30. Andie
“Please. Do whatever you have planned for me, but leave Elijah alone. He didn’t do anything. He has no part in this.”
“He got in my way, Andrea. And I don’t like it when anyone gets in my way. You nearly died too soon because he just had to come with you to New York.” She toys with a knife, picking the dirt out from beneath her fingernails. She may not have been working for me long, but I never would have thought her capable of something like this.
Of such madness.
“Please, Diana. Don’t hurt him.”
“Oh, honey,” she says, pouting. “It’s already been done. But hey! Don’t you worry. Because if you believe in such things, you’ll be seeing him again…very, very soon.” In a blur of movement, she brings her blade up and stabs it into Alec’s arm.
He screams, a twisted sound of agony.
“No!” I yell.
“You would argue for his life?” She throws her head back and laughs. “No need. He’s not going to die. He’s just in trouble.” She yanks the blade free then grips his chin. “Aren’t you? Bad boy.”
Diana comes over to me and shoves my chair back. The rope tightens on my throat and keeps me upright. “I’ve thought of this moment for so long. So many years spent dreaming of this right here. Of watching the life fade from your eyes.” She leans in closer. “I cannot wait to see it.”
I struggle to breathe, but even as I want to fight, I know that any movement will only make this quicker. If the chair falls?—
The front door splinters.
Elijah rushes in, rifle raised.
Diana screams and kicks my chair out from under me.
The rope tightens, constricting until I can’t breathe. I fight, thrashing. Elijah rips his knife free and slices through the strands then catches me before I would have hit the floor. He rips the rope over my head, and I suck in a pained breath as he cuts the ropes binding me to the chair.
“Andie. Thank God.” He holds me against his chest, and I wrap both arms around his neck. Tears stream down my cheeks as I cling to him.
“You came for me.”
He pulls me back, cupping my face. “Did you ever have any doubt?”
“No,” I cry.
He slams his mouth to mine in a blood-searing kiss then tightens his arms around me.
Alec whimpers as Jaxson cuts him free. “She stabbed me,” he cries. “I need medical help!”
“You’re going to get all the help you need,” the detective says. “Then you’ll have some questions to answer.”
“She needs to die! She has to die! Like he died!” Diana screams. She’s handcuffed and sitting on the floor, glaring at me.
“Get up.” Lance tugs her to her feet and takes her out the front door.
“This isn’t over!” she screams back at me.
“It is,” Elijah assures me.
“She’s Troy’s daughter,” I say as I lean against his chest, using the beat of his heart to ease my fear.
“I know,” he says.
Sirens scream in the distance, so Elijah helps me to my feet then lifts me. I let him carry me, adrenaline waning. I begin to shake as it dissipates. And as the paramedics drive down the overgrown driveway of a house I fled a long, long time ago, I turn my face to the sky.
Thank you, God. Thank you for not leaving me even when I turned away from You.
* * *
“You’re goingto be just fine,” Doc says as he steps away from the hospital bed. We’re in the emergency room, getting looked over, and even though he’s not the one on call, he’d come in the moment Elijah called him. “You’re lucky.” He smiles at me then Elijah before leaving the room.
Elijah hasn’t left my side since he found me, and as soon as Doc is gone, he steps closer.
“What happened to your head?” I ask, noting the stitches in his hairline.
“The explosion,” he replies then withdraws a folded piece of paper from his back pocket.
I came so close to losing him, and for some reason, that fact didn’t fully hit home until now. “What’s that?”
“I dumped out your gran’s letters, so they’re all out of order.”
I arch a brow.
“It’s a good thing we did. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have figured out the connection as quickly.”
“I’m not mad,” I assure him with a soft laugh.
“But I did read this one first. It was the last letter she wrote you. And I—I want you to read it.” He hands it to me.
“Right now?”
“Yes. Please.”
“Okay,” I say softly then unfold the letter and run my finger over her familiar writing.
Dearest Andie,
Today was a hard day. I’m feeling weaker. More worn down than I have in years. I’m afraid to call you though because the last thing I want to do is put pressure on you. You’ve already struggled so much, child.
So much more than anyone should ever struggle.
Tears blur my vision, so I quickly wipe them away.
I want you to know how sorry I am that I failed to see the signs before you left. I am so sorry that I didn’t step in sooner. That I didn’t rescue you from your parents well before the divorce.
You should know your father has been in contact with me for quite some time now. I know he doesn’t deserve it, but you should truly give him the chance to explain himself. I hate that you’ll have no one else when I’m gone.
Hate that you’ll be alone.
Please don’t be alone.
You don’t have to share any of the other letters with Elijah if you don’t want to. But please, please, show him this one. Let him know how much he meant to me. How grateful I was to have someone watching out for me. In a lot of ways, he’s stubborn just like you. Afraid of showing any kind of weakness because it opens the heart to pain. But love is worth that heartache, child.
I thank God every single day for the time I had with you. And please forgive me for the secrets I kept from you. I promise to tell you everything in the next few letters, I just—I needed you to read this one first.
And please watch out for Elijah. He doesn’t know it, but he needs someone too.
You both do.
All my love,
Gran
I look up at him through tears.
“I don’t need someone,” he says softly. “I need you. I’ve spent my entire life running from relationships because I was terrified of my scars. Of facing my past and opening up. Vulnerability terrifies me, Andie. But not nearly as much as the thought of losing you.”
He takes my free hand in his. “God brought Edna into my life at a time when I needed a friend. And when I thought I’d lost someone who had become one of the most important people in my life, He brought you to me. I love you, Andie Montgomery. With my entire heart and every piece of my soul.”
I choke on a sob then toss the letter aside and lunge up. My muscles ache with the movement, but I ignore the pain as I throw my arms around his neck and take his mouth. I pour everything I’m feeling into this kiss.
The pain of what I lost.
The joy in what I found.
The love I never saw coming.
“I love you too, Elijah,” I whisper. “More than I ever thought I could love anyone. You’ve reminded me that I am more than my past. I will never stop thanking God for bringing you into my life.”
“Or your gran for putting us on the deed to her house.”
Laughing, I wipe my eyes. “She was determined to have her way, wasn’t she?”
His expression turns serious. “I am going to show you how much I love you, Andie. Every single day, I will show you that you are so much more than I deserve.”
I cup his face. “I feel the same about you, Mr. Breeth.”