Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THEN
Everleigh's parents had been watching her like a hawk for the past week, but today they were both finally occupied. As soon as her father's car pulled out of the driveway, she slipped out the back door and ran.
Her feet carried her through the woods, her heart beating frantically, her lungs heaving.
Desperation drove her onward, and she pushed through the pain, determined to get to Knox’s house as quickly as possible.
She needed to see him, to tell him the truth.
She couldn't bear the thought of him believing she would have betrayed him like that.
The way he had looked at her... the way his voice had dropped, his eyes turning cold as he stared at her, still had the power to send goosebumps over her arms. She hadn't wanted to do it.
She had tried to tell him the truth. But she took her eyes off Knox for one second and saw her father standing behind him.
She couldn't tell him the truth—not then, not while her father was looking.
But she couldn't hold it in a second longer.
She had cried herself to sleep every night for the past seven days, shedding grief for the loss of not only their baby but Knox’s love and trust. She could only hope he would forgive her for lying to him. All she had ever wanted was to protect him. He would see that; she knew he would.
Over the last several days, she had had plenty of time to think.
It was going to be hard, but she could stay away from him just like her father ordered.
She would cut ties with him—for now. But the day she turned eighteen, everything would change.
Then Knox and she could be together again, and her father would have no control over her.
She and Knox could move far away, out of the reach of her father’s power, and they would be happy. Despite her father's claims otherwise, she didn't need money. All she wanted was Knox.
She broke free of the trees and bolted toward the back door of the small house, launching herself up the stairs of the tiny porch and throwing herself against the door. “Knox!”
Balling her hand into a fist, she pounded on the wood.
Nothing. She hopped down and ran around front.
There was no car in the driveway, but that didn't stop her from knocking on the door again.
Everything seemed so... still. She stepped back and, for the first time, noticed the lockbox on the doorknob.
She stared stupidly at it for several seconds before touching the cool metal just to make sure it was real.
Why would there be a lockbox on the door? It didn't make sense.
She fell back a step, then turned and allowed her gaze to sweep the yard. At the very front of the driveway, a For Sale sign had been pounded into the dirt. The world spun, and she sank to her knees on the floor of the porch as cold descended over her.
This wasn't possible. He couldn't have left. Oh, God. Especially not believing what he did. Hot tears sprang to her eyes. She needed to find him. But he had no cell phone, no computer for email, no family... She had no idea where he had even gone.
Her stomach twisted, and a sob rose up in her throat. She was too late.