Page 231 of Hold Me Until Morning

Maddie let go of his hand and tromped over to the area where the dirt had been cleared. Lifting her hands over her head, she spun in a circle.

“Is this where our new house is going to be?”

After that fateful, horrible day, we’d never gone back to Hendrickson. Cody had been in the hospital for two days, and once he’d been released, we’d gone to his mother’s so he could fully recuperate.

It became apparent quickly that I couldn’t bring myself to return to my rental house without Lolly waiting there for us when we returned.

Couldn’t stomach taking Maddie back to the place where her greatest trauma had occurred, that room no longer a sanctuary after it’d been poisoned and tainted, and we felt like Cody’s house would likely be too close of a reminder, as well.

So, we’d been staying with Cody’s mother over the last three months as we dealt with the physical and emotional aftermath of what had happened. Maddie and I had both been seeing counselors for our grief and the wounds that littered our hearts and minds.

During that time, Cody’s mother had become a mother to me.

Her care and love profound.

Even though I’d been grieving Lolly and Brooke, coming to grips at why I’d never had the chance to really know my own mother, the summer had still been magical.

Falling deeper in love with Cody as our truths had been fully exposed, our secrets revealed, our trust given. Falling in love with his family who had become my own.

Both Paisley and Caleb and Dakota and Ryder had been married during that time, and Savannah and Ezra’s wedding was coming up next month.

We’d spent so many days and evenings with them.

Loving and living and learning.

Laughing and teasing and finding the place where our hearts were made whole.

Maddie surrounded by her best cousins who she adored.

Cody and I had decided we wanted to raise Maddie close to them, and Cody had brought me out here last month on a Friday evening and stood me right in the spot where Maddie was currently spinning and asked me if I wanted to make this place our home.

When I’d cried and whimpered a soggy, Yes, he laid me down and made love to me on the bank of the river then promised we were eventually going to christen every inch of the land.

I couldn’t wait.

He’d been working on the plans ever since with the intention of building the gorgeous cabin himself with those big, beautiful bare hands.

“Sure is. And your room is going to be right over here.” He moved to the spot where her room would be at the back of the house and lifted his hand above his head, his palm parallel with the ground. “But a little bit higher because it’s going to be on the second story. What do you think about that?”

“I think I like it!” She jumped like she could reach that very spot.

“And I’m thinking those walls should be pink,” he mused like it was just occurring to him though I was pretty sure he’d likely already picked the color out.

I swore the sun shined out of her eyes. “Because pink is my very favorite color, and you know all the important things about me?”

He ran his hand over the top of her head. Adoration flooded from his being. Devotion distinct and unending. “That’s right, Button. Because I know all the important things about you. I know them because you and your mom are the most important thing to me.”

She took his hand again, swaying at his side while she gazed up at him in that sweet, sweet hope. “Because you love us, right?”

And if anything could bring this rough, rugged man to his knees, it was my little girl. Because he knelt in front of her and brushed a wild ringlet from her face and whispered, “That’s right, Maddie, because I love you.”

Then he turned those honey eyes on me and said, “With every part of me.”

Cody - One Year Later

It was just after nine that night when I stepped out onto the back porch. Rain was pouring down, a deluge from the sky. It was a summer storm that had built for the better part of the afternoon, the clouds gathering high and thick, before it’d finally unleashed its fury just as the sun had begun its descent toward the horizon.

I fucking loved storms.

---