Carlise nodded. “I feel like I’m being a wuss because I’m relieved I don’t have to see what he wrote.”
“You aren’t,” he countered without hesitation.
“Thank you,” she said on a sigh. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been here.”
Chappy really didn’t want to think about that. Because if he hadn’t decided to come up to the cabin to get away from life for a while, she probably would’ve died out here in the wilderness. Her car would’ve been found without her in it. Her body might not have been discovered until the spring thaw. He shivered at the thought.
To hide his distress, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “But I was here, and you did find me,” he said firmly, his lips brushing against her skin with every word.
She nodded against him, then whispered, “Baxter got on the couch with me! He’s letting me touch him!”
Chappy smiled. “I see.”
“He’s scared, but he trusted me not to hurt him. That’s how I feel about you, Riggs. I’m a little nervous about how much I love you, how fast this is happening. But I trust you not to hurt me. To treat me well. And when I freak out in the future about stuff that seems small or stupid because it reminds me of something from my past, I’m trusting you to go with it. To know that it’s not you, it’s my memories that I’m fighting.”
Chappy stared into her eyes and nodded. “I couldn’t have said the words better myself, sweetheart. My captors took a part of me. They stole a slice of my soul. And sometimes I wondered if I’d ever get it back. But with you by my side, I have a feeling I will. Be patient with me, too, honey. If I do or say something that makes you rethink being with me, please give me a chance to make it right.”
“I will. And we’re going to make it,” she said firmly. “I know it.”
Chappy breathed out a sigh of relief. “I think so too. Stay put. You and Bax look too comfortable to move. I’ll grab your phone and let you read your emails and messages. There are a couple there from people who I’m assuming are clients. I’ll go outside and crank up the generator, see if the Wi-Fi is working, so you can respond if you need to.”
He kissed her briefly and started to stand, but she stopped him by putting a hand on his arm. “Riggs?”
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“I love you.”
God, he’d never get tired of hearing those words from her mouth. “I love you too,” he returned. “I’ll be right back.”
He wanted to reach over and give Baxter a pet but didn’t want to scare the mutt. So he stood and headed for where he’d left her phone. “You want caprese pasta for lunch?” he asked. “Tomatoes, pasta, and mozzarella cheese?”
“Sounds delicious, although I would’ve been fine with a PB&J,” she joked.
Five minutes later, as he was puttering around the kitchen, Chappy looked over and saw Carlise focused on her phone. Her hair was behind one ear, and she was absently petting Baxter with her free hand.
She filled up his home simply by existing. She occupied all the empty spaces in his heart in the same way. She might not know it, but Chappy’s new mission in life was to do everything in his power to make her happy.
Carlise’s stalker watched her mom with narrowed eyes. It would be so easy to sneak up behind her as she fumbled with the keys to her townhouse. So easy to push her inside and knock her down, tie her up. So easy to get her to admit where Carlise was.
The weak bitch wouldn’t last through two minutes of torture before she broke.
Before returning home, the old broad had pushed a grocery cart around the supermarket as if she didn’t have a care in the world. It was infuriating. Nearly rage-inducing. Because there was no fucking way she’d be so unconcerned, humming to herself in the damn produce section, if she didn’t know where Carlise was. She’d clearly been in contact with her daughter.
Well, one way to get Carlise back to Cleveland was for something awful to happen to her mother. If the dumb slut wouldn’t get her ass back here on her own, despite being warned time and time again, then drastic measures would have to be taken.
Either the old woman would spill the beans about where Carlise was hiding, or she’d suffer in her daughter’s place.
One way or another, Carlise was going to pay for being a complete and utter bitch.
Chapter Thirteen
“I’m going out to chop some more firewood while you talk to your mom and Susie,” Riggs said as he headed toward the door. He stopped to put on his boots and jacket.