Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Everleigh smiled as she turned onto the road that led to Knox’s house.
Every other time, she had used the woods connecting their homes, sneaking back and forth so her parents wouldn't see.
But she didn't have to worry about that anymore.
Now she was able to come and go, to see him as often as she wanted.
A huge smile curved her face at the thought.
It felt like it had been a lifetime in the making.
She slowed down drastically as she turned down the old gravel road.
There was a marked difference between the well-taken care of asphalt road in all the subdivisions where her parents and their friends lived.
Out there on the outskirts of town, they apparently didn't find it necessary to offer the same courtesy.
It irked her that the wealthy people who supposedly donated money to charities and other functions were so two-faced that they couldn't even take care of the basic infrastructure for the county.
The car bumped along, and a particularly large pothole threw her slightly to one side.
A little squeak of surprise left her mouth, and she grabbed at the wheel to right the car.
She was going to have to talk to someone at City Hall about getting this road patched up and paved like the rest of them.
After all, she planned to travel it every day going forward.
At the thought of spending all that time with Knox, her anger dissolved away.
She felt so much lighter now that the truth was finally out in the open.
She felt like an entirely different person from the girl who had moved away thirteen years ago.
She knew she had made a mistake back then; she should have defied her parents’ wishes and told Knox anyway.
She had tried to reach out to him, but he didn't have a cell phone, and she knew of no forwarding address for him.
A little pang of regret hit her at all the time they had lost. It served to solidify her resolve to focus on her relationship with him 100% from there on out.
All she had ever wanted was to be his wife and the mother of his children, and she felt like both of those things were finally possible again.
Though they had lost their baby fourteen years ago, they now had a second chance to make things right.
As long as she had Knox, she knew that everything else would fall into place.
The car shuddered beneath her, and she tightened her fingers around the steering wheel.
The bumpy, pitted road seemed to have gotten even worse, and she let off the accelerator, mentally calculating how far it was to Knox’s house.
Though it was a relatively short walk through the woods connecting their homes, the gravel road was long and winding, and she suspected she was still several miles away.
The shaking intensified, and she bit her lip.
These roads really were terrible. Maybe Knox was right.
She knew he had been teasing that morning when he had made fun of her BMW, but these roads were no joke.
She might have to invest in something heavier duty in case they couldn't get the roads fixed right away. She pressed down on the accelerator, eager to get to Knox’s so she could get off of this road. The whole thing was making her nervous.
All of a sudden, the car lurched wildly to the right, and a scream suspended in her throat as the car collided with something hard.
Her head snapped forward, and the impact caused her teeth to gnash together painfully.
She clenched the steering wheel tightly, her brain trying to reconcile what had happened.
Through the windshield, she spied a black object rolling along the grass until it flipped onto its side in the ditch.
She watched with a sense of detachment as it sank in. That was her tire.
She blinked, unable to believe it. Her hands shook as she pulled her phone from her purse and dialed Knox. He answered on the second ring, his voice deep and filled with desire, like he was glad to hear from her.
“Hey, babe. What's up?”
“I…” She stared at the tire lying on its side in the grass. “I had some car trouble.”
“Are you okay?” His tone changed completely, tinged now with concern and worry. She nodded and cleared her throat. It warmed her heart that the first question he asked was about her safety.
“I'm fine,” she assured him. “I was on the way to your house when I got into an accident.”
“I just turned onto my road. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Okay, thanks.” She hung up, then stepped out of the car and warily made her way around the bumper to inspect the right side of the car. The wheel and tire had rolled several feet away, and the axle had embedded itself in the berm of the road.
A shudder rolled through her at the memory. She had never experienced anything like that before, and her heart still beat erratically as she tried to rein in her fear. Thank God it hadn’t happened while she was on the freeway or going faster than she was. It could have been so much worse.
She crossed her arms over her middle and leaned against the fender as she waited for Knox to arrive. It didn't take long. What felt like no more than two minutes later, his truck came into view, and he pulled to a stop behind her, then shut off the engine.
She was already moving toward him before he was out the door, and she banded her arms around his waist, burrowing her head against his chest as he enveloped her in his strong arms and hauled her close.
“You okay?”
Feeling him against her, the strength of his heartbeat, the heat of his flesh, immediately calmed her and brought her world back to rights. “I am now.”