Chapter 41
“Just sign the fucking papers!” Nick screamed at me after firing a shot in the air.
I refused. And I would keep denying his request until my last breath. He couldn’t have my money. He couldn’t have their farm.
My teeth chattered as I sat on my knees in the snow, my ankles bound beneath me after running out here. Thankfully I still had my jacket on, but my mitts had been lost and I was desperately trying to keep my hands warm to avoid frostbite.
Nick was slowly dissolving into hysterics as time passed.
His insane ramblings went on about how Valerie ruined everything.
Apparently, his grand plan had been to force me to sign the papers by gun point at the boutique, kill us both in one fell swoop, and be on his merry way.
But Valerie’s Scene—as he so called it—caused him to make a quick change of plans and pull me out here since a gunshot in a small town like Love would catch the attention of someone.
I only hoped he was right and that someone would find me.
The thought reminded me of how many people I had in this small town.
Nick was really banking his success on the fact that I was as secluded as I once was with him.
That couldn’t have been further from the truth.
I knew I would be okay if I could just hold out a little longer.
If I could just get away from him. It was just so cold out.
“You’re really not going to hand over the money, are you? All I’ve done for you, all I’ve given you, and this is how you leave me?”
“No. You’re not getting my money,” I spat at him and braced for the punch I already knew was coming.
“That’s fine, Then no one fucking will,” he repeated the same sentiment as earlier, and that look was back in his eyes, the same one that came over him right before he killed Valerie.
I refused to let him have this. To let him have me.
He hurt me too many times, and a sick part of me wanted to hurt him right back.
As he came closer, I leaned back and brought my feet out from under me.
I pulled my knees in toward my chest and then quickly kicked out as hard as I could, landing my heel directly into his groin.
He bent over and grunted while clutching himself, but it was short-lived as his anger fueled his adrenaline.
I tried to get up, to scoot away from him, to put any sort of distance between us. He was faster, though, and he grabbed me by my hair, pulling me along as my feet dragged beneath me, and I screamed. The pain was too much. Black spots dotted my vision.
He threw me down on the ground and bent over to tie my hands. Except, he wasn’t tying them together like he had my legs. He was tying them behind me to the rails of the train track.
“Since you love this land so much, you can fucking burn in it.”
He turned around to pick up the jerry can from the ground he had brought from his SUV.
“It might be cold out, but this gas is still going to burn wherever I put it.” The sadistic smile on his face would be scorched into my memory as he doused the surrounding trees and bushes, not afraid of splashing me in the process.
I couldn’t help the tears that escaped me then.
“Nick, please,” I resorted to begging. “Please, don’t take the farm from this family. They don’t deserve that. You can have me. You can have whatever is left in the bank account. Just please, don’t burn their farm.
“Nope, not good enough. They should have known. You were my property first.”
“Then I’ll have you know, you’re on my property now.”
The voice that spoke now had become as familiar as my own over the months I’d been in Love. Had been the source of so much of my healing. Had been strength and guidance, and above all else, love.
I didn’t even have time to fear for her safety before she lifted the old hunting rifle and hit her target. Bullseye. Nick crumpled to the ground in front of me.
“Heavens to Betsy, what has he done to you, my dear?” She softly touched my likely broken cheek before she bent down to untie my frozen hands from the railroad tracks.
“Trixie,” I breathed out.
“Not now, dear,” she hushed me as she untied my other hand, and I fell into her lap. Waves of comfort rushed over me as everything went black once again.
I woke up to the steady beeping of a hospital monitor and a heavy weight on my lap. As I tried to force my eyes open against the bright lights, the weight was lifted from me, but a gentle touch found my cheek.
“Hey, Wildflower. It’s okay, slowly now. Your eye is pretty swollen.”
I blinked open my eyes and though my vision was blurry, I could make out Calvin in his red lumberjack shirt in front of me.
“Why do you call me that?” I tried to ask, but my voice was more of a croak than anything.
He grabbed a cup from the table beside him, bringing the straw to my lips and allowing me a small drink before pulling it back away.
“Oh, love, wildflowers are the most beautiful of flowers. They are strong and resilient, they adapt to the elements, they come back again and again, year after year, often with more blooms than the last. Your growth is inspiring. Your strength is astounding. Your beauty is endless. You are my favourite wildflower.”
The sight of him in front of me only became blurry again. “I love you, Calvin.”
He gently hushed as he softly rubbed my less swollen cheek. “I love you, Stella.”
“What happened?”
“You’ve gotten a pretty good concussion and some frostbite. They also want to make sure some of the deep tissue bruises don’t lead to internal bleeding.”
It all came back to me, like the flood gates of memories had been opened. Valerie attacking me in the rail house, and then her getting killed by Nick in the boutique. It was like a movie reel playing in my head.
“Hey, breathe with me, okay? You’re safe now, love.” Calvin gently pressed his forehead against mine and forced me to steady my breathing with his consistent inhales and exhales that became my lifeline.
“Where is Trixie?”
A genuine smile lit his face. “She’s in the waiting room. And before you ask, she is just fine. She gave her statement to the police, and it was very easily written up as self-defence. She acted to save you, and she’s happy she did.”
Just then, a doctor walked into the room.
“Well, look who is awake. Your family out there is going to be happy to hear that. I’m Doctor Lloyd Hilty,” he said with a comforting smile on his face.
My family. Goodness, did I like the sound of that.
“When can I go home?” I didn’t know how long exactly I had been here, but it already felt like the longest day of my life, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into my own bed at the bed and breakfast.
“Well, the good news is there’re no broken bones or internal bleeding. You’ll be sore for a while and will need to take it easy, though.”
“And the bad news?” I asked him
“Unfortunately, the frostbite on your hands is going to be painful as it heals and you’ve got a nasty concussion, so unless you have someone who can wake you up every three hours, you’ll need to spend a night in the hospital.”
Before I even had the chance to feel defeated by the doctor’s words, Calvin stood from his chair.
“She’ll stay with me. What do I need to do and watch out for?”
He talked with the doctor and listened intently to his instructions.
“Take care, Stella,” the doctor said as he turned back to me. “I’ll see you in a few weeks to see how things are healing.”
“Are you sure it’s okay I stay with you?”
“Stella, please stay. You’d make me the happiest man in the world if you stayed.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his words. “Even if you’re taking care of me the whole time?”
“Oh, Wildflower, especially if I’m taking care of you.”
A soft knock on the door interrupted our conversation, but for a reason I would gladly accept.
“Trixie.” I smiled or did as best as I could with a swollen face.
“Oh, dear, I am so glad you are okay.”
“Yeah, we all are,” Melody added as the rest of my family filtered into the room, causing the small space to burst at the seams with their laughter, their energy, and their love.