24. Weston
Weston
After triple-checking every window and door in Vivian’s farmhouse, despite the protests from my still-aching body, I lower myself into a seat at the dining room table. Vivian is currently in the kitchen, silently cooking something on the stove.
Every breath aches, but it’s manageable.
I’ve never really been grateful for the hits I took from my dad as a kid, but it certainly taught me to deal with pain.
Something I credit for getting me through the training to become a SEAL and every mission I’ve ever been on.
I learned to bury the pain and push through to better days.
Here’s hoping tomorrow will be easier, though. Because I am under no illusion that this fight is over. It’s only a matter of time before Brenda sends someone after us again.
My gaze drifts out of the dining room to the bottom of the stairs. I can hear the faint sound of a shower running, and I know that Reese is still upstairs, getting cleaned up.
How ridiculous is it that I miss her already?
“Here, try this.” Vivian sets a small bowl of chili in front of me.
It looks and smells delicious, so I lift the spoon to my lips and take a bite. It’s the first real thing I’ve eaten in I don’t even know how many days, and my stomach growls in response, clearly ready for more. “This is amazing.”
“Good.” Vivian beams at me, then takes a seat at the end of the table. She turns toward me, her smile fading. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
She reaches over and rests her wrinkled hand on top of mine. “You brought my girl home.”
“I’m the reason she was in danger in the first place,” I tell her.
“No, the people who grabbed you both are the reason. You, my boy, are the only reason my daughter walked through that door a few hours ago.” Her eyes fill. “You were always so good for each other.”
She was good for me, that much is true. But the jury is still out on whether or not I’ll ever bring her anything but heartache. “I’ll never let anything happen to her.”
“I know.” Vivian cups my cheek gently. “Be sure to protect yourself, too. Life just wouldn’t be the same without you.”
I try to hide the emotion burning a hole through me. The reminder that my own mother doesn’t want anything to do with me, but this woman sitting here considers me important enough to save.
A timer goes off in the kitchen, so Vivian smiles one final time before pulling away and heading into the kitchen.
“Having a pre-dinner snack?”
I turn as Reese comes into the dining room.
Her hair is still wet from her shower, and she’s wearing a pair of baggy pajama pants and an old t-shirt with our school mascot printed on the front.
But it’s her eyes that capture my full attention.
They’re red and swollen, which tells me she spent a lot of that time crying.
Aragorn is beside her, where he’s practically been glued since we got back.
And even he looks defeated, his wide brown eyes trained up at her.
I push to my feet and cross over to wrap my arms around her. My body still aches, but it’s worth every bit of pain to hold her. And then I realize that she’s showered—while I have not. “Sorry, I need to grab a shower.”
Reese’s arms tighten around me. “Don’t you dare move,” she says.
I laugh softly and press my lips to her wet hair. “You’ve got it.”
“Sorry, it just hit me when I was in the shower. All of it. We almost died, Weston.” She pulls away and looks up at me. “You especially.”
“But we didn’t.” I look down at her. “Because we weren’t there alone.”
“We weren’t, were we?”
I smile and brush strands of hair off her cheek. “No, we weren’t. Because only a miracle could have gotten us out of there alive.” Truth be told, I wasn’t even sure I’d survive jumping from that ship. The fact that I did? That, injured and bleeding, I managed to make it to Reese alive?
That had to be God. There is absolutely no other explanation.
I just wish I knew one thing.
Why me?
“I’m going to go grab a shower.” I step away from her, a heaviness settling over me as I make my way up the stairs, trying so hard to keep it together until I’m alone.
God didn’t save Violet, and she was surely more worthy than I. I doubt she ever even thought a cross word in her life. But me? Look at the damage I’ve left in my wake. The lives I’ve ruined.
My mood shifts quickly, souring as I make my way up the stairs and into the bathroom. I flip on the light and catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror. I stiffen, shifting my gaze away just as quickly.
It’s been years since I looked at myself for longer than an accidental glance.
I close my eyes.
Why me?
Why not the baby?
Why not my sister?
Why not the countless innocent lives that I’ve seen taken at the hands of monsters?
“You really can’t look, can you?” I turn toward Reese, who’s standing just inside the bedroom, a clean towel in her arms. “I forgot to give you this, and the door wasn’t completely closed.”
Reaching out, I take it, but as I do, I note the way my hand trembles just slightly. “Thanks.”
“Weston?”
“I’m fine.” I try to force a smile so she doesn’t worry, but concern is plastered all over her beautiful face. “I don’t care much for the man I see staring back at me. It was always easier just to pretend he didn’t exist.”
Reese’s eyes fill, and she steps closer to me, then reaches up and cups my bearded cheek. “I wish you could see yourself through my eyes.”
“I imagine I look a whole lot worse.”
“No,” she replies. “I see a man who has spent a lot of time carrying the weight of everyone else’s decisions.
I see a man who was willing to sacrifice his life for mine and for every one of his friends and their families.
I see a man who has charged into deadly situations to save people he’s never met.
” She cups the other side of my face. “And I still see the man I fell in love with all those years ago. Even if you can’t see yourself, Weston, I do. ”
I close my eyes and just savor her touch as we stand in this bathroom, the air still heavy with the scent of her shampoo.
“I see you, Weston.”
“Reese?” Vivian’s voice carries up the stairs, so Reese stretches up on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek.
“Interrupted by my mom. Kind of our story, right?” She grins, and I can’t help but smile, too, as a bit of the weight lifts.
Not much, but enough that I feel like I can breathe again.
“Get cleaned up and come downstairs. We have dinner and a movie to watch.” With a wink, she leaves the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
I turn toward the mirror but keep my gaze downcast. Once I’ve set the towel aside, I grip both sides of the sink and tilt my head up to look directly into eyes I haven’t seen in a long time.
Because maybe, just maybe, if I can see myself through Reese’s eyes, then I can begin to understand why God chose to save me when there were so many others who were far worthier of rescue.
It’s been three hours since Reese, Vivian, and Ryker went to bed, but I can’t stop checking windows and doors.
Every inch of this house has been checked more times than I can count, but anytime I lie down and try to sleep, the images of Reese sitting beside me, tears in her eyes, arms streaked with my blood as she waited to be tied up, assault me.
How can I sleep when she’s in danger?
When, any second now, Brenda could send a full tactical team through that door after us?
“Can’t sleep?”
I practically jump at the sound of Reese’s voice. She’s standing in the doorway to my bedroom, her own eyes heavy. Aragorn sits right beside her, staring expectantly.
“No. It seems to be eluding me.”
She smiles softly and comes to sit beside me on the edge of my bed. “Any particular reason?”
“Hard to settle down with a threat looming on the horizon.”
“You really think she’ll come after us?”
“I know she will,” I reply without hesitation. “It’s only a matter of time.”
Reese nods.
“You know, we could sneak you out of town with your mom, Garrison’s family, Tessa, Anastasia, and Momma Knox.”
“Not a chance.”
“Reese—”
“Who will help you with the animals?”
“I can hire someone to help.” It’s the same argument we had at dinner when Zane let me know that Bradyn Hunt was sending a private plane to pick everyone up and take them back to the Hunt Family Ranch in Pine Creek, Texas. There, they’ll be safe from Brenda for as long as we need them to be.
No one went without a fight, but Reese has straight-up refused. The only reason Anastasia and Tessa agreed was to help Katelyn with the new baby. Vivian is only going because Reese begged her.
My chest constricts, the ache spreading until I finally rub the heel of my palm against it. We’re sending our families away because war has come to Stormwatch Landing. And we’re not sure we’ll survive it.
“I’m not going, Weston.”
“Brenda won’t stop until we put her down.” I turn toward her. “You understand what that means, right?”
She nods.
“War is coming our way. And I will do whatever is necessary to keep her from hurting anyone.”
She reaches down and takes my hand, threading her fingers through mine. “I know.”
Closing my eyes, I sink into the feeling of her. The love in my heart for this woman. The depth of feelings I never expected to let out of the box I caged them in when I lost her.
“Will you hold me?”
I open my eyes and nod.
She releases me and stands, walking around to the other side of the bed and slipping beneath the covers.
“Come on, boy.” I pat the covers when Aragorn stares at me expectantly.
He doesn’t wait for a second invitation before jumping up and curling near her feet.
With the door open, I climb on top of the covers and lie back.
Reese curls up against my side, her head on my chest, while Aragorn inches closer.
“Can I ask you something?” she whispers.
“Anything.”
“Can we stay like this forever?”
Chuckling softly, I press a kiss to the top of her head. “Forever and always.”