Page 126 of Echoes of You

He disconnected before I could. I was damn lucky to have a friend like him. One that put up with my surly ass and didn’t take it personally. But we’d both been there—times when the rage and pain desperately needed an outlet. We knew we could always let that fly with each other.

A couple of minutes later, I caught sight of Caden at the curb. I pulled to the side of the street, and he hopped in, holding up two bottles of beer. “In case you needed this.”

I grunted as I pulled back onto Main Street. “I need something a hell of a lot stronger.”

But nothing was strong enough to erase what Maddie had told me today.

“Shit,” Caden said, setting the beers in the cupholders. “What the hell happened?”

I didn’t have the first idea of how to answer that. How to start? I wanted to tell him. Needed to let it out to another human being, but I couldn’t get my mouth to form the words.

“Nash, you’re freaking me out.”

I pulled over onto one of the overlooks just outside of town. It was blissfully empty. I threw my SUV in park and stared out at the lake below. “He would hit her when I called.”

My throat locked around the words as I spoke, each one painful to speak. But it was a pain I deserved.

Rage pulsed through the vehicle. I didn’t need to look at Caden to see that he was a second away from losing it.

“Do you know how many times I’ve called her over the past few years? Too many to count. And I’d get so annoyed when she wouldn’t pick up. Or when it took three or four calls to get her to call me back. And the whole time, he wasbeatingher.”

My chest constricted in an agonized vise.

Caden was silent for a long while. “I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now. But you’ve gotta know this isn’t because of you. Not really. If it wasn’t your calls, it would’ve been something else. Monsters like that find excuses anywhere.”

“But it was my calls. It kills me. I don’t know how she can even stand to look at me.”

“Because she loves you. Always has. I saw it before I even realized what it was. And you’ve loved her, too. Don’t let this asshole destroy that.”

I gripped the wheel, squeezing hard. Caden was right. Adam had already taken so much from Maddie. He didn’t get to take this, too—our shot at happiness and the life we’d always wanted but never thought we’d have.

“I just can’t see how to get there,” I said. “I don’t know how to unknow.”

“You can’t. But you can take a single step. Back to her. Back to what you’ve built together.”

“I took off when she told me. What the hell is wrong with me?”

Caden grimaced. “You might be paying for that one.”

I’d pay any price. Because I wouldn’t lose Maddie. Especially not because I was an idiot.

My phone rang, and I glanced down. Grae’s name flashed on the screen. She was probably calling to read me the riot act. I tapped the button on the steering wheel. “Hey, G.”

“N-Nash.”

The tremble in my sister’s voice had me instantly on edge. “What’s wrong?”

She struggled to get her words out between hiccupped breaths, the aftermath of a serious crying jag. “I was running late. I called Maddie to tell her.”

Everything in me locked, muscles winding so tight I thought for sure one would snap.

“She was upset.”

Because of me. Because I’d left.

“I don’t know what happened. We were talking, and then she screamed. I think the phone fell. I couldn’t hear well, but it sounded like a struggle. And then there was nothing.”

I was already moving, shifting my SUV into drive and turning on my lights and siren.

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