Chapter Forty-one
Kenna
I wake for the third day in a row feeling a huge burden has been lifted.
He knows everything there is to know about me, including the fact that I’m giving up the money, yet he still loves me.
He still worshiped my body until the wee hours of the morning before he left, hesitantly but confidently, knowing I’ll still be here when he returns.
Taking a bite of pancakes, I wonder just how long we’ll have to be here.
A few weeks at the very least. Monday, I got the ball rolling on selling the annuity, but it can’t happen overnight.
I have to find a reputable buyer, get quotes, sign an agreement, and get court approval.
After all that, I have to receive the money and then get rid of it.
Then, and only then, will I feel I can fully breathe again.
It still baffles me that Carter didn’t try to talk me out of it. Could it be that he understands how me wanting to keep him safe might be just as important as him wanting to keep me safe?
I can’t wait for the day when I don’t have to worry about stepping outside the house. About leaving Amelia with a sitter. About looking over my shoulder everywhere I go. About wondering how much danger those I love are in, all because of the bad choices I made in the past.
Cyrus is going to go ballistic when he finds out.
I plan to make a copy of the legal papers of the annuity sale and the donation and courier them straight to his office.
After that, coming after me or Amelia will do him no good.
The only thing of value I’ll have left is the car, which I plan to sell and pay our expenses until I find a job—something I plan on talking to Allie about if they haven’t yet filled the receptionist position.
I’m positive Cyrus will go right to my dad, though. Maybe even barge in during church services, march to the front of the sanctuary and try to smear my name, and thereby my dad’s, through the mud.
That gives me weeks to get to my father first and warn him.
I’m not na?ve. Dad might literally hate me for what I’ve done.
But he’s my dad, and no matter what, I still love him.
Maybe I shouldn’t. He’s failed me, just like every other man has before Carter.
But he’s the only flesh and blood Amelia and I have left.
Isn’t that worth trying to salvage? And with Carter by my side, at least I have the guts to try.
Every night after Amelia goes to bed, Carter and I spend hours on the phone. Talking. Planning. Dreaming.
When this is all settled, he wants me back in his basement, at least until I get a job and get back on my feet.
Actually, he wants me out of his basement and upstairs in his bed.
He wants Amelia in the third bedroom they currently use as a catch-all area to keep the rest of the house clean so Christian can easily maneuver on his crutches.
I love him, I do. But after less than six weeks of knowing him, it seems warp speed to move in with him. Even though it’s exactly what I want too. But I need to think of Amelia.
Carter just found out everything there is to know about me. There are no more secrets. No unanswered questions. We need to navigate this new dynamic in our relationship. Figure out how things will be when I’m not a woman on the run. Then maybe we can talk about moving forward.
My phone rings and Carter’s face appears on the screen, making me smile.
“Good morning,” I practically sing upon answering.
“Indeed it is. I hope you don’t have any plans for today.”
“Oh, I have big plans. I’m going to dust the antlers. Replace the batteries in the singing fish since Amelia has worn them out. And scour every online store to find a bedspread that doesn’t make me cringe every time I crawl underneath it.”
He laughs loudly. Sigh. I love his laugh.
“Sorry, sweetheart, you’re going to have to cancel all that. I need you and Amelia to get in the car and come back to Cal Creek as soon as possible.”
I stiffen. Has Cyrus found out about this place?
No—he was laughing. That can’t be it.
“I don’t understand.”
“You will when you get here. I’d come to you, but there’s someone I need you to meet here in town.”
I narrow my eyes. “What are you up to?”
“Kenna, just do it. Please? Leave everything. We’ll go back for your things later. Call me when you’re close and I’ll meet you at the house.”
“The house? Are you sure it’s safe?”
He snorts. “Babe, if you don’t know by now that keeping you safe is my number one priority, then you haven’t been paying attention.”
Babe? I’m not even used to sweetheart yet. No one has ever used endearments on me. The way they flow out of him seems so natural. So honest. So… sexy. I think I could get used to it.
“Kenna?”
“Yeah, okay. If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure. Drive safely. And when you get here… Well, let’s just say our lives will change forever.”
“How is that—”
“Kenna, trust me. Please.”
“Okay.”
“Gotta go. See you soon.”
The line goes dead and a dozen questions swirl in my mind. Why did he say we’ll come back for our things? How can he ensure our safety? What if Cyrus is lurking around, waiting for me to show up? How can our lives change forever? Who is it he wants me to meet?
As I clear our breakfast dishes, insidious doubts start to creep in.
Have I misjudged Carter? Has he been working these past few days to figure out how to get me to keep the money?
Maybe he’s found a lawyer and that’s who will be at his house.
Am I about to see his true colors? Was he just being patronizing, biding his time on Saturday when he told me he didn’t care about the money?
“Mommy, can you play a game with me?” Amelia says.
“Later, sweetie. We have to go back to Calloway Creek for a little while.”
She claps and dances around. “Yay!”
“Hold on. Don’t get too excited. It’s just for a meeting. We’re coming straight back after.”
Or maybe straight to Florida.
“Will Christian and Bug be there?”
I shake my head. “They’ll be in school. But you’ll get to see Carter.”
She shrugs a bit unhappily. She sure has missed Christian and Bug this past week. “Okay.”
~ ~ ~
Despite Carter assuring me we’d be safe, I pull into his driveway with every nerve ending prickling. Is Cyrus out there somewhere? Watching? Waiting?
There’s an unfamiliar Lexus SUV parked here, and I look around, hesitant to even exit my car.
I hear Carter’s voice in my head. “Kenna, trust me. Please.” I want to. I want to so badly. But somewhere, deep down in my insecurities, I fear I’m about to be disappointed by yet another man.
The front door swings open, and Carter smiles when he sees my car. He prances down the front steps and heads right for the back door. “Hey, pumpkin,” he says, smiling from ear-to-ear as he gets Amelia out of her car seat.
Amelia hugs him so tightly, you’d think it’s been weeks since she’s seen him, not just days.
I see movement along the far side of the driveway and my heart races. Is now the time Cyrus is going to snap and do something crazy? Then I see it’s just Allie, and I breathe.
“Hey, you two,” she says as I get out of the car. She turns to Amelia. “I heard you were coming and thought you might want to help me out with the twins for a bit. And guess what? I taught Alex how to say your name. It sounds more like Mila, but it’s sooooo cute. Come and see?”
I look at Carter, who’s still holding Amelia.
“It’s okay,” he says. “I asked Allie to take her. You’re not going to want Amelia to listen in on what you’re about to hear.
” When I stiffen, he holds up a hand. “That came out wrong. It’s good for us, you, her.
Just not things appropriate for four-year-old ears. ”
Allie sees my hesitation. “Asher is home. We’ve got her. I promise.”
I turn to Amelia. “Stay inside, okay?”
“Okay, Mommy.” She wiggles out of Carter’s arms and puts her hand in Allie’s.
As they walk away, I ask Carter, “What does Allie know?”
“Only that you have a douche of an ex who has threatened you.”
I cock my head. “And that’s all?”
It’s a stupid question. Allie’s texted me over the past few weeks, wanting to make sure we’re okay after our hasty departure. Asking if we need anything or if there was anything she could do. I never got into specifics. I just said we were fine and Carter was taking care of us.
He looks right into my eyes. “That’s all. Everything else is nobody’s business.” He nods to his house. “Come inside. I promise you want to hear this.”
I walk up the front steps and enter, Carter following. What am I walking into? Who is inside? Suddenly, I wonder if it’s my dad and Carter has forced the reunion I’m not quite ready for. But when I step into the living room, all I see are two strangers.
“Kenna Bennett,” Carter says. “Meet Jonah Calloway. He’s the guy I was telling you about.”
“The security guy?”
Jonah stands and holds out his arm. “One and the same. Nice to meet you.”
I shake his hand, but I’m not happy about it.
Nor am I pleased with the large man standing behind him.
Is this some attempt to set me up with bodyguards so Carter can convince me to keep the money?
I look around his house, the house that can use a fresh coat of paint.
A kitchen renovation. New flooring. My heart sinks.
Did Carter come home from the cabin on Saturday and think of how much better his life could be if he had a rich girlfriend?
Jonah nods to the other man. “This is Ethan Stone, a friend of mine.”
“Ma’am,” Ethan nods.
Friend? I look between all of them. “I don’t know what the point of this meeting is. But I’m not sure I like what’s going on. I’m feeling a bit like I’m being ambushed.”
“It’s nothing like that,” Carter says. “Sit, and hear what they have to say.”
Reluctantly, I sit on the chair opposite the couch, arms crossed over my body, hands tucked into my armpits as if to protect me from the three men who might be conspiring against my wishes.
“Drink?” Carter asks.
“No. Just get on with it.”