Page 3 of Echoes of You

Nash slept like the dead. His three older brothers and younger sister teased him about it mercilessly. Yet, somehow, he always heard me when I tapped on his window.

Nash’s arms came around me, pulling me into a hug. His grip was tighter these days. Maybe it was all the training he did for football. Or working on the volunteer search and rescue team with the rest of his family. But his body was changing. And I couldn’t help but notice.

“You okay?” he asked, his voice gruff.

I nodded against his shoulder. “She was just wasted. I needed out of there.”

Nash’s arms tensed, and he pulled back. “She didn’t—?”

“No,” I cut him off quickly. “She just gets mean.”

A bit of the tension slid out of Nash, but I didn’t miss the shadows swirling in his green eyes. Shadows the incident with my father had put there. Guilt swirled in my belly. “I’m fine, really. I just…”

I wasn’t sure how to explain the pull I felt. “I just needed you.”

Nash’s green eyes sparked and blazed as he pulled me into his arms again. “I’ve got you, Mads.”

His words burned through me, bringing the best kind of pain.

We stood there for a few moments, and I let myself soak in the feel of Nash. I never felt safer than when I was in his arms. He finally released me, and I felt the loss of him instantly.

Nash guided me toward his bed and then motioned me in. Toeing off my shoes, I climbed under the covers. His sheets were so much softer than mine, his comforter thick and heavy.

Nash slid in next to me, his arms going around me and pulling me against him. “I wish you could just move in with us.”

“It doesn’t work like that, and you know it.”

“Maybe my parents could get approved as a foster placement—”

“And we would still have no control over where I got placed.”

After the incident with my dad, I’d been placed in a group home a town away. I shuddered at the memory.

Nash pulled me tighter against his body, my tank top riding up a bit with the movement. It was my favorite feeling in the world, being engulfed by Nash—his comfort, his protection, his care.

His fingers tangled in my hair. “What did she say this time?”

I tensed.

“That bad?”

I swallowed the sting in my throat. “That she hates me. That I ruined everything for her. Nothing new.”

A low growl rumbled in Nash’s throat. “She never deserved you. God, I’d like to—”

“Don’t.” I squeezed the arm he had wrapped around me. “She’s not worth it.”

Nash pressed his lips to my hair. “You’re not alone. You have me. Always.”

I let those words sink into my skin, reveling in the feel of them. But if I’d known they wouldn’t always be true, I would’ve held on to them a little tighter.

1

MADDIE

THIRTEEN YEARS LATER

My SUV huggedthe familiar curve of the mountain road. As I passed theWelcome to Cedar Ridgesign, I expected to feel relief, but my fingers stayed locked around the wheel, knuckles bleached white.

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