Page 55 of The Billionaire's Runaway Bride

She won’t hear me out. Running hard and fast, she passes the large house we’ve just painted. The cheery yellow mocks me, trying to seem bright and promising when a threatening situation awaits.

“Dammit!” I step out of the truck’s cab and watch Lauren sprint the rest of the way back to her cottage. In the distance, I hear the door shut hard.

I growl, fisting my hands as I slam the truck door shut and stalk down the gravel and grass-covered drive.

Marian rushes out on the porch. Her apron is covered in flour. She wipes her hands on a kitchen towel as she approaches me. Worry is clear in her troubled eyes as she glances from me to the cottage, and back again.

“Caleb?”

I draw in deep breath and glare at the road. Jeremy sped past us when I swerved into the Goldfinch’s drive. He kept on going up Meadow Lane instead of stopping here.

“Caleb.” Marian’s voice is fraught with fear and concern. “What’s wrong?”

I look at her and try to reign in my control and temper as it slips away from me. “We were in town…”

Before I can finish, or even begin to explain, he’s back. Jeremy’s not speeding as he drives back down the road. His SUV is heading toward town again. The car slows, and I lock my glare on him. He’s smirking and doesn’t look away. It’s a stare-down, just like he did with Lauren at the intersection in Breckenridge. Too cowardly to be more direct than that, he just snarls through the window.

“Yeah. You see me.” I growl, even though he can’t hear me. “I’m standing right here in your way. Try it. Try me.”

But he doesn’t. I will him to park and get out to confront me. I dare him to try to get to Lauren, but the bastard drives away, speeding recklessly and kicking up a cloud of dust in his wake.

“Caleb.” Marian places her hand on my forearm. Her cool, soft skin soothes me with this hot anger that courses through me. “What is going on?” she implores. “Who was that?”

I exhale a harsh breath of pent-up frustration. “Her ex.”

“Jeremy? The man she left at the wedding?”

I nod.

She curses, soft mumbles I can’t make out. “Where…How? How did this happen?” She grips my arm again, worried. “Is that why you didn’t come home last night?”

“No. No, we were worried about driving that late. We followed your list and ended up getting some drinks at the bar. We didn’t want to get behind the wheel drunk, so we got a room at the hotel. It was great, Marian. A perfect night and morning. After breakfast, we were on our way back when we were stuck at the red light at Main and Meadow.”

“Okay. Go on.” She nods, urging me to finish.

“And when we looked up, he was waiting there at the light.”

“He saw her?”

I nod. “Yeah. She panicked. I wanted to get her back here so I could confront him and tell him to get lost.”

“Oh, this is terrible.” She furrows her brow and wrings the kitchen towel in her hands.

“I’ll handle it, Marian. Don’t worry.”

“Of course, I’ll worry!” She looks in the direction of Lauren’s cottage and sighs.

“I’ve got her back. He won’t get to her.”

She considers me carefully. “Do you think…Do you think he abused her?”

“Yes.”

Her eyes go wide. “With his fists?” She licks her lips. “When she first showed up, I looked. That hideous wedding dress revealed quite a bit of skin and I didn’t see anything. Her neck, shoulders, and her face, too. They were all clear of bruises and whatnot.”

“There’s more than one way to hurt someone.”

Lauren was keeping secrets. I knew she was. She’s been holding back on sharing many details. While I want her to come clean and discuss her past with me, I’ve been careful not to push. I’d prefer her to tell me about these hard things on her own terms, at her own volition, not because of my nosiness or curiosity.

---