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I push to convince Rachel that I want to go with her, but she is adamant that I stay and talk with Tegan. She won't even let me walk her to the car, giving me only a quick peck on the cheek before heading out. I'm fuming when I sit back down.
“Explain,” I growl.
RACHEL
Tegan may be tiny, but she has the presence of someone much bigger and more intimidating. And yet, somehow, she wasn't unkind. She just explained to me in the bathroom why she was there. That their father was requesting that Tanner come home and help run the family business. I had no idea if that's what Tanner wanted, but then again, he never said anything to me about it. Maybe he was considering it? Tegan talked about it like it was already a done deal. I already suspected some tension between them when I first asked him about her on our first date. And now she came all this way to see him. All signs pointed to him leaving. But why did he start something with me if that was the case?
Anger built inside me on the drive back to Knight’s Ridge. Anger that Tanner could be leaving? Anger that he started something with me that he had no intention of finishing. By the time the town car drops me off at the book store, I've already played out the fight between us in my head. The lights flicker above me, and I nearly kick the wall in frustration. They stop, and I head up to my apartment.
I wait up for Tanner, staring at my phone, hoping he will call, but he doesn't. I shut off my phone, furious that he hasn't called and even angrier at myself for letting myself get burned so quickly by a man that clearly doesn't care as much as he claims he does. I put on my pajamas and head to bed, reaching my arm out across the cool sheet to where Tanner has been sleeping every night since our first date.
It takes some time, but I eventually drift off to sleep, thoughts of Tanner consuming my mind. At first, he and I are back at Coop's Overlook, his arm around me, holding me close. It’s nice, I feel safe in his arms, but soon it gets warm and then hot sitting next to him. I try to push away, but his grip is tightening around me.
He calls out my name, but I can’t answer him.
“Rachel!” I hear again, but this time much closer.
I open my eyes, and the once dark room is bright with flames, and I can barely breathe from the smoke. Tanner is standing next to my bed, trying to pull me to my feet. My arms and legs are tangled in the sheets, and we both nearly topple to the ground. He picks me up in his arms.
“What’s happening?” I cough out.
Tanner puts the sheet over my mouth and carries me over to the broken window that he must have come in through. He helps me to get out without cutting myself on the glass shards. I’m grateful for the fire escape that leads us down to the ground.
“Are you okay?” Tanner asks, his eyes wild with concern.
“What happened?” I look up in shock at the flames coming out of my apartment windows. “The store?”
Tanner shakes his head. “The fire escape was the only way I could get to you. I pulled up and saw the fire. I don’t know what happened.”
“I’ve lost everything,” I say, my throat tight from the loss.
Tanner pulls me into his arms and holds me tight. “I will make sure we replace everything we can.”
But I don’t explain that I’m talking about the irreplaceable items from my parents, my childhood, my first dollar ever made in the store. All things that can’t be replaced. The loss hurts, but everything could have been so much worse. If Tanner hadn’t been here, I don’t think I would have woken up. I could have died of smoke inhalation.
“Where’s Tegan?” I ask, looking up at him, remembering that I could very likely be losing him too.
“I sent her home.”
“Are you going to follow her?”
He shakes his head. “No, I’m not leaving Knight’s Ridge or you. Specifically, you.”
The loss of everything I own doesn't seem so crushing when I realize that the most important thing in my life will stay in my life.
“So, you’re staying?” I ask again, needing to hear it again.
“I’m staying, as long as you’ll have me.”
My grip on him tightens. "So, forever?"
I hear the chuckle rumble in his chest. “Yes, forever. I was hoping you’d say that.”
I look up at him, and he takes my face in his hands. "I was so scared. I thought—”
I cut him off with a kiss. We have been given a second chance, and I’m not going to look back on what could have been but look towards the future to what will be for us. Forever.
Epilogue
