Page 143 of Whispers of You
Our trailer might have seen better days, but the land around it was beautiful. It backed up against thick woods that had been my refuge more times than I could count. I rolled down the window and let the pine-scented air wrap around me as I drove.
The road bent and curved as it rose into the mountains. The moon was close to full, and I got the occasional glimpse of the lake below. Everything about the landscape reminded me that there were forces out there more powerful than me, my parents, oranyof us.
A few good hours from Seattle, Cedar Ridge had that feeling of being removed from the rest of the world that I’d always loved. As much as I wanted out of my house and to go to college and get a degree, I loved this town. It had always felt like home in a way that wasn’t entirely logical.
As I slowed at an imposing gate, I wondered if that feeling was because of this place. Because of the people who lived here. Because of Nash.
Nash and I had become attached at the hip in kindergarten, and I’d spent more time here than at my house. It hadn’t mattered that I was agirl,even if some of his other friends made fun of him for it.
We were two peas in a pod. Best friends from the moment I tripped a bully about to try to take Nash down. When that same bully came after me the next day, Nash had punched him in the nose. His parents had not been pleased that their five-year-old got suspended, but once he’d explained the circumstances, his father had given him a pat on the back and took him for an ice cream sundae. The bully never bothered us again.
I stared at the nameHartleyburned into the beam above the entrance as I punched in the code I knew by heart. As the gate opened, I flicked off my headlights. I didn’t want to chance waking Mr. and Mrs. Hartley.
They were worriers. If they knew how often I snuck onto their property, they’d know that things weren’t okay in my world. And they’d try to fix it. But doing that had the potential to make it so much worse.
I slowly guided the car up the winding drive and pulled to a stop on the far side of the house. Shutting off the engine, I climbed out. I hadn’t bothered with a bag. I’d be gone before the sun rose anyway. But I’d get a few hours of peace first.
Rounding the side of the house, I smiled at the glint of silver in the moonlight. I still remembered when Nash had ordered the fire emergency ladder from some random website. He’d had to convince his oldest brother, Lawson, to buy it since he hadn’t had a credit card at the time.
He lowered it out his window every night, just in case. My heart squeezed at the tenderness of the action. And the fact that when I couldn’t count on almost anything in my life, Icouldcount on this. Onhim.
I moved to the ladder and wrapped my hands around the rung. A breeze picked up, and I swallowed hard. I didn’t love heights, especially while hanging off the side of a building, but I’d do anything to get to Nash.
I could almost hear his voice in my head.“Don’t look down. Just at the next rung above you. One step at a time.”
Doing as he instructed, I climbed. When I reached the top, I tapped lightly on the windowpane. In a matter of seconds, it slid up, and a groggy Nash pulled me inside.
Something about his disheveled appearance was comforting. His blond hair stuck out in every direction as if he’d stuck his finger in a light socket. And his green eyes were just a bit bleary.
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 guidedme 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—”
