Page 125 of Echoes of You

Walking away from me instead of taking me with him? It cut me to the quick.

“Am I a horrible human being?” I croaked.

“No!” Grae hurried to say. “You’ve been through hell, and you should’ve done whatever you needed to take care of yourself. You don’t owe Nash every detail of your pain.”

“We used to tell each other everything…”

“Well, he always hid that he was head over heels in love with you, so I guess you two are even now.”

I wanted to smile at that, but I couldn’t get my lips to obey.

Grae sighed. “There’s no good answer here. Nash sees it as his job to keep you safe. He always has. This will mess with his head, but he needed to know. You did the right thing.”

I waited for the relief that should’ve come with Grae’s words. It didn’t. “I’m terrified this will mess with his head too much. That we won’t be able to work through it.”

My voice broke on the second sentence. It was my greatest fear spoken aloud.

“You guys have been through hell, and you’ve gotten through it together. You’ll get through this, too. All you can do is love him as he spirals. Keep telling him that it’s not his fault. He’ll hear you eventually. I promise.”

I’d loved Nash for most of my life. I’d loved him with silent words echoed in the dark. I’d loved him with whispered words carried on the wind. I’d loved him every single day, even when I thought there was no hope of him ever returning the feeling. I would love him now, too.

“I’m stubborn. I can outlast any misplaced guilt.”

Grae chuckled at that. “You’ve also got the patience of a saint, so I know you can do this.”

The floorboard creaked behind me, and I turned to call Clyde. Before I could, hands yanked me roughly backward. The force sent my phone flying across the floor and startled a scream from my lips.

Barking sounded from the backyard, panicked and fierce. A hand covered my mouth as something jabbed into my side. I cried out, kicking backward. There was a loud grunt.

I tried to turn, to escape the person’s hold. I clawed and scratched, but a heaviness seeped into my muscles as if they were suddenly coated in lead. My vision tunneled, and then I was sinking into nothing.

42

NASH

Maddie’s words echoed,spinning around and around in my head as I drove with no real destination in mind.“He didn’t always hit me. Sometimes, he would just yell.”As if berating her would somehow be okay with me.

A million different images flashed in my mind, each one worse than the last. Maddie bruised and broken, all because of me.

My phone rang in my cupholder, and I glanced down. Caden’s name flashed on the screen. I tapped ignore. A second later, it started up again.

I growled and hit the button on my steering wheel that allowed me to accept the call. “What?”

“Geez. I was just calling to see if you wanted to meet me at Dockside for a beer. Who pissed in your Cheerios?”

I bit back words I wanted to level at him, things Caden didn’t deserve. “Sorry. It’s been a day.”

Caden must’ve heard something in my voice because, a second later, he was somewhere quieter. “Need an ear?”

I stared out the windshield of my SUV, trying to take stock of where I was. Not far from town. “I’m not in the mood for a crowd.”

I was sure gossip had already made its way through town about my suspension, and I didn’t want people nosing around in my business. With the foul mood I was in, I’d likely take someone’s head off.

“Pick me up in front of Dockside,” Caden offered.

“I’ll be there in two.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

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