Page 109 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

I told her I wouldn’t let her get hurt.

I swallowed past knives in my throat. “Honey, I’m going to call Emmett to get you.” Wyatt was out of town.

“Why?”

“You can’t stay there tonight.” I tried to keep my tone calm and reassuring even though my shoulders were brittle with tension. “There’s a hole in your bedroom and another tree could fall. Is there glass all over the floor in front of you?”

“Uh-huh.”

I weighed my options. If she stayed where she was, another tree could fall, but the likelihood of it falling in the same spot was low. If she moved away from the window, she’d step on glass and cut her feet.

“Don’t move, okay? Can you stay standing there for ten minutes?”

“I think so.”

“If you hear that noise again, the creaking noise, I want you to get to the doorway as soon as possible, even if you cut your feet. Do you understand?” I swept my toiletries off the bathroom counter into my bag.

“Uh-huh.” She sounded dazed and my heart twisted.

“Repeat it back to me, please.” My pulse pounded in my ears. My fault. I did this.

“Stay here unless I hear the noise, and if I do, get to the doorway.”

“You got it, baby.” I zipped my bag up. “Emmett’s coming take you to their place and I’ll pick you up there.”

“You’re coming back?”

“You bet your goddamn ass I am. No fucking way am I letting you sleep alone tonight.”

She breathed a sigh of relief, or maybe that was wishful thinking on my part. “Okay. See you soon. Drive safe, okay?”

“Call me when you get to Emmett’s. I need to know you’re safe.”

“I will.”

“Bye, honey.”

She said goodbye, we hung up, and I called Emmett.

“Hey,” he answered on the second ring. “What’s going on?”

40

Sadie

Holden burstin the front door of Avery and Emmett’s home. His eyes found me sitting in front of the fireplace. My headphones were still in. He had called me from the road, and insisted I stay on the call while I dozed.

He breathed a sigh of relief before stalking over. I stood and he pulled me into his chest, squeezing the life out of me.

“Honey,” he rasped into my hair. “Baby. I’m so sorry.”

“For what?” I breathed against his chest, closing my eyes.

It was so nice to have him back. My arms wrapped around his waist under his parka and smoothed over his t-shirt. I sighed into him.

“I should have called the arborist weeks ago and I forgot.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” I inhaled his scent and shivered at how good he smelled. “You smell better than I remember.”

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