I try, it’s never enough.”
She turns to me now and bares her teeth in frustration.
“Because I’m not you. ”
“What?” But it all starts to click into place. “Wait, are you Anthony’s new wife?”
“He’s mine ,” she shrieks. “But he throws you in my face constantly. If you were more like Sarah, I’d love you more. Do it like Sarah. Talk like Sarah. Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. For fuck’s sake, I’m sick of hearing about you.”
There’s a thump behind us, and Bridget’s head whips around, and right before my very eyes, her demeanor completely changes.
She shrinks in on herself, casts her eyes to the floor, and seems to…wither.
“You haven’t finished.” He tsks and walks around the chair so I can see him.
He hasn’t changed in the months since I last saw him. Anthony was always handsome, with a full head of dark hair and a tall, lean body. And when he smiles, his teeth are white and straight.
But the smile doesn’t reach his eyes, and I know that there’s no good that lives in him.
“Well, hello, darling.”
“I’m not your darling.”
He shakes his head. “You disappoint me, Sarah.”
“How is that possible? I left with literally nothing but my clothes. You got what you wanted, Anthony. A new young woman and no ties to me.”
“You didn’t beg.”
It’s said so simply, so effortlessly, that all I can do is blink at him.
“What?”
“You.” He walks closer. “Didn’t.” Gets down in my face. “Beg.”
“For what?”
“Me.”
He backs up and walks away, circling the space.
“You didn’t play the game, Sarah, and that really disappointed me. It really hurt me.”
“Right.” I roll my eyes, but my stomach is in knots. “I couldn’t hurt you. You didn’t give a shit about me.”
“He loves you!” Bridget yells, and her bottom lip trembles as her eyes fill with tears. Her hands are fisted at her sides, and her chest heaves. “I’ve done everything I can to be you. I even dyed my hair blonde. He always tells me that if I could just be more like you , he’d love me.”
I glance Anthony’s way, but he says nothing. Just watches me.
Why did I ever think this creepy-ass jerk was hot?
“I’ve done everything,” she says again. “Everything you asked me to. I broke into her house. I followed her to the campground. I even burned down her apartment.”
I choke on my own spit as I gasp. “You burned down the garage?”
She nods.
“And you’ve been following me.”
“Yes,” she says immediately, nodding her head almost manically. “Yes, I’ve never been far away. I go through your things all the time. I had to get good at disarming security, but I’m a pro at it now.”
“The flat tire,” I whisper. “No gas in my car. Even the ChapStick.”
“All of those,” she says, still nodding. “And more you haven’t found yet. All for you.”
She turns to Anthony again and hurries to him, throwing herself in his arms.
“Please love me. Please love us. I’m having your baby, and we just want you to love us.”
“My God,” I say, watching her eyes go mad as she stares up at Anthony. “He’s driven you mad.”
She whirls around, her face full of fury as she rushes over and slaps me across the face.
“I’m not CRAZY!”
“Bridget.” His voice is firm, leaving no room for argument.
“Sorry,” she says, and casts her eyes down again. “What do you want me to do to prove that you should love me?”
“You know what you have to do. What I’ve wanted you to do for months. You’ve been too afraid, wasted time. The campground was the ideal place. It would have been so easy to push her off a cliff, but you failed.”
Bridget turns her eyes to mine, and they fill with tears again. I can see a war raging inside of her, and for the first time, I almost feel sorry for her.
“You want her to kill me.”
“Well, of course.”
“Because I didn’t play the game of begging you not to divorce me.”
“No one leaves me, Sarah. We had a contract, in the eyes of the law. You’re not allowed to just walk out.”
“You kicked me out because you’d found her and wanted to marry her.”
“That’s so sweet,” Bridget whispers.
“Yes, well, you didn’t try very hard to fight it, did you?” he asks me, ignoring his pregnant wife.
“When I told you I’d contest the prenup, you punched me in the face.”
“I don’t give a fuck about the goddamn prenup!” His face is purple as he yells now, just as wild as Bridget. They’re both absolutely nuts. “You were supposed to want me !”
“Well, I don’t. I gave you what you wanted, and I left so you could make a life with her.”
I nod toward the woman who’s weeping now.
“You have what you wanted. A much younger woman who wants to give you a family.”
He’s shaking with anger, his body vibrating with the fury rolling through him.
And I know that unless a miracle happens, I’m not going to make it out of here alive. I want to panic. I want to beg and cry and scream.
God, I want to see Tanner, to tell him how much I love him.
“You know what you have to do to make me love you,” Anthony says to Bridget and takes a deep breath, calming himself down. “Make it look like an accident. Or like she did it herself.”
Tears continue to run down Bridget’s face as she pulls a butcher knife out of her bag and walks to me.
I’m sorry , she mouths.
“Don’t do this.” I’m not begging. I’m not whining. It’s a calm statement, but Bridget just shakes her head and holds my hand down while the blade hovers over my wrist. “He won’t love you, even if you do this. You’ll be charged with murder, and he’ll go free. You’re just doing his dirty work, Bridget.”
“No,” she says and sniffs. “It’s the only way.”
The blade touches my skin but doesn’t pierce it, which is a miracle, because her hand is shaking violently.
“For fuck’s sake,” Anthony says as he stomps over and wraps his hand around Bridget’s wrist, and pushes.
The pain is swift and sharp as the blade slices into my wrist, through the tender flesh and into tendons and ligaments…and veins.
When the blade swipes out, the blood starts. I swallow hard and strain against the restraints.
“Oh, God,” Bridget murmurs. “I hate the sight of blood.”
“You’ll finish it, or I’ll do the same to you and that brat growing inside of you.”
Bridget’s eyes flash and then fill with hurt as she turns to me.
“Told you,” I whisper, feeling queasy. I’m not a fan of blood either, and it’s running in a small river down my hand.
“DO IT!” Anthony screams, and Bridget jumps, then walks to my other side.
Just when I think I’m about to pass out, people pour into the room from both the front and the rear entrances.
“Freeze!” I think that’s Callum’s voice. “Drop the weapon, and put your hands on your heads!”
“Baby.” Tanner’s suddenly at my side, his hands all over me. “Where are you hurt? What—oh, God. She’s cut! We need an ambulance.”
“Wrist,” I whisper, feeling funny.
“You’re okay,” he assures me and pushes something over the wound. It hurts, but I know it’ll stop the bleeding.
I look over to see Anthony on his stomach on the ground, glaring up at me. Bridget is sitting on a pew, her hands tied behind her back, and she continues to cry.
“Feel bad for her,” I say, as Tanner wraps me in his arms. “He’s ruined her life.”
“Yeah, well, she almost killed you, so I’m just going to be angry for a while.” He kisses my face, my lips, as someone unties me from the chair.
“How bad?”
“Scott?”
“Right here,” he says and tosses the ropes aside. “How bad is it?”
“One wrist slashed,” Tanner says briskly. “And she’s in shock. Probably from the whole incident more than the cut.”
“Cut kinda hurts,” I remind him.
“Sarah!”
June and Luna are here but are asked to go outside by the cops while they secure the scene.
“Want out of here.”
“Okay, baby.” Tanner kisses my forehead, and I notice for the first time that his hands are shaking.
“You okay?” I ask him.
“No. No, I’m not okay. But I will be.”
“How did you know?”
“She okay?” I glance up at the voice and see Belle standing next to us.
“You found something.”
She grins at me and nods. “Yeah, I did. And it’s a good thing because it looks like this party was about to go south real fast.”
“What did you find?”
“Baby, we can talk about this later.”
“I want to know.”
Belle squats in front of me and licks her lips. “Bridget’s parents reported her as a missing person a couple of months ago. There’s been no trace of her until last week when she used her debit card to rent a camper.”
I feel my eyes go wide. “How did they miss that?”
“Yeah, someone dropped the ball. I found she used her card a couple of times after that, once here in Huckleberry Bay. Knowing her connection to your ex, the puzzle fit together.”
“Belle called me and asked if you were with me, and when I said no, we raced over here,” Tanner finishes. “And her hunch was right.”
“Thank God.”
Scott arrives with a gurney. “We’re taking you to the hospital. You’re going to need stitches for that, and I want your head checked for concussion.”
“I’m not arguing.”
The guys help me up onto the gurney, but before they wheel me out, I stop them.
“Take me to her.”
“Sarah,” Scott begins, but I stop him.
“Take me to her.”
He wheels me over, and Bridget looks up at me. She looks pitiful and sad. And lost.
“There’s help, you know. He really messed with your head, but it doesn’t always have to be like that. You and your baby can get help and be safe.”
She swallows hard and nods. “Yeah, well, I’m probably going to jail, anyway.”
“Maybe. But you can turn this around. Just stay far away from me.”
She nods again. “I won’t be back.”
“Do you want to talk to the asshole motherfucker?” Scott asks.
“Absolutely not.”
“It’s good to be home.” I cuddle Petunia close and kiss her soft cheek. As soon as I walked through the door, she came racing to meet me. “I was only gone one night, but you’d think it was a year, as far as she’s concerned.”
“She knew something wasn’t right,” Tanner replies and scratches the cat behind her ears. “What do you say to a walk on the beach? Are you up for it?”
“It’s a cut on my arm, Tanner, not a stab to the heart. I don’t even have a concussion. Let’s do it.”
It’s a sunny spring day, and the wind is surprisingly light when we get down to the sand and kick off our shoes. Hand in hand, we set off toward the water to walk by the shoreline.
“It’s wild how much can happen in the span of twenty-four hours.” I blow out a breath and then take in a deep one, filling my lungs with the salty air that always seems to revitalize me. “I’m really, really glad it’s over, Tanner.”
“Me, too.” He hugs me to him, cradling me against his chest, and kisses the top of my hair. He didn’t leave me at the hospital for a minute. He even slept in the chair next to the bed and was glued to my side until they released me this morning. “I was scared out of my mind when we rushed into that chapel.”
“I’m surprised the police let you in,” I admit. “They don’t usually do that on cop shows.”
“I didn’t really give them a choice. And I needed to get to you.”
I look up at him and see the worry, the love, in his eyes.
“I’m okay. I really am. I’m pressing charges, and June’s pressing charges, and I don’t think either of them will be bothering me again. Oh, Wolfe and Zeke are also pressing arson charges.”
Suddenly, Tanner takes my hand, wraps his other arm around my back, and begins to lead me in a slow dance here on the sand, with the water singing around us.
“I was so worried that I wouldn’t get to do this again,” he says with a tender smile. “That I wouldn’t get to do a lot of things with you.”
“You’re not getting rid of me that easy.”
“I don’t ever want to get rid of you. In fact…”
He stops swaying and then kneels.
Tanner pulls a ring out of his pocket and holds it up to me.
“I’ve waited a very long time to do this. I think we both had to live through a whole different life to circle back around to each other, and I’m glad we did. It gave us both insight into what really matters and what we want out of life.
“For me, that’s you. I want to be by your side for the rest of my days, rooting for you, building each other up. I want to plant our own roots here in Huckleberry Bay with a family. I want a life with you, Sarah. I know, in my heart, that no matter how long I have with you, it’ll never be enough, but I want every single minute of it. I’m greedy like that.”
I don’t even bother to brush away the happy tears falling down my cheeks.
“Will you marry me, pretty girl?”
I laugh and nod, and then he slips the gorgeous diamond onto my finger and stands to hug me close.
“Of course, I’ll marry you.”
He kisses me, slow and easy, tickling my lips with his. And when he pulls back, he cups my cheeks in his hands.
“I love you so much, I ache with it, Sarah.”
“I love you, too.” I tip my forehead to his and hold on tight. “Now, let’s go get started on those roots.”
He grins and kisses me softly, then more urgently.
“As you wish.”